SUNRISE REGION: Petrolia wins pitchers’ duel as Foothill tops Wildcats
Foothill softball coach Tom Mayes has been around long enough to know there’s no such thing as a freebie in the postseason.
Mayes prepared his team for a tough opening-round game, and his players responded Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over Las Vegas in the Sunrise Region playoffs at Majestic Park.
Alex Petrolia went the distance, tossing a three-hitter with eight strikeouts to earn the win.
“I was starting to think this thing could go nine or 10 innings,” said Mayes, whose team finally broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth inning. “So it felt good to finally get a couple of runs.”
Petrolia and Las Vegas pitcher Monique Hernandez both appeared untouchable through the first four innings, but the Falcons (17-12) logged three of their five hits in the fifth, an inning highlighted by Jennifer James’ RBI double and Palmer Bosanko’s run-scoring triple.
“I always try to pitch like it’s a 0-0 ball game,” Petrolia said, “but it was nice to have those runs behind me.”
Hernandez tried to help the Wildcats (20-9) rally by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a single.
“I got a little nervous there,” Petrolia said. “But it was nice to know the defense had my back.”
Petrolia retired the next three batters to lift Foothill into the winners bracket.
“It feels a lot better to win that first game,” she said. “It’s better to be ahead of the game than behind it.”
The Falcons will face Liberty (22-8) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Liberty 4, Rancho 2 — The Patriots scored three runs in the first inning and held on to defeat the Rams.
Liberty collected only three hits in the game, but Carson Cooper helped set the tempo with a two-run double in the first.
Rancho answered with a run on no hits in the fourth inning, and another on two hits in the sixth. But Patriots pitcher Cassandra English settled down to preserve the victory.
The Rams (11-19) will face Las Vegas in an elimination game Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Basic 5, Valley 2 — The Wolves erupted for four runs in the seventh inning to rally past the Vikings.
Valley grabbed an early 2-0 lead on an RBI double by Mickayla Romero in the first inning and an unearned run in the third, and Basic squandered several scoring opportunities through the first five innings.
But winning pitcher Lacey Romo hit a solo homer in the sixth to bring the Wolves within a run, and teammates Jenilee Medina and Adrian Brown added key RBIs in the seventh.
Basic (19-5) will play Green Valley (25-6) Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Green Valley 4, Eldorado 1 — The Gators scored two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a comeback victory over the Sundevils.
Kayla Nasife tripled in the first and later scored to give Eldorado a 1-0 lead.
Green Valley pitcher Alicia Firelein settled down to toss a three-hitter, and teammates Kayla Anderson and Shelby Vickers had RBIs in the fifth to give the Gators the lead for good.
Valley (15-13) will play Eldorado (15-14) in a 4 p.m. elimination game on Wednesday.
