It was worth the wait. Thanks to extra-inning games played by other teams, No. 4 seed Scottsdale Horizon and No. 1 seed Glendale Deer Valley had to wait almost two hours Tuesday night to meet in an elimination game at the 5A-II state softball tournament at the Rose Mofford Softball Complex.
The Huskies upset the Skyhawks, 6-3, to advance in the tournament. Horizon (27-6) will meet Tucson Ironwood Ridge in one of today’s semifinals.
Huskies pitcher Amanda Bolton allowed three runs on six hits and struck out five to earn the victory.
Deer Valley (28-5) led 1-0 after the first inning and 2-1 after the second, but Horizon’s hitters wouldn’t let Deer Valley pitcher Lauren Haeger get comfortable. Katelyn Boyd homered to tie the game in the first and Sara Strickland had an RBI single in the third. She later scored on a passed ball to give Horizon a 3-2 lead.
Horizon then added one run in the four and two more in the seventh to seal the victory.
TUCSON SUNNYSIDE 4, PINNACLE 1: Sunnyside’s Mari Contreras hit a one-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the Blue Devils eliminate the Pioneers. Sunnyside (30-6) will face No. 2 seed Peoria Sunrise Mountain in today’s semifinals.
Pinnacle (20-17) tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Ashlynn Thompson scored on an RBI single by Makenzi Dallas.
Pinnacle pitcher Jenna Makis went into the seventh inning having retired 11 straight batters. Makis struck out seven in the loss.
Contreras drove in all the runs for the Blue Devils, the other coming on a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
