ROUNDUP: Hearn lifts Palo Verde over Arbor View in battle for first place

Nearly everything Danielle Hearn touched in the final two innings Wednesday turned to gold.

Palo Verde’s second baseman started a game-tying rally with a hit and drove in the winning run with another hit in the seventh inning.

Even a baserunning mistake she made after the go-ahead hit resulted in another run as the Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to post a 5-2 victory at Arbor View and take over sole possession of first place in the Northwest League.

“Just yesterday (Hearn) was telling me how she thrives in pressure situations,” Palo Verde coach Kelly Glass said. “She wants to be up when the game is on the line. You just look at her and know she is going to get the job done.”

Stymied for five innings by Arbor View pitcher Amanda Jones, Palo Verde (17-4, 7-0 Northwest) tied the game in the sixth, keyed by Hearn’s one-out single.

An Aggies error and a wild pitch put runners on second and third for Lauryn Stover, whose single through the right side tied the game.
Hearn’s hit in the seventh — after an odd turn of events — untied it.

Jones, who limped off the field after injuring her leg on a slide into second base in the bottom of the sixth, came back out to pitch the seventh and allowed a leadoff single to Rachel Mez.
Mez advanced to second on Andi Molin’s sacrifice bunt and third when Salina Gonzalez bunted for a base hit by avoiding a tag by the Aggies’ first baseman.

Angel Counsil’s hit off the glove of Arbor View’s third baseman loaded the bases for Hearn, who looped a 1-1 pitch into shallow right-center to score Mez.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Hearn said. “That’s all I can do.”

Hearn rounded first and continued to second before realizing the base was occupied. As the Aggies (12-2, 7-1) attempted to retire Hearn, Gonzalez raced home with an insurance run.

“I yelled at her for it, but obviously you can’t be too mad about that,” Glass said.

A sacrifice fly by Erika Stratton made it 5-2 and gave plenty of breathing room to Palo Verde pitcher Melissa McCormick, who ignored doctor’s orders and played despite having pneumonia.

McCormick tossed a two-hitter, allowing two first-inning runs on a triple by Savanah Webster and an RBI groundout by Karli Lehr, and struck out eight.

“It was totally worth it,” McCormick said. “I’m about 70 percent, but I couldn’t miss this game. I couldn’t do that to my team.”

Jones, who allowed three hits through the first five innings, retired only one batter in the seventh before being replaced. She struck out nine and allowed one walk.

“This was important because we viewed ourselves as the underdogs,” Hearn said. “We were hungrier, and we wanted it more.”

Legacy 7, Cheyenne 5 — At Legacy, Danielle Pick doubled and tripled, driving in three RBIs, as the Longhorns edged the Desert Shields.

Alexis Fuller went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Legacy.

Rachel Holly was 2-for-4 with two runs scored for Cheyenne.

Shadow Ridge 12, Faith Lutheran 0 — At Shadow Ridge, Caitlin Wilson tossed a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts as the Mustangs beat the Crusaders.

Casey Velarde had a double and three RBIs for Shadow Ridge. Sabriya Brooks added a double and two RBIs, and Emily Pinkston supplied an RBI triple for the Mustangs.

Cimarron-Memorial 12, Mojave 0— At Cimarron, Carrie Sheehan and Stephanie Kaplan combined on a five-inning no-hitter for the Spartans.

Sheehan had nine strikeouts in four innings and went 2-for-2 with an RBI.

Sarina Creswell went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs for the Spartans. Hannah Williams was 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Reanna Bass had a two-run triple for Cimarron.

Bonanza 15, Bishop Gorman 2 — At Gorman, Nicolette Lind went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, which keyed a three-run first inning, and the Bengals never looked back in an easy win over the Gaels.

Courtney Spencer tossed a two-hitter with nine strikeouts for Bonanza. Emily Osborn hit 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Jessica Delp was 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored for the Bengals.

Clark 13, Sierra Vista 1 — At Sierra Vista, Julia Hagen fired a one-hitter with nine strikeouts and went 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs to lead the Chargers past the Mountain Lions in five innings.

Shannon Chapman was 3-for-3 with a homer, a double and two RBIs for Clark, which also got a home run from Sydney Staresinich.

Jasmine Fukuda went 2-for-3 with a triple, and Anna Jaehn batted 3-for-4 with a double for Clark.

Desert Oasis 8, Spring Valley 3 — At Spring Valley, Lenzi Cram tossed a six-hitter with eight strikeouts, helping the Diamondbacks to a road win over the Grizzlies.

Emily Heinz had a double, and Morgan Hughes added a two-run single and scored another run for Desert Oasis.

Katie Campo went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and two RBIs for Spring Valley, which gave up eight walks and hit three batters.

Durango 14, Western 0 — At Durango, Katie Moore was 4-for-4 with three home runs and five RBIs to lead the Trailblazers in a rout of the Warriors.

Sam Juarez added a solo home run, and Lauren Benfield and Moore combined on a one-hitter.

Boulder City 4, Pahrump Valley 2 — At Boulder City, Ali Rants went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI as Boulder City built a 3-0 third-inning lead to hold off the Trojans.

Paxton Fleming was 1-for-2 with an RBI for the Eagles.