REGION SOFTBALL: Petrolia, Foothill still standing

After 13 innings in the circle Friday, Foothill pitcher Alex Petrolia clearly was just about out of gas.

But Falcons coach Tom Mayes hoped his ace could reach into her reserves, so he gambled by sending out the junior one more time.

Petrolia rewarded her coach's risky call with a near-perfect seventh inning to secure Foothill's 5-4 victory over top-seeded Coronado in the losers' bracket final of the Sunrise Region softball tournament at Foothill.

The second-seeded Falcons (20-11) will face No. 4 Liberty (22-10) in an 11 a.m. championship game today at Bishop Gorman. If Foothill wins that game, another game would follow under the tournament's double-elimination format.

Mayes said he never lost faith in Petrolia, even though she blew all of a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning.

"To do what she did, you've got to have something built within you that can take anything," Mayes said. "Mentally, she really has it together."

The Falcons jumped ahead 1-0 in the second inning on a line-drive double by Raeann Brems and extended the advantage to 4-0 in the fifth on two-out RBI hits by Pamela Sakuma and Gabby Canibeyaz.

Petrolia carried a no-hitter into the sixth, but the Cougars awakened in the inning with four hits. Danielle Amato's two-run double off the left-field fence tied it at 4, and it took a diving catch by Foothill left fielder Palmer Bosanko off a liner by Coronado's Kim Dawson to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring with two outs.

Though his team had lost its momentum, Mayes said he knew it wasn't over.

"I knew all along that after four innings, it would come down to whoever makes the fewest mistakes or who gets a hit here or a hit there," he said.

The final big hit came off the bat of Brems, whose line single to right field scored Lauren Penksa from third base to give the Falcons a 5-4 lead in the seventh.

"In the dugout, we talked about staying confident," said Petrolia, who shut out Las Vegas in the early game Friday to get her team into the finals. "And there was plenty of adrenaline."

Though she surrendered a two-out walk to Coronado's Amanda Garrison, Petrolia struck out Alyssa Ayers to preserve the win.

Sakuma went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Foothill, and Penksa went 2-for-3.

The Cougars (30-4), who fell 8-7 to Liberty on Thursday, lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

■ Foothill 9, Las Vegas 0 -- In the early game, Rhiana Balaun went 3-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs to lift the Falcons over the Wildcats.

Petrolia tossed a five-hitter for Foothill, and Canibeyaz went 2-for-4.

Krizzel Galvez and Kristina Nelson each went 2-for-3 for Las Vegas (16-14).

SUNSET REGION

Centennial coach Mike Livreri says his team has a motto: "Get 'em in and out of the box in three pitches."

The Bulldogs did just that Friday, as sophomore Taylor Huntly used only 42 pitches to spin a four-hitter and defeat Durango 12-1 in five innings in the Sunset Region losers' bracket final at Bishop Gorman.

Centennial (23-11) will meet defending region champion Palo Verde (28-8) at 9 a.m. today at Gorman for the region championship.

Centennial would have to top the Panthers twice to win the title.

Huntly was in command of her curveball and drop ball and did well to keep the ball away from Durango's most dangerous hitters. The Trailblazers scored eight runs in a loss to Centennial on Wednesday.

"I knew I had a great defense behind me that would have my back," Huntly said. "I was worried about (Durango's) Sam (Juarez), Nicole (Schultz) and Katie (Moore). I wanted to keep it low and outside on Katie and inside on the others, and it worked."

Livreri knew that Durango's lineup wasn't to be taken lightly.

"We played them the other day, and they hit the ball well, so we knew we couldn't let up," Livreri said. "Taylor was definitely on her game today. Mainly the curveball was working. She didn't go deep into many counts."

Centennial's bats were potent, as the Bulldogs scored six runs in the third inning to pull away.

With the score tied 1-1, the Bulldogs batted around in the third, highlighted by Kylie Bartlett's RBI double off the left-field fence.

Heather Bowen finished 4-for-4 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI, and Bailee Nelson went 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs for Centennial, which got two hits apiece from Huntly, Mia Acuna and Alyssa Finger.

Schultz tripled and scored on a single by Moore for Durango (24-12), which was eliminated.