Jenae Leles fields a grounder during practice at Hillenbrand Stadium Tuesday. Arizona plays its first NCAA Tournament game Friday.

During UA softball team practice sessions at Hillenbrand Stadium this week, Jenae Leles tried not to get too sentimental about the soothing confines.

When she looked around the stadium, there was a pang of regret.

“Just one more (game),” yearns the slugging senior Arizona third baseman, whose team faces Tennessee-Martin in Louisville, Ky., on Friday in an NCAA Tournament regional game.

Proper home season closure was denied the Wildcats. The squad never imagined it would play its last game at Hillenbrand on April 26.

The Pac-10 schedule made UA play its last seven regular season games on the road.

And then the NCAA decision denying the Wildcats’ bid to host an NCAA Tournament regional had them feeling cheated.

For Leles, who has 22 of the team’s NCAA record-tying 126 homers, many of them the skyshot variety, it’s a bittersweet affair.

Sweet because she can hardly ask for a more fruitful senior year; bitter for obvious reasons.

“You know, we’re still hoping we get (to host) a super regional,” she says. “That would next be fantastic.”

The notion might put some extra zing in the Wildcat bats as they go through the Louisville Regional this weekend. It could be a good chip on the shoulder to have.

UA has hit the long balls all year, but it’s not what the team focuses on.

“We never try to hit home runs,” Leles said. “That’s not what we’re taught. Our purpose is to drive the ball, make contact. We’ve been drilled with that from the beginning.”

Leles’ dad, John, played tennis at UA.

Leles, from Sacramento, Calif., said she could hardly believe her fortune when UA offered her the chance to join the tradition. Today she admits it’s a lot better to be wearing the red and blue then not.

“I don’t know if playing against Arizona is as intimidating now as it might have been. There is parity in softball,” she said. “But you like to think we still get people to be emotional about playing us. For us, we have to match it.”

Work with physical trainers allowed Leles to bloom into a power hitter.

Her home runs increased by five this year after she led the team with 17 a year ago.

She’s a problem for opposing pitchers because of her strength and the way she owns the plate. She’s taken an appropriate number of bruises for the Cats by being hit by pitches.

Whatever is needed.

Launching balls for homers has made fans notice her, but she wants her game to be grounded: make the tough plays at third base, take a pitch in the ribs when needed, stay consistent.

Arizona has had a different aura this year compared to others, because offense is the team’s strength.

But the pitching has come around in recent weeks.

“We work all year to peak (in) the postseason,” said Leles, who will play National Fast Pitch pro ball with the Rockford (Ill.) Thunder after her UA career.

“Pitching and defense . . . We’re always learning.”

———

NCAA SOFTBALL

UA’s games in the Louisville Regional won’t be on TV, but will be on 1290 AM. Go to www.tucsoncitizen.com/ua_softball for recaps and analysis.

Friday – Game 1: ARIZONA (41-14) vs. Tennessee-Martin (38-22), 1 p.m. Game 2: Louisville (47-9) vs. Purdue (29-18), 3 p.m.

Saturday – Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 a.m. Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9 a.m. Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, noon

Sunday – Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m. Game 7: Repeat, if needed, 1 p.m.

Softball is 1st-class sport, but NCAA treatment is not

UA senior first baseman Sam Banister practices at Hillenbrand Stadium. She was named to the All-Pac-10 second team on Wednesday. Stacie Chambers, Brittany Lastrapes and Jenae Leles received first-team honors. Story, 1C

When coach Mike Candrea began taking Arizona to the Women’s College World Series 21 years ago, the event was held in an out-of-the-way place in northern California.

Not San Francisco. Not even San Jose. Nearby Sunnyvale.

The venue for the event? If you’ve ever been to the Sports Park on the Northwest Side, you have the right image in your head.

“A four-field setup. Very basic,” Candrea remembered.

The infields in Sunnyvale had such a crown – designed to promote rain runoff into foul territory – that Candrea, standing in the third-base coaching box, had a hard time seeing plays at first base over the rise of the field.

“You couldn’t see the feet of the first baseman,” he said.

Let’s just say that two decades ago, college softball was just a half step up from the summer youth leagues.

Not exactly first class.

Since then – and Tucson can certainly attest to this – college softball has become one of the most visible women’s sports in the NCAA.

If the Wildcats navigate through the 2009 postseason – which begins at 1 p.m. Tucson time Friday in Louisville – they will end up in a world-class facility in Oklahoma City, in a game on ESPN, probably playing a team from the SEC.

That right there – the venue, the blanket coverage from the worldwide leader in sports and the rise of a powerful conference – are three reasons why softball has gone relatively mainstream in recent years.

Which makes it so frustrating when the NCAA continues to nickel and dime the sport.

“That will always be the case for this sport, no matter what,” Candrea said.

The local sports outrage of the moment is Arizona being sent to Louisville for a four-team regional. Nobody would appreciate having postseason home games more than Arizona fans.

The Wildcats have led the nation in attendance nine of the past 16 seasons. The school averaged a school-record average of 2,458 fans this year.

But the NCAA has 64 spots to fill in the softball postseason, including automatic qualifying spots to smaller Eastern conferences, whose teams have as much shot of winning the World Series as Harvard does the BCS football championship.

The NCAA is a slave to geography in arranging the regional sites, preferring to send one Western team east, rather than send three Eastern teams west. Save a few bucks on air fare.

Softball deserves better.

“From a coaching standpoint . . . I don’t worry about it,” Candrea said. “I just worry about getting the team prepared and going wherever you’re going. Like I tell the kids, at least you’re playing.”

Football and basketball have to pay the freight for everything else, but you would think there would be some loose change in the NCAA’s couch cushions from its TV megadeals.

The NCAA is in the midst of an 11-year, $6 billion deal with CBS to televise the men’s basketball tournament. The NCAA and ESPN reached an agreement in the fall on a four-year, $500 million deal for the rights to televise four of the five BCS bowl games, including the title game.

But, apparently, it is too much to ask for the NCAA to send Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State a little farther to Tucson rather than have them play in a regional at Arizona State.

