Two homers propel Sahuaro into title game
by Raymond Suarez on May. 08, 2008, under Sports
Sahuaro's Rebecca Mullin high-fives head coach Steve Sanchez after hitting a solo home run against Cienega in the top of the fourth Wedneday evening at Amphi High School. Sahuaro won 5-3.
The Sahuaro bats couldn’t be silenced this time.
Two home runs in the fourth inning off the bats of Rebecca Mullin and Breanna Beckel propelled the No. 7 Cougars to a 5-3 semifinal win over No. 3 Cienega on Wednesday night at Amphi High School.
The win avenged Sahuaro’s no-hit loss to Cienega in last week’s 4A Kino Region tournament championship game. More importantly, it put the Cougars in Friday’s Class 4A Division I state championship game in Phoenix against defending champion Canyon del Oro.
“This was the best swing of my life,” Beckel said of her two-run shot in the fourth. “I hit it and I didn’t even know it was gone. I thought it was hitting the fence. I put my head down and I ran as fast as I could.”
Beckel’s homer came a few at-bats after Mullin broke a scoreless tie with a leadoff homer in the inning.
Sahuaro coach Steve Sanchez had a feeling it was Mullin’s day.
“She has been stroking the ball,” Sanchez. “I felt Rebecca was going to get one out today. Beckel’s was a surprise. She just got all of it.”
Beckel, a senior, hit her first over-the-fence home run of her high school career.
Hanna Parrish, Sahuaro’s leadoff hitter, had three hits against Cienega ace Alexa Cash, who struck out nine Wednesday, the fifth time the teams faced off this season.
Combined with the first four games of the season, Cash had 56 strikeouts vs. Sahuaro this spring, highlighted by last week’s 18-strikeout, no-hit win.
Wednesday, Sahuaro hitters were up to the task.
“Being a left-handed hitter, it’s a lot easier to hit off of her because I can see her ball well. I have an extra second to see it,” Parrish said. “I had her timing down tonight.”
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Bobcats rallied with a three-run homer by Chelsea Hendryk off Sahuaro starter Kira White, who struck out eight.
“Our job is not done yet but we’re there,” Sanchez said. “This is not as happy as we want to be. We want to keep going one more time.”
For more musings on high school sports, check out the Grammer School sports blog.
Sahuaro's Deanna Newcomb slides safely home as Cienega pitcher Alexa Cash covers the plate in the fourth inning of the Class 4A Division I semifinals Wednesday. Sahuaro won 5-3.
Wednesday’s HS softball playoffs
Three Tucson-area softball teams advanced to state title games with semifinal wins on Wednesday.
Producer: Geoff Grammer/Tucson Citizen
