Rancho escapes Coronado, in winners’ bracket final

When Rancho softball coach Amanda Zunno had a brief conference with Tiare’ Lee before her at-bat in the bottom of the seventh inning, Zunno didn’t offer a motivational speech.

The Rams’ sophomore shortstop didn’t need one.

Lee lined the first pitch from Coronado starter Danielle Amato up the middle for a walk-off single as the host Rams pulled out a 3-2 victory Wednesday and remained unbeaten in the Sunrise Region tournament.

Rancho (29-6-1) advances to the winners’ bracket final and meets host Foothill (18-13), an 11-7 winner over Liberty, at 4:30 p.m. today. Coronado (20-15-1) takes on Silverado (19-6) in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. today at Foothill.

“I was going to jump on (the first pitch) if it was close,” Lee said.

Coronado scored twice in the seventh inning off Rancho pitcher Brandy Marlett to tie the score before the Rams answered in the bottom half.

Kayla Coles followed with a comebacker to Amato, and she caught pinch runner Mia Fields in a rundown between second and third. Fields was tagged out, but she stayed alive long enough to allow Coles to get to second base. Coles scored the winning run on Lee’s hit.

■ Foothill 11, Liberty 7 — At Foothill, Sarah Maddox was 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs to lead the Falcons by the Patriots in the other winners’ bracket semifinal.

Kelsey McFarland had a two-run triple, and Hannah Stevens was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Foothill, which scored eight runs in the fifth inning.

Tiana Tapuala was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and three RBIs for Liberty (15-8-2), which will meet Green Valley (15-15) in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. today at Foothill.

■ Silverado 13, Las Vegas 3 — At Silverado, Madison Sisco was 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Skyhawks to a five-inning win over the Wildcats (7-20) in an elimination game.

Arieana Monturio was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, and Sarah Ford went 2-for-4 with a double for Silverado.

■ Green Valley 17, Basic 7 — At Green Valley, Jinger Meuir went 3-for-4 with a triple, a double and five RBIs as the Gators defeated the Wolves in five innings.

Paige Blake and Carlie Gettman each went 2-for-3 for Basic (9-18).

SUNSET REGION

Heather Bowen has played in more than 100 softball games in her Centennial career. Her final home game might have ranked among the best.

A senior shortstop, Bowen went 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and four RBIs on Wednesday to help the Bulldogs down visiting Arbor View 12-5 in a winners’ bracket semifinal in the Sunset Region softball tournament.

Centennial (29-6) will face Palo Verde (28-6) in the winners’ bracket final at 4 p.m. today at Bishop Gorman.

Bowen belted an RBI double and scored in the first inning. She tacked on a two-run homer in the second to help Centennial climb out of an early 2-0 hole.

Dacia Sykes was 2-for-4 with a double, and Brittany Henricksen and Kellie Anderson each went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Aggies (15-11-1), who will meet Shadow Ridge (17-7) in an elimination game at 2 p.m. today at Gorman.

■ Palo Verde 6, Bishop Gorman 2 — At Palo Verde, Brooke Stover was 3-for-3 with a double to help the Panthers top the Gaels in the other winners’ bracket semifinal.

Shelby Estocado was 4-for-4 for Gorman (21-8), which will face Sierra Vista (7-13) in an elimination game at noon today at Gorman.

■ Shadow Ridge 9, Legacy 5 — At Shadow Ridge, Kenzie Kurth went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and three RBIs to lead the Mustangs over the Longhorns (15-12) in an elimination game.

Kate Dennis was 3-for-4 with three doubles and an RBI for Shadow Ridge.

■ Sierra Vista 5, Cimarron-Memorial 2 — At Cimarron, Kalei Watkins tossed a five-hitter and was 2-for-4 with a home run and double to lead the Mountain Lions by the Spartans (15-16) in an elimination game.

Kira Felise also homered, and Madison Hiu and Mikaela Ishikawa each had two hits for Sierra Vista.

I-A SOUTHERN REGION

A quick start helped Pahrump Valley’s softball team prepare for a hectic finish Wednesday. The Trojans scored four times in the first inning and held on for a 6-5 win over host Faith Lutheran in a winners’ bracket semifinal of the Division I-A Southern Region tournament.

Pahrump Valley (21-13) will meet Boulder City (24-5) in the winners’ bracket final at 5 p.m. today at Faith Lutheran.

Amanda Pryor had an RBI single, and Lahela Kaiwi hit a three-run homer to put Pahrump up 4-0 in the top of the first.

The Crusaders’ offense got on track in the sixth inning with three runs. Whitney Roderick, who pitched a complete game Tuesday, escaped further damage by inducing a ground-out to end the inning.

Pahrump Valley’s Claire Peck doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh. She moved to second and scored on consecutive ground-outs. The game ended when Bryana Soliwoda made a running catch on a ball down the left-field line.

Faith Lutheran (20-13) will host Cheyenne (21-16-1) in an elimination game at 3 p.m. today.

■ Boulder City 14, Virgin Valley 0 — At Boulder City, Mikaela Brown tossed a five-inning no-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks to lead the Eagles by the Bulldogs in the other winners’ bracket semifinal.

Katlyn Jackson was 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI, and Alyssa Ybarra went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Boulder City.

Virgin Valley (12-19) will face Tech (14-8) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. today at Faith Lutheran.

■ Tech 18, Moapa Valley 11 — At Overton, Ashley Ramsey was 3-for-5 with a double and five RBIs as the Roadrunners overcame an 8-0 first-inning deficit to top the Pirates (13-11-1) in an elimination game.

Kimmie Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Jan Danica Briones added two hits for Tech, which got two-run singles from Emmalyne Laymon and Patrice Jurisprudencia.

■ Cheyenne 10, Mojave 7 — At Cheyenne, Courtney Gain was 5-for-5 with a home run, double and six RBIs to lead the Desert Shields (21-16-1) past the Rattlers (10-13) in an elimination game.

Brittny Phillips was 3-for-3, and Italy Mora went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Cheyenne.