The Sun Devils are seeded one spot below ninth-seeded Arizona and finished 3 1/2 games behind the Wildcats in the Pac-10 standings.

But ASU, not Arizona, gets the home regional because of geography.

Nickels and dimes.

Candrea shrugs.

“I’m too old to fight the battle anyway,” he said.

Someone asked me the other day about my favorite memories across two decades or so of being a sports reporter/columnist in Tucson. My answer was that there were too many to mention, but that, without question, I would rather cover softball than anything else.

Part of that is because the sport is charmingly small. You rarely find oversize egos. You find athletes appreciative of their opportunities.

There are chances to tell untold stories. But the sport isn’t as small as the NCAA makes it out to be this time of year.

It’s a shame there is no college softball at Hillenbrand Stadium this weekend.

Anthony Gimino’s e-mail: agimino@tucsoncitizen.com

Candrea

———

RADIO, ONLINE COVERAGE

UA’s games in the Louisville Regional won’t be on TV, but will be on 1290 AM. Go to www.tucsoncitizen.com/ua_softball for updates.

Friday – Game 1: ARIZONA (41-14) vs. Tennessee-Martin (38-22), 1 p.m. Game 2: Louisville (47-9) vs. Purdue (29-18), 3 p.m.

Saturday – Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 a.m. Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9 a.m. Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, noon

Sunday – Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m. Game 7: Repeat, if needed, 1 p.m.

Winning regional, ‘matter of coming together,’ slugger Leles says

The Arizona softball team got five minutes Sunday to grouse about not getting to host an NCAA regional.

Then the Wildcats were instructed by coach Mike Candrea to “let it go.”

Arizona was sent to Louisville, Ky., where it opens against Tennessee-Martin on Friday.

“You have to get over the anger,” said UA senior third baseman Jenae Leles, who is second on the team in home runs (22).

There are other immediate matters at hand, like facing the postseason with peak performance and synchronizing all those necessary cylinders – namely pitching and defense to go with the team’s powerful offense.

The next homer by UA will break the NCAA – and school – season record of 126 dingers.

There are variables to consider, such as the humidity. There’s also the fact UA will face opponents that, while not highly rated, are capable of sending the Wildcats home heartbroken.

Leles, whose power shots are legend, said criticism that the Cats are just a bomber team is passe.

“I think we have proved the last few weeks that we can win with pitching and defense, too,” she said. “It’s all a matter of coming together.”

If Arizona tradition still intimidates foes, parity in college softball has diminished it.

“Our job, especially in the postseason, is to get higher than the emotional level of a team we play,” Leles said. “Tradition, though, can motivate us.”

What hurts the most for the seniors is they weren’t prepared to have their season end at home before May, as the weird 2009 schedule demanded.

“But there is still a chance that we can host the super regional next week,” Leles said.

In the meantime, politics means nothing on the field.

“Coach told us to get used to (politics),” she said. “It’s not so much we see it in softball but more than we will see it in life.”

———

LOUISVILLE REGIONAL

Friday

Game 1: UA vs. Tennessee-Martin

Game 2: Louisville vs. Purdue

Saturday

Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner

Sunday

Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Game 7: Same teams (if necessary)

CDO ace has thrown three straight no-hitters

Canyon del Oro High School's Kenzie Fowler pitches part of a perfect game at home in the first round of the Class 4A-I playoffs Saturday. CDO defeated Desert View 10-0. At left is second baseman Lindsey Weldon.

Maybe the four years Kenzie Fowler spent at Canyon del Oro High School are, to many people in Tucson, a mere prelude to her impending pitching career at the University of Arizona.

But the final chapter Fowler is writing for her storybook prep career might make whatever she does at the next level pale in comparison to what is arguably the greatest high school sports career in Tucson history.

It’s certainly the most dominant among those playing a team sport.

The reigning Gatorade national softball player of the year has thrown three straight no-hitters, including two perfect games, all against teams qualifying for the Class 4A Division I playoffs.

Saturday, she led CDO to a 10-0 win over Desert View in the first round of the 4A-I playoffs.

In addition to her pitching, she hit a first-inning home run easily clearing the center field wall (her seventh homer of the season), had a two-run single and was hit by a pitch.

Against Desert View, as she did April 30 against Marana, Fowler struck out 14 of the 15 batters she faced, as both games were called after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

In the three-game streak, Fowler has struck out 43 hitters and dropped her ERA to 0.06 (one run allowed in 125 innings).

And how does Fowler feel about the recent stretch of domination?

“I have a streak?” she asked, genuinely unaware what reporters were asking her about.

When told she had just tossed her third-straight no-hitter, Fowler quickly jumped into safety mode – never saying something that would come across as arrogant or self-serving and certainly never one to offer up bulletin board material.

“Oh, yeah that’s great,” Fowler said. “You know I try to do my best and all that.”

Fowler then went on to talk about how easy it is to pitch knowing the defense behind her will “get to any ball” hit into play – even if she’s rarely giving them a chance to prove that lately – and about how emotional senior day was with her teammates.

Never once would she take the bait lured in front of her to give a me-first answer, only further leading to the reason so many in Tucson seem to be pulling for her.

“Tucson is fortunate to have great softball and you’re going to come across (some great) players,” said Desert View coach Bert Otero, whose team’s season had just come to an end at the hands of Fowler. “But Kenzie Fowler is a special kid.

“It’s not all about softball. It’s about how she carries herself. It’s about being a classy young lady and that’s what you really have to appreciate.”

As much as it may seem like a distant memory now, and as much as us annoying media types repeated the story over and over, it can’t be ignored that the life-threatening medical scare forcing Fowler off the U.S. Junior Olympic team two summers ago that left her hospitalized for nearly two weeks.

After dominating the 4A-I playoffs as a sophomore in 2007 – CDO won four playoff games and a state title by outscoring opponents 14-0 with Fowler throwing every inning – seven inches of blood clots that had formed in her powerful right pitching arm had worked their way toward her heart, only being discovered after her arm began turning purple in a summer workout.

Multiple surgeries later, it appeared Fowler’s life would be saved, but her pitching career was doubtful at best.

