Shadow Ridge slides past Clark in eight innings

Rae-Ann Bohm had just about enough of Thursday's pitchers' duel.

Even if the Shadow Ridge junior and her coach still aren't sure how she ended her team's 1-0, eight-inning win over Clark.

Bohm laced a one-out double off the base of the center-field wall in the eighth inning and eventually scored on Jasmine Harris' suicide squeeze bunt to lift the Mustangs (23-1) into the Sunset Region softball championship game.

Bohm dived home to end a wonderful duel between Shadow Ridge pitcher Mandy Harmon and Clark's Jordyn McDonald at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park.

"I have no idea. It was just sheer will," Mustangs coach Cynthia Winter said.

Bohm, who struck out and flied out twice in her first three at-bats against McDonald, ripped the first pitch of her fourth at-bat to center and narrowly beat the throw to second.

"I'm not sure how I did it," Bohm said. "I just tried to relax and be comfortable up there. I saw one pitch, and I hit it."

She moved to third on Ashley Eldridge's fielder's-choice bunt to the pitcher's circle.

Winter then gave her No. 3 hitter a suicide-squeeze sign.

"Not often," Winter said when asked how many times she'd had Harris bunt all year. "It's something we talked about in getting ready for postseason that we may have to manufacture a run."

Harris bunted the first pitch along the first-base line about 10 feet from home plate. McDonald fielded the ball and flipped it to the plate, but Bohm dived in safely.

"It worked to perfection," Winter said.

Until the bottom of the eighth, neither pitcher allowed a runner to reach third base.

McDonald tossed a six-hitter and struck out six.

Harmon allowed only a one-out infield hit in the third and struck out 10.

Shadow Ridge will meet the winner of today's 3 p.m. game between Clark (23-10) and Durango (23-10) immediately following that game. The Clark-Durango winner must beat the Mustangs twice to win the tournament.

• Durango 2, Cimarron-Memorial 0 -- Nicole Schultz's two-out, two-strike double to right center in the third inning brought in the only runs as Durango eliminated the Spartans (21-16).

Durango's Nicole Herrera pitched a one-hitter and struck out five.

• Durango 9, Spring Valley 1 -- D.J. Richardson was 3-for-3 with three runs, and the Trailblazers built a 5-0 lead after three innings en route to eliminating Spring Valley (11-11).

• Cimarron-Memorial 2, Centennial 1 -- Chelsea Williams' two-run home run in the third inning was enough for the Spartans to knock Centennial (28-9) out of the tournament.

SUNRISE REGION

• Foothill 2, Las Vegas 0 -- Shelbie Medrano tossed a five-hitter, and Kylee Taylor blasted a two-run homer to lift the Falcons (21-21) over the Wildcats (19-7) in the final winners' bracket game.

The win propelled Foothill into today's 5 p.m. title game, where the Falcons will play the winner of a 3 p.m. semifinal between Las Vegas and Green Valley. If Foothill loses that game, the same teams will meet at 7 to determine the region title.

"They're our nemesis," Foothill coach Tom Mayes said of the Wildcats, noting Las Vegas edged his team twice in the championship round last year. "We always know the championship is going to go through them, and you're going to have some one- or two-run ballgames."

Brandy Yamka walked to lead off the second inning for Foothill. Taylor followed by driving a Jennifer Gliddon pitch over the center-field fence for her first homer of the season.

"Taylor's been playing well for us," Mayes said. "She's hit a lot of balls that have been right there."

The Wildcats threatened several times, but Medrano consistently responded by recording timely outs.

Medrano and Yamka each finished with two hits for Foothill, and Monique Hernandez went 2-for-3 to lead Las Vegas.

• Green Valley 6, Silverado 4

-- Annamarie Smith went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to help the Gators (23-9) eliminate the Skyhawks (22-6).

Jacqui Cappuccilli went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple to help Green Valley, which took a 4-0 lead in the third inning.

• Silverado 7, Liberty 6 -- The Skyhawks scored seven runs in the first three innings and held on to eliminate the Patriots.

Mikayla Thielges went 2-for-3 with a double to lead Silverado.

Liberty battled back in the seventh, cutting the deficit to 7-6 on a three-run homer by Danielle Brock.

• Green Valley 2, Rancho 1 -- Shelby Vickers singled in the bottom of the seventh to drive in the winning run for the Gators in their early game.

Vickers went 2-for-3 to lead Green Valley.