Walk-off homer keeps Wildcats alive

The Las Vegas High softball team was one out from elimination Thursday when freshman Tiffani Taylor stepped to the plate.

Under ordinary circumstances, Wildcats coach Danielle Rumph might have counted her team out, but she knew Taylor was no ordinary underclassman.

With a runner on first base, the freshman ripped a 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence for a dramatic walk-off homer, which gave Las Vegas a 3-2 victory over Liberty in the losers' bracket quarterfinal of the Sunrise Region tournament at Majestic Park.

The win lifted the Wildcats into today's 3 p.m. semifinal against Green Valley, with the winner to play Foothill at 5 for the Sunrise championship.

"(Patriots pitcher Breanna English) gave me an inside screw (ball)," a teary-eyed Taylor said after a lengthy team celebration on the infield. "I knew I'd have to pull it hard to protect myself, and I must have hit it hard enough to get it somewhere."

The situation looked grim for the Wildcats just moments earlier, as Liberty took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning after capitalizing on two Las Vegas errors and two hits to score a pair of runs in the fifth inning.

But with two outs in the seventh, Krizzle Galvez's sharp grounder to third base was misplayed by the Patriots, giving Las Vegas a baserunner and one more chance.

That brought up Taylor, who nearly fouled out on a 2-2 pitch before hitting the game winner.

"This season has been such a roller coaster," said Rumph, who noted that Taylor has been a clutch player throughout the season.

"Even though we sent out a freshman with two outs, I couldn't have had a player in that situation who I'd want in there more," Rumph said.

* Foothill 3, Green Valley 0 -- Shelby Medrano tossed a five-hit shutout to lift the second-seeded Falcons into the finals with a victory over the top-seeded Gators.

For the second consecutive day, Medrano supported herself by producing at the plate, as her two-out, two-run homer in the fifth inning proved to be all the offense Foothill would need.

"I knew this game was going to come down to who wasn't going to make a mistake," said Falcons coach Tom Mayes. "This was a good win for us. If we get one more, we'll get to play next week (in the state tournanment)."

Medrano finished with three of Foothill's four hits.

Ali Bodnar went 2-for-3 with a double to lead Green Valley.

* Las Vegas 4, Valley 3 -- Bri Guzman went 3-for-4 as the Wildcats scored four runs in the first two innings and held on for a win in their early elimination game.

Nikki Diaz added two hits for Las Vegas, which also took advantage of five Valley errors.

Taylor got a save after coming on in the fifth inning to relieve Monique Hernandez.

* Liberty 4, Silverado 2 -- Megan Patras went 2-for-4 with a double to help the Patriots eliminate the Skyhawks.

Liberty picked up unearned runs in the first and sixth innings and withstood a two-run fifth-inning Silverado rally.

Amanda Delgado and Akina Zuccaro each went 2-for-3 for the Skyhawks, and teammate Karlie Camardella drove in both runs with a fifth-inning double.

SUNSET REGION

Britney Cato had one request of her Shadow Ridge teammates before Thursday's game.

"I told the team that we needed to jump on (Durango) early," said Cato, a senior third baseman. "We've been jumping on teams later in games, and we just needed to jump out on them early."

The Mustangs responded with five runs in the bottom of the first inning on their way to a 6-0 victory over Durango in the winners' bracket final of the Sunset Region tournament at Majestic Park.

Shadow Ridge (25-10), the two-time defending region champion, will meet either Durango or Centennial in the championship game at 5 p.m. today.

If the Mustangs win, they'll advance to state. If not, they'll play again at 7 p.m., with that winner going to state.

Shadow Ridge had two walks and four hits -- three of them with two outs -- in the first inning, highlighted by Cato's two-run single.

"We came out hitting the ball well today," Shadow Ridge coach Cindy Winter said. "It gave us a boost."

But the keys to the inning were the walks to leadoff batter Courtney Winnett and No. 3 hitter Rae-Ann Bohm.

Winnett saw seven pitches in her plate appearance.

Bohm worked a 10-pitch walk, allowing her teammates to see all of the pitches in Durango starter Ashley Hall's arsenal.

"That was big. Hitting later in the lineup, I can see what the pitcher is throwing," said Cato, who hit sixth Thursday. "I try to figure out her sequence, so when I get up there I know what she's going to do."

Mandy Harmon, Mary Jordan and Casey Velarde added singles in the inning to give Harmon way more run support than she needed.

After tossing a no-hitter Tuesday and a one-hitter Wednesday, Harmon allowed two first-inning hits, and that was it.

She retired the final 18 Trailblazers in order, the third straight game in which she has retired at least the final 15 batters.

Opposing hitters are 3-for-66 (.045) in three tournament games against Harmon, who has received near flawless support from her defense.

"We're getting some great defensive plays," Winter said.

Harmon hasn't allowed a run since April 24.

In her last six games, dating to the regular season, Harmon has thrown 41 consecutive scoreless innings, allowing a total of nine hits. Shadow Ridge had 10 hits Thursday.

"It's really easy to play defense," Cato said. "I know if the ball is hit to me, it probably isn't going to be hit very hard. I'm just staying on my toes and being ready for every pitch."

Velarde went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for the Mustangs. Jordan was 2-for-4 and Harmon 2-for-4.

Durango (26-8) will face Centennial in the losers' bracket final at 3 p.m. today.

* Centennial 4, Cimarron-Memorial 1 -- Jennifer Watkins tossed a three-hitter with four strikeouts as Centennial (25-8) won its second game of the day to advance to the losers' bracket final.

Katie Lee's two-run double in the third inning put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

Centennial ran its lead to 4-0 in the fifth before Cimarron (23-11) loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning. Jessica White singled to drive in one run before Watkins got out of the jam.

Kylie Bartlett and Johnna Brown each went 2-for-3, with Brown also driving in a run for the Bulldogs.

Bartlett has 10 hits in four games during the tournament.

* Centennial 4, Bonanza 2 -- Juelaine Noa's two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning pulled Centennial out of a 2-1 deficit and rallied the Bulldogs past Bonanza (29-8) in an elimination game.

Lindsay Konopelko, who homered in the fourth inning, led off the sixth with a double.

Sierra Golia followed with a single and moved to second on a passed ball before Noa's hit brought home Golia and courtesy runner Shannon Brown.

Paige Reese's two-out double scored pinch runner Camille Castro.

Noa went 3-for-3. Konopelko, who got the win in relief, was 2-for-2. Bartlett went 2-for-4.

Bonanza's Emily Osborn was 3-for-4 and scored both runs. Sam Snyder was 2-for-3 with a double.

* Cimarron-Memorial 6, Arbor View 0 -- Carrie Sheehan tossed a three-hit shutout as the Spartans eliminated Arbor View (17-16).

White was 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two RBIs for the Spartans, who scored three runs in the second inning.

Paige Savage and Hannah Williams also went 2-for-3 for Cimarron. Savage doubled and had two RBIs.

Tiffanee Anderson was 2-for-3 with a double for the Aggies.