Instead, she went on to be named the best pitcher in the country as a junior and only got more dominant as a senior, when she got to finally sign her scholarship papers to play for UA and officially become a Wildcat.

She’s pitched every playoff inning for CDO since she’s been in high school, leading the Dorados to three straight state championship games, including winning the past two titles.

She’s struck out 298 batters and walked 14 this season and has a 22-2 record with both losses coming in 1-0 games.

Her career numbers are equally hard to fathom.

In four years, Fowler has a 102-8 record with 1,403 strikeouts. She’s gone 12-1 in state playoff games with her only loss coming to Glendale Cactus in the 2006 state championship game when she was a freshman.

Cactus, coincidentally, is the team traveling to Tucson on Tuesday to face Fowler in the 4A-I quarterfinals, the final time she’ll pitch at CDO.

Should CDO win the 4 p.m. game, the 4A-I semifinals are Thursday and the state title game is Saturday.

Both games are scheduled to be played in Phoenix, but if both teams are Tucson-area teams, they could be moved to a neutral location in southern Arizona.

How cool would it be if the game was at UA’s Hillenbrand Stadium?

Fowler long ago etched her name atop the list of Tucson’s great prep softball players.

And while the argument can be made some multisport stars of yesteryear did more in multiple sports or stars who went on to storied collegiate and professional careers like Sean Elliott and Fat Lever became more well known, it’s hard to argue anyone ever dominated a team sport quite like Fowler has done.

And with one week left of her high school career, Fowler has every intention of writing the perfect ending.

For more on high school sports, check out the Grammer School sports blog.

Kenzie Fowler, who has pitched every playoff inning for Canyon del Oro since she's been in high school, will be playing for the University of Arizona in the fall.

———

FOWLER’S FINAL ACT

Canyon del Oro High School pitcher Kenzie Fowler has saved her best for last. Her stats during her last three games:

No-hitters – 3

Perfect games – 2

Record – 3-0

IP – 17

Ks – 43

BB – 1

ERA – 0.00

NEARLY PERFECT

Kenzie’s Fowler season stats for CDO:

> ERA: 0.06

> Innings: 125

> Earned runs: 1

> Strikeouts: 298

> Walks: 14

> Record: 22-2

> Career record: 102-8

UA pitcher Sarah Akamine and the Wildcats were sent to Louisville, Ky., on Sunday.

RELATED: Future Cat throws third-straight no-hitter

For the second straight season, the Arizona softball team is left stumped and sent packing to start the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 9-seeded Wildcats (41-14), instead of getting a home spot in the NCAA regionals, will be shipped to Louisville, Ky., to play Tennessee-Martin (38-22) in first-round play Friday at 1 p.m.. Host Louisville (47-9) will face Purdue (29-18) about 3 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament, with play continuing through Sunday. The games won’t be televised.

“I have no idea why we didn’t get a regional,” said coach Mike Candrea, who will lead the Wildcats to their 23rd straight NCAA Tournament. UA started 17 of those at home.

An upset loss to Oregon on the road Thursday probably sank the Cats on an otherwise delightful weekend in which they matched the 2001 school season record of 126 home runs.

Wins Friday and Saturday at Oregon State gave them a third-place finish in the Pac-10, identical to last year when they had to travel to first-round regional play at Hempstead, N.Y.

Defending national champion Arizona State, which finished behind UA in the Pac-10 with a 10-11 record and was swept in three games by the Cats, will host a regional instead.

“The kids are disappointed because ASU got a regional,” said Candrea, who has led UA to eight NCAA titles. “But the important thing is we are playing.

“In order to win (the title) you have to win on the road, so we might as well start now. We’re going to forget it and move forward.”

Stanford, which finished behind UA in league play, also will host a regional.

The Cats were ranked No. 6 in the USA TODAY/NFCA poll and No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll last week plus had a NCAA RPI rating of No. 7 before their 2-1 weekend on a loss at Oregon and a two-game sweep at Oregon State.

Louisville was No. 17 in last week’s NFCA poll and 18th in the USA Softball rankings.

“It’s not unexpected, since it happened last year,” Candrea said about not hosting. “(Still) I have no idea what the committee is thinking, to tell you the truth.”

The regional pits the winners of Games 1 and 2 in Louisville in Game 3 on Saturday, with the loser of that game playing later in Game 5, the second elimination contest.

The winner of the Louisville regional will square off against the winner of the Palo Alto regional featuring host Stanford, the No. 8 overall seed. If Arizona and Stanford win, the super regional likely would be held at Stanford.

Tennessee Martin won the school’s first Ohio Valley Conference title to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid.

The Skyhawks are led by pitcher Kara Harper, who is 20-8 and the school’s all-time winningest pitcher with 41 victories.

For host Louisville, Melissa Roth has 14 homers and is three shy of the school’s all-time season record.

Purdue, which finished in sixth in the Big Ten, defeated UCLA earlier in the season. Third baseman Lione Harluchi leads the Purdue offense with a .336 average and 24 RBIs.

Regional notes

• The Wildcats have won regionals on the road in Tempe (1989), Tallahassee, Fla. (1996), Minneapolis (2002) and Hempstead, N.Y. (2008). The Cats won 16 of the 17 regionals played in Tucson, losing only in 2004.

• Arizona is 20-2 in first-round games of the NCAA Tournament in 22 different appearances. The losses came in 1987 to Arizona State at Tempe, 4-3, and to ASU in Tucson in 1990, 1-0.

• Last season, UA assistant coach Larry Ray led the Wildcats to a super regional win over Oklahoma in Tucson to earn the Wildcats’ 20th appearance in the College World Series. Candrea missed the tournament while coaching the U.S. Olympic team, as he did in 2004.

• Arizona finished 13-7 in rugged Pac-10 play for third place behind champion UCLA (16-5) and Washington (14-7). A UA game at Cal was rained out May 1 and the Wildcats finished a half-game ahead of Stanford (13-8).

———

LOUISVILLE REGIONAL

(Tucson times)

Friday

Game 1: UA vs. Tennessee-Martin, 1 p.m.

