Roundup: View of pitching foe as equal boosts Cougars
by Don Ketchum on May. 06, 2008, under Sports
Sahuaro's Hanna Parrish (left) and Kayla Basye celebrate after scoring on a two-run double by Logan Hall during the first inning against Scottsdale Chaparral in the Class 4A Division I softball tournament on Monday.
PHOENIX – The Sahuaro High softball team took batting practice at 10:30 a.m. Monday, and the main subject of discussion was Scottsdale Chaparral star pitcher Mackenzie Popescue.
The Cougars knew Popescue, the starting pitcher in Monday night’s Class 4A division I quarterfinal game, was good, but Sahuaro coach Steve Sanchez emphasized that she is human.
Seventh-seeded Sahuaro jumped on Popescue early, scoring three first-inning runs, and went on to eliminate No. 2 Chaparral (25-7) with a 6-0 victory at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex in Phoenix.
Sahuaro (25-7) advances to Wednesday’s semifinal against Cienega, which defeated Peoria 3-2 on Monday. The Sahuaro-Cienega game will be played at a yet-to-be-determined Tucson-area location.
“We’re playing the way we felt we could at the beginning of the season,” Sanchez said. “We talked about (Popescue) putting her pants on one leg at a time, just like us, and we came into the game confident.”
In addition to some timely hitting, Sahuaro got a strong pitching effort from Kira White, who gave up four hits and struck out 13. She struck out the side in three straight innings – the second, third and fourth.
“She pitched lights out,” Sanchez said.
Said White: “I had heard of (Popescue), and I figured it would be a close game, 1-0 or something like that. I have been throwing better lately. I tried to look at every inning like it was 0-0. It definitely helped to get those early runs.”
Sahuaro shortstop Logan Hall, the cleanup hitter, drove in two first-inning runs with a double off the left-field fence on the first pitch she saw from Popescue.
The Cougars made it 4-0 in the third, scoring on an error, and virtually sewed up the game with two runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Rebecca Mullin.
No. 3 Cienega 3, No. 11 Peoria 2: At Phoenix, Cienega racked up 15 hits, led by a 3-for-3 showing from sophomore catcher Emily Pohl. Five Cienega hitters had multi-hit games.
In the circle, sophomore ace Alexa Cash was her usual dominant self, striking out 14 in the two-hit victory.
The Bobcats advance to the semifinals and improved their record to 25-8.
Wednesday’s semifinal will be the fifth meeting between Sahuaro and Cienega this season and will be a rematch of last week’s 4A Kino Region championship, which Cienega won 1-0 in 8 innings.
Cienega won three of the four previous meetings, but Sahuaro has outscored the Bobcats 5-4 on the season.
Class 5A-I softball
Sierra Vista Buena’s season ended at 25-8 Monday in Phoenix with a 2-0 loss to Phoenix Xavier in the elimination bracket.
2A/3A Tennis
The Pusch Ridge’s boys and girls tennis teams, both of which were 2A/3A South Region champions this season, advanced to the state tournament semifinals on Monday with wins at the Hilton El Conquistador.
The girls improved to 17-0 with a 5-2 win over Safford. The Lions capped the quarterfinal victory with a doubles win by Mya Towne and Jamie Shepherd, who on Saturday won the 2A/3A doubles state title in the individual tournament.
The Pusch Ridge girls will play Fountain Hills at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Phoenix Tennis Center in the semifinals.
In the boys tournament, Pusch Ridge defeated Miami 5-3 behind Derek Tilley’s 7-5, 6-1 win over Scott Allen in the No. 1 singles match.
The Lions boys team plays Phoenix Country Day at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Phoenix Tennis Center in the semifinals.
1A/2A golf
Immaculate Heart’s Ian Peterson shot a 1-over-par 72 Monday in the first round of the Class 1A/2A boys golf state tournament at Aguila Golf Course in Laveen.
Peterson is tied for third after day one of the two-day tournament, which concludes Tuesday.
Only 15 golfers in the 109-player field broke 80 on a windy day.
4A baseball
The Arizona Interscholastics Association announced Monday two baseball schedule changes affecting area teams.
The 4A-I quarterfinal game between No. 2 Sabino and No. 7 Catalina Foothills will be played at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Salpointe.
The game was changed from its previous location of Ironwood Ridge because of poor field conditions.
The 4A-II quarterfinal game between No. 10 Catalina an No. 15 Douglas will be played at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Nogales.
For more musings on high school sports, check out the Grammer School sports blog.
Monday’s HS softball playoffs
Monday’s HS softball playoffs
Three Tucson-area teams advanced to the 4A-I state softball tournament semifinals with wins on Monday. Here are pictures from Canyond del Oro’s 7-1 win over Sabino and Sahuaro’s 6-0 win over Scottsdale Chaparral. Cienega also won its quarterfinal game, beating Peoria 3-2.
Producer: Geoff Grammer
