Centennial softball beats Palo Verde for Southern Region title

The seventh inning on Friday was kind of a microcosm of the season for the Centennial softball team — not quite pristine, but still showing the potential the group has.

The Bulldogs made a pair of errors in the inning, but ended the game when right fielder Jill Halas gunned out a runner trying to advance to third to give Centennial an 11-7 home win over Palo Verde in the Class 5A Southern Region title game.

Both teams advance to next week’s state tournament in Reno.

“We haven’t been perfect yet,” Centennial coach Mike Livreri said. “We’ve still made mistakes, but they’ve still battled and come through for each other.”

Palo Verde had runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the seventh when Sofi Quigley blooped a single to right, just out of the reach of diving second baseman Juliana Bosco.

But Halas scooped up the ball and threw a strike to Keana Bell at third base to end the game.

“Having that play for her was really exciting,” Bell said of Halas’ throw. “I’m so happy for Jill. She’s so good, and sometimes she puts too much pressure on herself. So getting the last out of the game is very, very exciting.”

Centennial (24-10), the No. 2 seed from the Desert League, scored five runs in the second, capped by a solo home run to right by shortstop Rebeca Venzor-Nuno. But Palo Verde (18-10), the No. 2 seed from the Mountain League, put together a rally of its own, scoring three runs in the third on RBI singles by Mya Bartlett, Taylor Johns and Michelle De La Cruz.

The Panthers added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Paige Brandes that cut the lead to 6-5. Palo Verde was inches away from tying the game, but Venzor-Nuno made a diving stop up the middle on a ball hit by Quigley and flipped to Bosco to end the inning.

“Huge play by Beca up the middle, otherwise that game’s tied and they’re still hitting,” Livreri said. “For a minute there it could have turned into a seesaw affair. But thank goodness Teagan (Clemmons) closed the door, and we made enough plays and we got some other big hits to stretch it out a little bit.”

Clemmons got the win in relief, allowing one earned run in 4⅔ innings. She struck out two and walked one.

Bosco went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and three RBIs, and Carmella Corte was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs to lead the Bulldogs. Sydnee Hartley went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI for Centennial, which claimed its first region title since 2013.

“It’s been quite a while,” Livreri said. “Each team is different. Each team is unique. This team is a team that can now say, ‘Hey, we won a region, too.’”

Bartlett went 3-for-4 and Johns was 2-for-4 with three runs for Palo Verde.

Centennial has won four state titles and will be seeking its first crown since 2013.

“This group is going to cherish this opportunity,” Livreri said. “And I think it’s awesome, because it’s a group of kids, my seniors especially, that came through the COVID stuff. They got cheated out of their freshman and sophomore years.

“These seniors have had to grow up and be leaders that they really weren’t mentored to be. They’ve mentored themselves and done it. They don’t know. Hopefully they’re dumb enough to go win it.”

One of those seniors is Bell, who shows plenty of confidence in the team.

“I believe in everybody on this team, whether they’re sitting the bench and they have to come in and run or they have to come in and pinch-hit,” she said. “I think with our pitchers and the way our defense is playing right now, we can get a state title.”