Game 2: Louisville vs. Purdue, about 3 p.m.

Saturday

Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 a.m.

Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9 a.m.

Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, noon

Sunday

Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m.

Game 7: Same teams (if necessary), 1 p.m.

———

SCOUTING UA’S REGIONAL FOES

Tennessee-Martin

Nickname: Skyhawks

Conference: Ohio Valley

Record: 38-22, 13-10 conference

Top pitchers: Kara Harper, 20-8, 1.70 ERA, 98 strikeouts; Palj Lintz, 11-7, 1.91 ERA, 100 strikeouts

Top hitters: Megan Williams, .340, 34 RBIs; Jenny Bain, .325, 14 HRs, 34 RBIs.

Did you know? This is the first NCAA softball tournament bid for the Skyhawks.

Louisville

Nickname: Cardinals

Conference: Big East

Record: 47-9, 19-5 conference

Top pitcher: Kristen Wadwell, 40-8, 1.39 ERA, 244 strikeouts

Top hitters: Melissa Roth, .431, 16 HRs, 51 RBIs; Chelsea Bemis, .382, 8 HRs, 43 RBIs.

Did you know? Louisville fell 3-0 to Notre Dame in the Big East semifinals.

Purdue

Nickname: Boilermakers

Conference: Big Ten

Record: 29-18, 12-8 conference

Top pitcher: Suzie Rzegocki, 23-11, 1.40 ERA, 184 strikeouts

Top hitters: Liane Horiuchi, .348, 2 RBIs, 12 doubles; Candace Curtis, .305, 27 RBIs, 13 doubles

Did you know? Dana Alcocer, a former Canyon del Oro High and Pima Community College pitcher, has a 4-7 record with a 4.85 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 73.2 innings for Purdue.

———

TOP 16 SOFTBALL SEEDS

1. Florida. 2. UCLA. 3. Washington. 4. Alabama. 5. Michigan. 6. Georgia. 7. Oklahoma. 8. Stanford. 9. ARIZONA. 10. Arizona State. 11. Ohio State. 12. Northwestern. 13. Tennessee. 14. Georgia Tech. 15. DePaul. 16. Florida State

The University of Arizona softball team dropped its third straight game Thursday, losing 2-1 at Oregon in 10 innings.

Lindsey Chambers hit a one-out double to score her twin sister, Kelsey, to give the Ducks (16-32, 3-16) the win.

UA (11-7, 39-14) was in first place in the Pac-10 last week, but has fallen to fourth. The Wildcats trail first-place UCLA by two games.

Sarah Akamine (18-6) went the distance for UA, allowing seven hits and striking out 10.

Oregon’s Sam Skillingstad picked up the win, striking out eight in 10 innings.

UA got its only run on Stacie Chambers’ 27th homer of the year in the fifth to tie the game at 1.

Chambers, Brittany Lastrapes and Lauren Schutzler all had two hits for UA.

The Wildcats play at Oregon State at 3 p.m. Friday. UA will then wrap up its season with a noon game Saturday at OSU.

• Junior catcher Chambers is one of 10 finalists for the national player of the year award.

The award is sponsored by the Amateur Softball Association of America, which is the national governing body of softball.

The three finalists will be announced May 20, while the winner will be announced prior to the start of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City next month.

Cats savor sweep of ASU after losses last season

Arizona State's Michelle Nulliner slides into second as Arizona's Victoria Kemp tries to turn the double play at Farrington Stadium in Tempe on Wednesday. A pair of wins over the Sun Devils put Arizona in a good position to host a postseason regional tourney.

TEMPE – The Arizona softball team had been angry for the past year.

The Wildcats were upset when Arizona State swept them for the first time in 20 years last season. Wednesday night, No. 7 UA exacted revenge.

UA secured the season sweep over the Sun Devils with two victories at Farrington Stadium.

“It feels good,” said UA second baseman Victoria Kemp, who had two home runs between the two games against No. 6 ASU. “It was a team effort. It’s not just one person.”

The Wildcats won the first game, a continuation of a rain-postponed contest that began April 11 in Tucson, 3-2. They won the second game 10-6.

“This hurts,” ASU center fielder Katie Cochran said, “but we just have to move on from this and learn as a team because that’s all we can do.”

The wins moved UA (39-11, 11-4 Pac-10) into first place in the Pac-10, a half-game ahead of UCLA. The Wildcats are in a good position to host an NCAA regional.

UA has six more Pac-10 games left, and all are on the road, starting in the Bay Area this weekend.

The first contest was a pitcher’s duel The teams combined for only four hits when the game was resumed in the bottom of the third inning.

Sarah Akamine (18-5) picked up the win, allowing two runs on six hits, while striking out seven.

Kemp homered in the fourth inning to put UA up for good. She was 2 for 3 at the plate, as was Lauren Schutzler.

The second game was a slugfest. UA posted four hits and five runs in the first inning.

Their first inning was powered by two home runs, one from Jenae Leles and the other from Kemp.

ASU (37-13, 7-8) came back to tie the game in the third inning, but UA scored three runs in the fourth and held the lead the rest of the way.

“You never like to lose against UA,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “We didn’t play as well as we can. You’re not going to win games like that.”

Lindsey Sisk improved to 12-3 despite allowing nine hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings in the second game.

Brittany Lastrapes had three hits for UA, while driving in three runs. Leles posted three RBIs.

———

PAC-10 STANDINGS

School Conf. Overall

Arizona 11-4 39-11

UCLA 10-4 35-8

Stanford 10-5 41-6

Washington 8-6 35-9

California 8-7 32-15

Arizona State 7-8 37-13

Oregon State 3-12 24-25

Oregon 2-13 15-29 UP NEXT: Arizona at California, 1 p.m. Friday

Arizona pitcher Sarah Akamine hopes to fare well against ASU.

There’s nothing left but road games in the regular season for the Arizona softball team, and the Wildcats will have to win their share if they want to get back home.

UA finishes the season with eight consecutive road games, starting with something of a doubleheader at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Arizona State.

