SUNSET SOFTBALL: Mustangs’ Meza makes most of second chance, delivers winning hit in 10th inning

Sofia Meza simply wanted a second chance Thursday.

The Shadow Ridge junior had an opportunity to drive in the winning run in the eighth inning of the winners’ bracket final of the Division I Sunset Region softball tournament, but struck out with the bases loaded and two outs.

She got another crack at winning the game in the 10th inning, and delivered maybe the biggest hit of her life.

Meza singled into center field with one out in the 10th, plating Shae Clements from second base with the decisive run as the Mustangs nipped Palo Verde, 5-4 at Bishop Gorman and earned a spot in Saturday’s region final.

“It feels amazing,” Meza said. “I was just trying to hit a hole, hit something on the ground into a hole. I didn’t have to be the hero; I just had to get a base hit. I had to do something to help my team.”

The Mustangs (28-5) had the first two batters of the 10th inning reach base on errors, and after a strikeout, Meza came up and quickly fell behind in the count 0-and-2.

She stroked the next pitch into short center, and Clements easily beat the throw home.

“All we did was tell her to relax,” Shadow Ridge coach Julia Meyn said. “Her teammates had her back. We told her to just relax and hit. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it.”

It capped a wild set of extra innings after the teams were tied 1-1 through seven innings.

Kali Tomlinson’s two-run homer in the top of the eighth gave Palo Verde (28-7-1) a 3-1 lead, but Kate Dennis responded for Shadow Ridge in the bottom of the eighth, ripping a two-run double to right-center to tie the game.

The Mustangs got a two-out bloop single and a walk to load the bases in the eighth inning for Meza, who struck out on a 3-2 pitch.

“I just felt like I let my team down,” Meza said. “I had the chance, and I didn’t pull through. My teammates just picked me up to the point where I could have a second chance.”

Lauryn Barker’s two-out RBI double in the top of the ninth put the Panthers in front, 4-3.

Shadow Ridge battled back again in the bottom of the inning. After a one-out single by Raelyn Kendall and a groundout, Caitlyn Covington singled inside the left-field line to score Kendall and tie the game again.

“They just look out for each other and take care of each other,” Meyn said. “We just stayed positive the whole time.”

Shelbi Denman went the distance for the Mustangs, throwing 173 pitches and striking out 10. She allowed eight hits, five walks and hit four batters, but stranded six runners in scoring position.

“I need to be the one giving her ice tonight,” Meyn said. “She just never gave up. She just kept throwing. Shelbi will do whatever she needs to do to win.”

Kendall, Covington, Dennis and Samaiya Montgomery all went 2-for-5 for Shadow Ridge, which will play in its first region final since 2009.

“It was extremely important to win this game,” Meza said.

Tomlinson and Allyson Snelling each went 2-for-4 for Palo Verde, which will face either Centennial (25-12) or Bishop Gorman (19-16-1) in the losers’ bracket final at 4 p.m. Friday.

Centennial 10, Arbor View 3 — Stephanie Day went 3-for-3 with a triple, a double and an RBI to help the Bulldogs down the Aggies in an elimination game.

Deanna Barrera threw 6 2/3 innings of three-hit relief to get the win for Centennial, which trailed 2-0 after the top of the first inning.

Brianna Benoit was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Skyler Ball went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs for the Bulldogs. Christina Cerrone was 2-for-2 with two RBIs for Centennial.

Lileya Kebos was 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a run for Arbor View (18-14-1).

Bishop Gorman 8, Desert Oasis 2 — Samantha Stanfill spun a four-hitter to lead the Gaels by the Diamondbacks in an elimination game.

Kasey Bilodeau was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Sierra Dias went 3-for-4 with two runs for Gorman, which had 15 hits.

Morgan Blanner and Monique Passalacqua both went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Hannah Gondini was 2-for-3 for the Gaels.

Meagan Anders was 1-for-3 with a run for Desert Oasis (21-16).