SUNSET SOFTBALL: Shadow Ridge freshman finishes what she started

Shelbi Denman’s afternoon almost ended early Wednesday.

Shadow Ridge’s freshman pitcher struggled with her control and was replaced in the circle in the first inning of her team’s Sunset Region playoff game at Centennial.

But the Mustangs gave her a second chance, and Denman rewarded them in a big way.

Denman returned to throw four hitless innings in relief and hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning as the Mustangs outlasted Centennial 7-5 in a winners’ bracket semifinal. Shadow Ridge (13-4) advances to meet Palo Verde (29-8) in the winners’ final at 4 p.m. Thursday at Bishop Gorman.

“It feels great, because my teammates always have my back,” Denman said. “Just to know they can lift me up and I can lift them up, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

Denman faced six batters — walking three and allowing two hits — before being lifted with one out in the first inning and her team trailing 2-0.

“We knew she didn’t have her control in the beginning,” Shadow Ridge coach Julia Meyn said. “We took her out, brought her (behind the dugout) and had her throw some more, waited to see if she was in the game mentally. Shelbi was ready, and she said, ‘I got this.’ ”

Reliever Alisha Schultz held Centennial (22-13) in check, and the Mustangs took leads of 3-2 and 5-3 but watched the Bulldogs rally both times.

Kara Simpson’s sacrifice fly in the sixth tied the game at 5.

Denman returned to start the seventh and looked like a different pitcher.

She allowed just three runners — two on errors and one on a walk — in the final four innings. “I felt like I owed it to my team to be confident when I went back in,” Denman said.

Then in her first at-bat, Denman smoked the second pitch she saw well beyond the left-field fence to lead off the 10th inning and give Shadow Ridge the lead for good.

“We told her that she didn’t have to do the hitting, that we’ll do the hitting and you just do your job on the mound,” Meyn said. “We told her to just have fun, and bam, she hit that one over the fence.”

Justin Garganese’s bases-loaded groundout to second later in the inning scored Samaiya Montgomery to give Shadow Ridge the 7-5 lead.

Garganese was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, and Schultz went 4-for-6 for Shadow Ridge, which pounded out 16 hits in a game that lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes, and saw 347 pitches thrown.

Denman and Schultz combined to allow just seven hits.

“Our girls work hard, and they’ve got a lot of heart,” Meyn said.

Brianna Benoit homered for Centennial, which faces host Gorman in an elimination game at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Palo Verde 5, Arbor View 1 — At Palo Verde, Kelsea Sweeney threw a five-hitter as the Panthers topped the Aggies (20-8) in the other winners’ bracket semifinal.

Sweeney struck out nine and walked one.

Grace Chavez was 2-for-3 with a double, and Cara Beatty hit a solo home run for Palo Verde.

Arbor View will face Durango (14-18) in an elimination game at noon Thursday at Gorman.

Durango 10, Desert Oasis 9 — At Desert Oasis, Gabriela Morgan’s sacrifice fly with one out in the top of the seventh inning plated Kaitlyn O’Hearn with the eventual winning run as the Trailblazers scored twice in the seventh to eliminate the Diamondbacks.

Madisyn Conriquez led off the seventh with a single and advanced to second on Trinity Valentine’s sacrifice bunt. O’Hearn tripled to center to score Conriquez with the tying run.

O’Hearn was 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, two runs and an RBI. Mallory Lawson was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI, and Alia Armstrong was 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs for Durango. Alexis Gerardo was 3-for-4 for the Trailblazers.

Erin McInerney was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs, and teammate Scarlett Hurtado went 2-for-2 with an RBI for Desert Oasis (12-8).

Bishop Gorman 16, Cimarron-Memorial 6 — At Gorman, Sierra Dias went 4-for-4 with four runs and an RBI as the Gaels eliminated the Spartans in five innings.

Hannah Gondini was 4-for-5, and Monique Passalacqua was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs for Gorman, which also got a three-run home run from Kasey Billadeau.

Rebecca Johnson was 3-for-3 with a double, and Rheanna Esparza went 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs for Cimarron (9-17-1).