The teams will conclude a suspended game from April 11 in Tucson. UA, still the designated home team, will be batting in the bottom of the third with Jenae Leles on first base and no outs. The score is tied at 2.

After that game, the teams will play their regularly scheduled game.

Arizona (37-11 overall, 9-4 Pac-10) is one-half game behind league-leading UCLA (10-4). ASU is 37-11 and 7-6.

How teams finish in the league is one factor in determining which schools get to play host to an NCAA regional, which starts May 15.

Seventh-ranked Arizona can help its cause by finishing ahead of Arizona State. Traditionally, the NCAA does not award home regionals to both schools.

“There is a lot on the line there,” UA coach Mike Candrea said of Wednesday’s games.

UA will bus back to Tucson after the games and leave Thursday afternoon for the Bay Area. The Wildcats play 13th-ranked Cal on Friday and third-ranked Stanford on the weekend.

“The way I look at it is that it’s going to prepare us,” Candrea said of the season-ending stretch. “If you’re going to win this thing you have to win it on the road.”

The Wildcats have hit 111 home runs, the second-best season mark in NCAA history. Arizona’s 2001 team holds the record at 126.

Arizona hit five homers in an 11-0 victory against Washington’s second-string staff on Sunday, but it was shut down by the Huskies’ Danielle Lawrie and UCLA’s Megan Langenfeld in the games before that.

“We have a long ways to go,” Candrea said. “This team has to learn how to compete against the great pitchers.”

———

UA SOFTBALL

Wednesday: at ASU, 5 p.m. (completion game) and 7 p.m.

Friday: at Cal, 3 p.m.

Saturday: at Stanford, 1 p.m.

Sunday: at Stanford, noon

Torn tendon in wrist likely ends season for Roth

Arizona head coach Mike Candrea shakes hands with Sam Banister as she rounds third base after hitting one of her two home runs Sunday against Washington.

Laine Roth couldn’t swing a bat. She couldn’t take a throw at first base. She’s not a pitcher.

On Senior Day – for a player who was a third-team All-American last season, for a player who has a torn tendon in her left wrist, for a player who has to come to grips that her college playing days are very possibly over – there really was only one thing she could do.

Pinch run.

Coach Mike Candrea sent in Roth for one of the team’s fleetest players with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and the game out of reach.

The next batter made an out, and then the Wildcats closed out a five-inning 11-0 victory over Washington at Hillenbrand Stadium on Sunday.

Cue the on-field Senior Day festivities. Cue the tears.

For Roth, those started about two hours before the game at the stadium.

She heard UA officials running through the maudlin music they play after the game – such as the main theme to “Forrest Gump” – to accompany the text of each senior’s accomplishments.

“I carry my heart on my sleeve, always have,” she said.

For Roth, the emotions were stronger and more complicated because of that torn tendon.

A cortisone shot a couple of weeks ago didn’t help. She played Friday night against UCLA, but the pain was so great that she lost her grip on the bat in her final plate appearance, nearly clobbering on-deck hitter Lini Koria.

“That was it. That was the moment right there,” she said.

“I had hopes it would be fine. But why swing the bat if you can’t hold on to it and you’re going to kill your on-deck batter?

Her prognosis?

“I’m done,” she said.

Candrea holds out slim hope as the regular season heads into its final two weeks. He said they will try another shot to Roth’s wrist.

“If she has a few pinch-hits left in her, we can definitely use her there,” he said.

That doesn’t seem likely, and Roth hasn’t been able to do much this season, coming off her best year as a Wildcat. She hit .328 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs last season.

Roth suffered the wrist injury in the second week of the season but tried to carry on without telling the coaches how badly she was hurt. Surgery would have ended her season. She is hitting .206 with four home runs.

“If she was a junior, then probably she would have come to grips with it sooner,” Candrea said.

One of her best friends, fellow senior Sam Banister, wrote Roth’s number – 24 – on her wrist for Sunday’s game. Banister, who has shared first base with Roth for much of the past three seasons, hit two home runs Sunday.

“I told her I claimed one of her homers,” Roth said with a laugh.

The Wildcats slugged five homers against a pair of Washington pitchers not named Danielle Lawrie, a sure-fire All-American who is 2-0 against Arizona this season, including a no-hitter.

Lawrie, the winner in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over UA, got the day off.

“If we are going to win 11-0 against their ‘B’ Team, I would rather do that than anything else,” Banister said.

Arizona improved to 37-11 overall and 9-4 in the Pac-10, a half game behind first-place UCLA.

Roth just wanted to play on Senior Day, even if pinch-running wasn’t the stuff of dreams.

But if that is her final appearance – she doesn’t have the speed to make pinch-running a regular occurrence – she will move on and do whatever she can for the team the rest of the way.

“I’m just pretty much going to be their cheerleader,” Roth said of her teammates.

“I’ll be pumping them up . . . just talking to them if they’re having a bad day. Just let them know they’re the best people. They wouldn’t be here if they’re not the best.

“They’re like my sisters. They’re here for me.”

Roth helped Arizona win national championships in 2006 and 2007. Even as a head cheerleader, she isn’t ready for the ride to end. The finality of it all hits the seniors right about now.

“Four years of hard work,” she said. “I can’t believe it happened so fast.”

Arizona's Karissa Buchanan is tagged out by Washington shortstop Jennifer Salling on Sunday. Buchanan was trying to steal second base. The Wildcats won 11-0 in five innings.

———

UP NEXT: Arizona at Arizona State, doubleheader, 5 p.m. Wednesday

PAC-10 STANDINGS

School Conf. Overall

UCLA 10-4 35-8

Arizona 9-4 37-11

Stanford 10-5 41-6

Washington 8-6 35-9

Arizona State 7-6 37-11

California 8-7 32-15

Oregon State 3-12 24-25

Oregon 2-13 15-29

Arizona gets only four hits against UCLA’s unbeaten Langenfeld

After a 2-1 loss to second-ranked UCLA on Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium, Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea took several minutes to stress to his team that it had better get used to close games.

