Medrano powers Foothill past Silverado

Foothill's Shelbie Medrano long has been known as a big-game player, so she took the field Wednesday eager to prove that reputation was legitimate.

Medrano successfully convinced the Silverado roster, tossing a two-hitter and hitting two home runs to help the Falcons roll to a 9-1 victory over the Skyhawks in the second round of the Sunrise Region softball tournament at Majestic Park.

Foothill remained unbeaten in the tourney and advanced to play Green Valley in today's 6 p.m. semifinal.

"I was just 'on' today," said Medrano, whose first homer -- a two-run blast -- came in the fourth inning. "I just waited for my pitch. I knew (Silverado pitcher Katie Devlin) was going to throw one inside, and I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it."

The homer gave the Falcons a 6-1 lead, though the outcome was never in doubt with Medrano's outside slider silencing the Silverado offense from start to finish.

Foothill coach Tom Mayes said he expected a much tighter result.

"Every time we play them, we get a close game," Mayes said. "So that's what I figured was going to happen again today."

Instead, the Falcons jumped on Devlin for four runs in the bottom of the first, thanks in part to Kylie Ishikawa's three-run homer.

Medrano, whose only bad pitch was hit over the left-field fence by Silverado's Mikayla Thielges in the fourth inning, muscled a three-run homer in the sixth after her team clearly had the game in hand.

"Shelbie has been our No. 1 pitcher," said Mayes, whose senior ace recorded 13 strikeouts on the day. "And in games like this, we like to throw our best."

Ishikawa also had three hits for Foothill, collecting three RBIs along the way.

Silverado will play Liberty in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today.

• Green Valley 4, Las Vegas 1 -- Alicia Firelein tossed a three-hitter to help the Gators remain in the winners' bracket with a victory over the Wildcats.

Carly Aughney went 2-for-3 to lead the Green Valley offense, which scored a run in the second and third innings before giving Firelein some breathing room with a two-run fourth.

Las Vegas' Nikki Diaz and Krizzle Galvez each doubled.

The Wildcats will face Valley in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today.

• Valley 10, Eldorado 3 -- Zoe Galindo went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple to help the Vikings eliminate the Sundevils.

Mickayla Romero went 3-for-3 for Valley, and Vanessa Corona capped the Vikings' 11-hit attack with a three-run homer in the sixth inning.

Gabriella Trillo went 2-for-3 with a double to lead Eldorado, which helped Valley by committing four errors.

• Liberty 11, Rancho 0 -- Robin Lowery tossed a six-inning no-hitter to lead the Patriots past the Rams in the other elimination game.

Megan Patras went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a triple for Liberty, which took over with seven runs in the first three innings.

SUNSET REGION

• Durango 4, Centennial 3 -- The Trailblazers jumped to a 3-0 first-inning lead and held off the Bulldogs in a winners' bracket semifinal.

Durango (26-7) advances to play Shadow Ridge (24-10) in the winners' bracket final at 6 p.m. today.

The Trailblazers took advantage of five Centennial errors to score four unearned runs and used the crafty pitching of Nicole Herrera to hold off the Bulldogs (23-8).

Herrera, who missed the final four games of the regular-season with an ankle injury, pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning and retired Centennial's Nos. 4 and 5 hitters with two runners on in the seventh inning.

Herrera's one-out double in the fourth inning brought home Marley Sandoval with the decisive run. Sandoval opened the inning by reaching on an error.

Centennial will play Bonanza at 4 p.m. today in the losers' bracket

• Shadow Ridge 4, Cimarron-Memorial 0 -- On the heels of her no-hitter Tuesday, Mandy Harmon pitched a one-hitter, and the Mustangs did all of their scoring with two outs in the fifth inning to beat the Spartans and advance to the winners' bracket final.

With two outs and two runners on in the fifth, Shadow Ridge strung together a single by Courtney Winnett and doubles by Ashley Eldridge and Rae-Ann Bohm to score the runs.

Cimarron's Carrie Sheehan had allowed only one hit before surrendering four in the fifth inning.

Cimarron (22-10) will meet Arbor View in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today.

• Arbor View 4, Desert Oasis 1 -- Tiffanee Anderson had RBI singles in the first and third innings to help the Aggies (17-15) eliminate the Diamondbacks (13-22).

Anderson's two-out single in the first and one-out single in the third both plated Nichole Diaz with Arbor View's first two runs, and the Aggies never relinquished their early lead.

Arbor View's Chelsea Venable added a home run in the seventh.

Morgan Hughes was 2-for-2 for the Diamondbacks, whose run came on Holly O'Hara's third-inning RBI single.

• Bonanza 3, Clark 2 -- Aimee Doyle and Alex Teed each had two hits, including a double, to help the Bengals (29-7) knock out the Chargers (18-13).

Courtney Spencer and Sam Snyder combined on a five-hitter for the Bengals.

Shannon Chapman went 2-for-4 for Clark, which tied the game with a two-run top of the fourth inning and allowed the decisive run in the bottom of the fourth.