Arbor View baseball team, Rancho softball keep seasons alive

Arbor View’s Ryan McHale wasn’t happy about his first two at-bats Monday at Desert Oasis.

His last two couldn’t have been better.

McHale slammed two home runs, and the Aggies held on for a 10-8 victory over Coronado to secure the final berth in the Division I state baseball tournament.

“It felt pretty good, because I had a couple bad at-bats in the beginning, swinging too hard,” McHale said. “I just tried to relax, swing softer, and I put it over the fence.”

McHale’s first homer, a towering three-run blast to left field, gave Arbor View an 8-2 lead after four innings.

After Coronado cut the lead to 8-6, McHale and Ben Cutting had consecutive homers to start the bottom of the sixth to make the score 10-6.

Dane Wasden’s two-out, two-run double in the seventh cut the lead to 10-8, and the Cougars brought the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs before Chris Villarias retired Anthony Olheiser to end the game.

Cutting was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs, and Nick Quintana went 3-for-4 with two runs for the Aggies (26-10), who will play Green Valley (28-6) in the state tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday at Durango.

Nate Ruiz was 2-for-3 with three runs and an RBI for Coronado (19-17).

SOFTBALL

Buoyed by a gutsy pitching performance by Samantha Pochop, Rancho edged Centennial 4-3 in the play-in game Monday at Bishop Gorman.

The Rams (27-9) will make their first state tournament appearance in more than two decades when they face Palo Verde (31-8), the Sunset Region champion and defending state champ, at 5 p.m. Thursday at UNLV.

Pochop belted a two-run homer in the first inning, then went to work in the circle. The sophomore struck out 10 while allowing seven hits and four walks.

“She wanted this, especially coming off two losses (Saturday to Foothill),” Rancho coach Amanda Zunno said. “She wanted to be there for the team and give them a chance.”

Still, the Rams needed some late-game magic after surrendering a 3-2 lead on a misplayed ground ball in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Rancho’s Kayla Coles looped a ball into short left field with one out in the seventh. Centennial’s Kara Simpson dived head-first for the ball but came up just short, and Coles alertly turned it into a double.

Jahnae Davis-Houston followed with a double just inside the right-field line to give Rancho a 4-3 lead.

Centennial (25-15) got the tying run on base with one out in the seventh, but Pochop got two fly-outs to end the threat.

Kelsi Lupton, who had only 15 at-bats in the regular season, was 2-for-3 for Rancho. Davis-Houston was 2-for-3, and Coles went 2-for-4 with two runs.

Brianna Benoit was 2-for-3 and Makenzie Ball 2-for-4 with an RBI for Centennial.