The Wildcats are sure to be in their share of down-to-the-wire battles the rest of the season.

Despite losing to the Bruins, No. 10 Arizona stayed in first place at 8-3 in the Pac-10 over UCLA, which is 8-4.

Arizona ran into pitcher Megan Langenfeld, who beat the Wildcats earlier this year in Los Angeles.

Friday, Langenfeld (9-0) allowed four hits and struck out eight in cooling the red-hot UA bats.

“She had our number,” Candrea said. “We did not make the adjustments. I didn’t see anything different than what she was doing to us at UCLA . . .

“I thought we competed hard but at times we didn’t compete smart. We hit the panic button on numerous at-bats.”

Arizona (36-10) got its only run on Brittany Lastrapes’ 14th homer of the year in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 2-1.

“We never got it going,” Lastrapes said. “We never had runners in scoring position. We never got started offensively, which is strange.

“We tried to do too much instead of getting base hits.”

Sarah Akamine (16-5) threw five scoreless innings before the Bruins got two runs in the top of the sixth. The big hit was a two-run single from Dani Yudin.

“There was a lot of pressure in this game. But like coach (Candrea) said, we have to get used to playing these types of games,” Akamine said. “That’s all we’re going to see from here on out.”

———

UA SOFTBALL

The UA softball team holds its final regular-season games this weekend at Hillenbrand Stadium:

Saturday: Washington, 7 p.m.

Sunday: Washington, noon

This year’s team came in with low expectations but is drawing record crowds

Arizona pitcher Sarah Akamine in action during the game against Stanford.

The only thing missing from Arizona home softball games has been Linda Ronstadt herself.

Does she even know? Quick. Someone call her agent since she’s in town for the Tucson International Mariachi Conference.

From the very first game at the on-campus Hillenbrand Stadium, dating to Feb. 13, 1993, the same Ronstadt song has blared over the loudspeakers every time the Wildcats take the field for the first inning.

“I love it,” said senior Sam Banister. “You feel home. That’s how you feel. It’s like, ‘Here I am, I’m home.’ ”

Home. There has been no place like it for Arizona, which has led the nation in attendance in eight of the past 15 years and is on pace to shatter its season record as it heads into this weekend’s final regular-season homestand.

Winning is Arizona’s biggest tradition – we’ll get into all the numbers in a bit – but another tradition is that catchy Ronstadt song.

It’s not your typical ballpark fare, for sure, but her “Palomita de Ojos Negros” from her 1990 release “Mas Canciones” has become as much Arizona softball as the colors cardinal and navy. Shoot, I’m whistling the darn tune as I write this, and I can’t possibly be alone among the Hillenbrand regulars who will, apropos of nothing, start humming the song six months after the season ends.

“I would feel a little nervous if I didn’t hear it,” said Arizona’s notoriously superstitious coach Mike Candrea. “It has become an element of our tradition.”

Totally by accident, of course.

UA sports information director Tom Duddleston is of a certain age to have heard Ronstadt sing with the Stone Poneys on Tucson’s Sixth Street in the late 1960s. He was a fan. He had a copy of “Mas Canciones.” On cassette. For whatever reason, he played it as Hillenbrand Stadium opened.

“We said, ‘That sounded pretty good. Let’s play it again,’ ” Duddleston said.

And so they did.

Another track from the same album, “La Mariquita,” plays during the middle of the first inning. “You hear the other team saying, ‘Oh, what is this music?’ ” Banister said. “And, we’re like, ‘You know what, you have no idea we’re about to come over here and beat you guys up.’ ”

There has been a lot of that over the past 16 seasons.

Arizona is 491-40 at Hillenbrand, including an NCAA-record 70-game winning streak early this decade.

Arizona is 181-25 in Pac-10 games at Hillenbrand.

Arizona is 51-5 in NCAA tournament games at Hillenbrand.

This season has been more of the same, with a 22-1 record at home.

The strange thing is, this season began with the lowest UA expectations of any season since Hillenbrand opened. Arizona doesn’t have its usual ace pitcher but is countering with the best offense in the country.

The Wildcats have slugged 105 home runs, 21 shy of the NCAA record set by UA’s 2001 team.

Seventh-ranked Arizona is 36-9 overall and leads the Pac-10 with an 8-2 mark.

“I think people just didn’t expect us to be good, and they’re kind of coming out here to watch a miracle, almost,” Banister said. “Not in our eyes, but in their eyes. We expected this.”

Arizona is averaging 2,426 fans per game, significantly better than the school record of 1,877, set last season when the team had popular pitcher Taryne Mowatt.

Capacity is 2,956, and there are no immediate plans for expansion – although Candrea, only half-jokingly, said if he had to do build it all over again, he would have put a bathroom in the dugout.

“I think we have developed a good fan base, and they like the game, they like the kids. And they like winning,” Candrea said, trying to explain the spike in attendance this season.

“I think a lot of it, too, is the growth of softball. We see more and more kids here than we used to. I think the growth of softball in the city of Tucson and all over has definitely helped create more fan base.”

Sunday will bring one more tradition to Hillenbrand. Senior Day festivities will be held after the game, and UA officials tend to make it an emotional, downright sappy, tear-inducing affair. Banister, an infielder/outfielder, is one of six seniors, including third baseman Jenae Leles and first baseman Laine Roth. Walk-ons Jill Malina, Jen Martinez and Mandy Monge also will be honored.

“OK, this is the thing,” said Banister, preparing herself for some Sunday waterworks.

“Normally, I wear, you know, a good amount of makeup because I try to protect my face and I want to look pretty for the games. But I don’t think I will be able to wear that much makeup because if I was a mess the last three years, I don’t even want to know what I’m going to be like that day.”

Banister adds that she doesn’t really expect it to be Arizona’s final home game of the season. A Pac-10 title would nearly assure postseason home games at Hillenbrand.

Which, of course, is another fine tradition.

Can Linda make those?

Anthony Gimino’s e-mail: agimino@tucsoncitizen.com

———

SENIOR WEEKEND

The UA softball team holds its final regular-season homestand this weekend at Hillenbrand Stadium, where the Wildcats are averaging a school record 2,426 fans this year:

Friday: UCLA at UA, 7 p.m.

