CDO players congratulate Ryan Cota after he scores a run against Cienega.
Ryan Retz gets an A-plus recalling his history batting against Cienega pitcher Seth Mejias-Brean.
Retz singled to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday night at Hi Corbett Field, driving home the winning run to lift Canyon del Oro to a 4-3 victory over Cienega in a Class 4A Division I quarterfinal game.
“I know Seth from history and he’s a fastball pitcher,” Retz said. “I have a lot of history with Seth. I’ve played with him and against him ever since my sophomore year.”
Retz connected on the second pitch from Mejias-Brean, who came in earlier in the inning to relieve Mario Sanchez, and lined the ball into right field to score Griffin Ronstadt from second base.
“I got a first-pitch fastball inside and the next pitch I was looking fastball away,” Retz said. “. . . I felt good with Griffin running. I knew he was going to score.”
The dramatic win was set up when Ronstadt reached base on a one-out infield hit. David Metz reached on a bunt single off Sanchez, bringing up Retz.
“The tougher the situation, the better (Retz) is,” CDO coach Len Anderson said.
The difference between winning and losing came down to one play for Cienega coach Todd Welch.
“Not making the play on Metz’s bunt was huge,” Welch said. “It allowed (Ronstadt) to get to second and in scoring position. That was the kicker.
“I went to Seth because I believed he would get the job done. I went with my best against their best and ended up on the short end of the stick.”
Cienega fought back from a 3-0 deficit with a run in the third and two in the fifth to tie the score 3-3. Michael Bregante accounted for two of the runs and Sanchez added an RBI.
CDO plays No. 10 Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor at 4 p.m. Friday at Tempe Diablo Stadium in the 4A-I semifinals.
Saturday’s 4A-I title game starts at 3 p.m. in Tempe Diablo Stadium and will be televised on Cox cable Channel 7.
No. 4 Scottsdale Chaparral 4, No. 5 Nogales 3: At Scottsdale, Nogales’ season came to an end at the hands of perennial power Chaparral.
The Apaches finish their season at 23-9-2.
No. 1 Glendale Cactus 6, No. 8 Catalina Foothills 3: At Glendale, Cactus senior right-hander James Fajardo was solid in picking up the win in the complete-game six-hitter.
The transfer from Phoenix Sunnyslope allowed six hits, struck out 12 and walked one.
Foothills had its chances, especially in the fourth inning when the first three hitters reached base, but the Falcons managed just one run off of Fajardo.
“I threw a lot of cutters, and my curveball wasn’t sharp (at the end of the season), but it was right on today,” Fajardo said. “I hadn’t thrown in a little over a week so I was fresh.”
Class 4A Division II
Sahuarita’s season ended at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Wednesday.
No. 6 Phoenix Greenway beat the No. 3 Mustangs 7-1 as Sahuarita finished the season with an 18-7 record.
For more on high school sports, check out the Grammer School sports blog.
Canyon del Oro's Ruben Rivera (right) is congratulated by Dorados teammate Doug Steele after Rivera scored during Wednesday night's game against Cienega. CDO won 4-3 to advance to Friday's 4A-I semifinal game against No. 10 Phoenix Sandra Day O'Connor at Tempe Diablo Stadium.