SUNSET REGION: Stellar pitching, defense carry Palo Verde to title

Three hundred twenty-seven pitches, 31 strikeouts, three wins.

And most importantly, one Sunset Region softball title and a trip to Reno.

All in a day’s work for Palo Verde junior Melissa McCormick.

McCormick allowed only two runs in 21 innings Friday as the Panthers pulled off the improbable, beating Durango 4-2 in the losers’ bracket final and posting 5-0 and 6-0 wins over Legacy to capture the Sunset title at Majestic Park.

Palo Verde (28-8) is the Sunset’s representative in next week’s state tourney in Reno and will face the Northern Region champion on May 21 at 10 a.m.

“My team kept me in it. It was all about having heart,” McCormick said. “The adrenaline is killing me right now. I just want to go out and play again. This is the greatest feeling I’ve ever had.”

McCormick and senior catcher Erika Stratton, who worked together for all 21 innings, shared a quick hug after striking out Legacy’s Jessie Wilhelm to end the double-elimination tournament.

“We were just in sync all day. It was unbelievable,” Stratton said. “We were reading each other’s minds. If you don’t trust the pitcher and the pitcher doesn’t trust the catcher, you’re not going to get anything done.”

After losing to Legacy in the winners’ bracket final Thursday, Palo had to win three-straight games Friday to earn the team’s first state bid since 2003.

Enter McCormick and a razor-sharp defense, which limited Legacy (28-5) to six hits and didn’t commit an error in the two championship games.

“Missy would say the same thing, she couldn’t have done this without her team backing her up today,” Palo Verde coach Kelly Glass said. “We played defense well.

The team effort carried over on offense with four players scoring runs in the first game against Legacy and the bottom third of Palo Verde’s order driving in four runs in the finale.

“We had people hit the ball that don’t normally hit the ball,” Glass said. “We had people lay down bunts who weren’t laying bunts down before. It was just great.”

In the deciding game, the Panthers loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning on consecutive singles by Lauryn Stover, Stratton and Andi Molin.

Cheryl Iddings followed with a single up the middle to score Stover and Stratton, giving Palo Verde the lead for good.

Angel Council’s grounder to third base in the fourth inning was thrown into the right-field corner for a four-base error, allowing Iddings and Council to score and bump the advantage to 4-0.

Molin’s bases-loaded bunt single and an RBI groundout by Rachel Mez in the fifth was more than enough insurance.

“The bottom of our lineup stepped up so much,” McCormick said. “We just rely on everybody, all nine players in the lineup and we just pull through.”

McCormick allowed an infield hit and a walk to start the top of the sixth before striking out the side, then got two more strikeouts in the seventh.

Despite throwing 214 pitches in the first two games of the day, McCormick allowed only four singles in the finale.

“Erika and I were on the same page all day,” McCormick said. “We learned yesterday how we have to trust each other, and we did that today.”

Danielle Hearn’s first-inning RBI single plated Council to give Palo Verde a 1-0 lead in the first game against the Longhorns.

The Panthers increased the lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Stover and Stratton scored on a two-out error, and Stratton tacked on a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth. Stratton went 4-for-5 with three runs in the two games against Legacy.

Legacy had only one serious threat in the first game, loading the bases with one out in the fourth inning on a single and two walks, but consecutive strikeouts ended the inning.

McCormick had 13 strikeouts in a two-hitter in the first game against Legacy, which advanced to the final game in its first playoff appearance.

Palo Verde 4, Durango 2 — In the losers’ bracket final, Hearn broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and Palo Verde survived a late scare to advance.

McCormick and Stratton added doubles later in the fourth inning to extend the lead before Jaexie Balilea’s two-run shot in the sixth brought the Trailblazers (23-9) within a run.

An RBI bloop double by Molin in the top of the seventh put the Panthers ahead 4-2.

Durango then loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but McCormick induced a groundout to second base to end the threat.

McCormick had two hits for Palo Verde.

Balilea was 3-for-3 for Durango.