Saturday: Washington at UA, 7 p.m.

Sunday: Washington at UA, noon

———

PAC-10 STANDINGS

Pac-10 Overall

ARIZONA 8-2 36-9

Washington 7-4 34-7

UCLA 7-4 32-8

Arizona State 6-4 36-9

Stanford 7-5 37-6

California 5-7 29-15

Oregon State 3-9 22-22

Oregon 2-10 13-26

Cal is latest victim slammed by a dinger after giving a free trip

Sam "Bam" Banister, shown here in practice early in the season, hit in the winning runs against Cal.

Cheers from the dugout accompanied Arizona’s Sam “Bam” Banister to the plate Sunday against Cal.

They were cheers of anticipation as the intentional walk to teammate Stacie Chambers was completed.

“She knows,” said teammate Brittany Lastrapes of Banister’s uncanny follow through of the script: a home run.

“All I wanted to do was get a good pitch to hit,” said senior Banister. She smacked the ball high over the right-center field wall with her team behind 5-4 in the sixth inning.

It was the third straight time Banister has homered after an intentional pass to Chambers. It gave UA an eventual 7-5 win and improved the Wildcats’ record to to 36-9 overall, 8-2 in the Pac-10.

Last week against Arizona State, Chambers was intentionally walked twice in a game. Banister followed with a three-run homer each time.

It’s hard to fault opponents for walking Chambers, who leads the country with 26 homers and 79 RBIs after hitting a solo home run Sunday.

Banister wasn’t expecting a homer against No. 14 Cal, but she was confident she’d get a nice rip and she did, blasting her 12th homer.

Banister has heard the doubts people have about the UA pitching staff, but feels her team, ranked No. 9 nationally, should be first.

“I would say we should be No. 1,” she said. “Our pitching has settled down. They are locating the ball better.”

Jen Martinez (9-3) picked up the win in relief of Sarah Akamine. Martinez got into a bit of a jam in the top of the seventh by letting two runners on, but Karissa Buchanan made a nice catch on Taylor Kelly’s towering drive.

Kelly’s grand slam in the fourth inning capped Cal’s five-run outburst that chased Akamine.

“She’s saved my butt more times than I can count,” said Martinez of Buchanan.

“I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself, not relaxed enough.”

The Wildcats lead the Pac-10 race, but a No. 1 overall ranking isn’t on coach Mike Candrea’s mind.

“The girls can enjoy a big win,” he said, “I can’t until the last one (NCAA finals). That’s a long way off and we have a long way to go.”

———

POWER SURGE

UA has clubbed 105 homers in 45 games this year. The team’s top long-ball hitters:

HR RBI

Stacie Chambers 26 79

Jenae Leles 20 56

Brittany Lastrapes 13 48

Sam Banister 12 44

Lini Koria 10 40

UP NEXT: UCLA at Arizona, 7 p.m. Friday; Washington at Arizona, 7 p.m., Saturday; Washington at Arizona, noon, Sunday.

Wildcats put on fireworks display at the plate

Stanford's Shannon Koplitz is forced out by University of Arizona third baseman Jenae Leles on Friday night at UA.

The University of Arizona now has 99 reasons it may be the most underrated softball team in the nation.

No. 2-ranked Stanford took the brunt of another UA fireworks display as No. 9 Arizona (34-9, 6-2) routed the visiting Cardinal 12-4 in six innings on Friday.

Jenae Leles’ three-run, first-inning homer powered UA to a quick lead as the Wildcats took over sole possession of first place in the Pac-10, moving a game ahead of Stanford (36-5, 6-4).

“It’s hard for any team to come back after that,” said Leles who has 20 of Arizona’s 99 season homers, just 26 short of the NCAA record which was set by the 2001 Wildcats.

“Everybody feels they are going to hit the ball hard,” said UA coach Mike Candrea. “When you can hit right away it gives you that invincible feeling.”

The assignment certainly didn’t appear easy. Stanford threw pitcher Missy Penna and her 0.90 ERA, which is now heightened a bit.

“She’s not overpowering, but she has good movement,” Leles said. “It wasn’t working tonight. We had to decide how the umpire was calling them and I was able in the first to sit on her pitches.”

Leles hit the ball to the top row of the left field bleachers. K’Lee Arredondo followed with a two-run bomb in the third and Brittany Lastrapes added a three-run shot in the sixth.

Lini Koria ended the game with two outs in the sixth with an RBI single to enforce the mercy rule.

The game’s momentum easily could have gone to Stanford as UA pitcher Sarah Akamine (15-4) allowed the first two hitters to single.

But Arredondo dived to snare a line drive and the pitcher, used to living dangerously this year, got out of another jam.

“K’Lee save me,” Akamine said. “I get into situations, but I know the defense is behind me.”

Candrea is resigned to the Cats’ power game being the key to this year’s success and was not thrilled with three errors. But Akamine again pitched on guts, allowing two earned runs.

“She can’t give the hitters too much credit,” Candrea said. “Then she gets too careful and gets behind. She was aggressive tonight.”

———

UP NEXT

Saturday: No. 14 California (28-13, 5-5) at Arizona (34-9, 6-2), 7 p.m. Radio: 1290 AM. Sunday: Cal at UA, noon

There wasn’t any hesitation on the part of Pima Community College softball coach Armando Quiroz when Katie Ingraham phoned to inquire about playing for the Aztecs.

“She asked me if I still wanted her and I said, ‘Absolutely. We’ll take you,’ ” Quiroz said.

Quiroz tried to recruit Ingraham out of Catalina Foothills High School, but she chose an academic scholarship to Arizona State.

Ingraham failed to make the ASU softball team as a walk-on. When that happened, she decided to call Quiroz.

“Things just didn’t work out with softball,” Ingraham said. “I was lucky enough that coach (Quiroz) gave me the chance to come play here. I wasn’t ready to give it up yet.”

Ingraham, who plays third base, hasn’t disappointed Quiroz since enrolling at midterm.

