Walk-off blast by pitcher lifts Foothill to win

Foothill High pitcher Shelbie Medrano stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday without a home run to her credit in the 2008 season.

One pitch was all she needed to change that statistic, as she blasted a walk-off homer over the left-field fence to give the Falcons a dramatic 3-1 victory over Green Valley in the Sunrise Region softball championship game at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park.

The win lifted Foothill into next week's state tournament, which will be played in Reno.

"I thought (Green Valley pitcher Alicia Firelein) was going to quick-pitch me," Medrano said of her game-winning hit. "But she gave me a perfect pitch. I felt like it wasn't going to go out, but when it cleared, I was so happy."

The Gators (24-10) struck first, grabbing an unearned run in the fifth on a pair of Foothill errors.

But the Falcons got the run back in the bottom of the inning, tying the score at 1 when pinch runner Myranda Mortel scored from third on a wild pitch.

Both pitchers dominated through the next two innings until Firelein gave up a one-out single to Foothill's Amber Stater in the seventh. That set up the blast by Medrano that cleared the fence by inches.

Foothill coach Tom Mayes said Medrano's pitching was as important as her big hit.

"Her pitching kept us in the game," Mayes said. "You never know what's going to happen, and I knew if she kept it close we'd have a chance. And the timing of her first home run couldn't have been better."

Mayes said his team also picked the perfect time to peak. Though the Falcons improved to a modest 22-21 with the win, the coach said he knew a few weeks ago that he had a team capable of going deep into the postseason.

"During the first half of league play, we started hitting the ball well and we weren't making errors," Mayes said. "That's when I started thinking there was a chance we'd be in there."

Medrano finished with two of Foothill's three hits.

Firelein paced Green Valley's offense by going 2-for-3.

• Green Valley 12, Las Vegas 4 -- In the losers bracket semifinal, the Gators advanced by rallying past the Wildcats.

Alexandra Bodnar went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run to lead Green Valley, which trailed 3-0 in the first inning before taking control with two runs in the second and five more in the third. Teammate Shelby Vickers went 2-for-3 with a double.

Tiffini Lucero went 2-for-4 with a double to pace Las Vegas (19-8).