She entered this week hitting .463, which ranked her 14th in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference. With 63 hits entering this week, she could reach 100 before the end of the regular season.

She is also tied for second in the ACCAC with five triples. She’s one shy of tying for the conference lead.

“She has been a joy,” Quiroz said.

Ingraham continued to work out in softball while at ASU, so it wasn’t much of an adjustment to prepare for this season.

“I had to get use to the different coaching styles,” Ingraham said.

“I had to get close to the team, but they were very accepting of me. It made for an easy transition.”

Ingraham had to earn her starting job at Pima.

“Once you get to junior college all the players are very good,” she said. “It has been so much fun playing with all these girls out here because everyone is so wonderful and very good ballplayers.

“I was definitely lucky to get the opportunity.”

Ingraham and her teammates host No. 3-ranked Yavapai Saturday in a doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m.

No. 16 Pima trails second-place Yavapai by two games in the conference standings. Phoenix College leads Yavapai by two games.

More Pima sports

Other Pima squads besides the softball team are involved in key events Saturday:

Baseball: Pima travels to Yuma to face Arizona Western in a noon doubleheader. With six games left, the Aztecs are hoping to hold onto at least the fourth and final playoff spot.

Track and field: The Pima men’s and women’s teams will host their first conference meet in six years at the West Campus against Glendale and Mesa. Field events start at 10 a.m. and track events at 11:30 a.m., with 160 athletes vying in 38 events.

Women’s tennis:

Pima finished second at the Region I tournament Thursday in Glendale, placing behind only Eastern Arizona.

The team will compete in the national tournament in two weeks.

Citizen Staff Report

Plummer to be QB coach

SANDPOINT, Idaho – Former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer will be the quarterbacks coach at Sandpoint High School, in the scenic Idaho resort town where he lives.

Head coach Mike Mitchell said the 34-year-old Plummer will be paid as a normal assistant high school coach, and joked that it probably won’t be what Plummer earned in his playing days.

Plummer played for the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos before retiring in 2006. He threw for more than 29,000 yards, 161 touchdowns and 161 interceptions in his decade-long pro career.

Plummer is a Boise native and retired to Sandpoint, an outdoor mecca in the Rocky Mountains along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.

His brother, Eric, already lived in the town.

The Associated Press

Castroneves acquitted

MIAMI – Brazilian race car driver and “Dancing With The Stars” champ Helio Castroneves was acquitted Friday of most charges that he worked with his sister and lawyer to evade more than $2.3 million in U.S. income taxes.

A federal jury acquitted Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion but was hung on one count of conspiracy. When the sentence was read, Castroneves broke into sobs and leaned against his attorneys for support.

“I just want to thank God and my fans, and all of the people who prayed for me,” he said outside the courtroom in his native Portuguese, still fingering a rosary.

The jury also acquitted Katiucia Castroneves, 35, who is her 33-year-old brother’s business manager, on the tax evasion counts but also hung on the conspiracy charge. Michigan motorsports attorney Alan Miller, 71, was acquitted on all three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy. The deliberations took six days after a six-week trial.

The Associated Press

NUMBER OF THE DAY

1,332

Career victories by Lenny Wilkens, the most of any NBA coach. Other leaders:

Don Nelson 1,309

Pat Riley 1,210

Jerry Sloan 1,137

Larry Brown 1,045

Phil Jackson 1,041

Bill Fitch 944

Red Auerbach 938

Dick Motta 935

George Karl 933

Jack Ramsay 864

———

SPORTS SOUND-OFF

What about Geary?

Re: Sean Miller hires brother as assistant at UA

So, this is how we repay Reggie Geary? Is he out?

SPDWSWANGUY

We have the Stoop brothers and now Miller brothers. Wow. Reggie Geary, I hope the best for you.

ABDUL

Archie Miller is a great hire. I love Geary and would have been happy with him on board too but look at Ohio State’s 2010 class and tell me that wouldn’t be welcomed at Arizona. Stop with the nepotism crap. This is a good hire.

SMITTY

Keep the Arizona basketball tradition alive, make a Final Four or two, beat UCLA, sweep Arizona State and I’ll take nepotism till the cows come home.

BROCKS

Got a beef? E-mail: sports@tucsoncitizen.com (sports@tucsoncitizen.com). Call: 573-4635.

———

ON THIS DATE

1962: Boston’s Bill Russell scores 30 points and grabs 40 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 110-107 overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers and their fourth consecutive NBA title.

1988: Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya battles past Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania in the final 100 yards to win the Boston Marathon by the slimmest margin ever, 1 second.

1999: Wayne Gretzky ends his NHL career as his host New York Rangers fall to Pittsburgh 2-1.

2007: Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox faces the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 no-hit win over the Texas Rangers.

The bad news for the Arizona softball team in this weekend’s crucial Pac-10 series is the arrival of one of the best pitchers in the country.

Stanford’s Missy Penna has a 25-3 record for the No. 2-ranked Cardinal to go with a 0.90 ERA.

The bad news for Stanford is it will have to deal with the Wildcats’ potent lineup.

Sam “Bam” Banister, in the fifth batting spot for No. 9 Arizona, puts the Cardinal in a pickle that not even Penna welcomes.

Arizona State got picky and walked cleanup slugger Jenae Leles twice to get to Banister last week and got its clocked cleaned twice: a pair of three-run homers.

UA (33-9, 5-2) and Stanford (36-4, 6-3) are tied for first in the Pac-10. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium.

UA faces No. 14 California (29-12, 5-4) at Hillenbrand at 7 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Meanwhile, UA coach Mike Candrea’s “work in progress” got high grades last week as UA beat ASU 10-8, then was tied at 2 in the second game when it was called due to rain.

Candrea can live with the bombs-away offense if defensive obligations are met. And he can live with inconsistent pitching as long as the principals show they care and are working at getting better.

“They are learning to understand the mentality they have to have,” Candrea said. “They had to step up last week and they did. Sarah (Akamine) pitched her heart out.

“Sam is growing up as a senior and enjoying the game like she hasn’t ever before.”