(Marana, AZ) This matchup coming in was a battle of the undefeated and between two traditionally strong programs.
The Sunnyside Blue Devils boasted an 11-0 record and five of their wins came on shortened run-rule games.
Mountain View hadn’t played as many games up to this point as the Blue Devils, but still sported an undefeated record at 6-0.
Both coaches, Mountain Lion’s Ramon De La Ossa and Sunnyside’s Ruben Cazares have been around for a long time and have proven their ability to get the most out of their players.
The game started off with the Blue Devils getting the lead off batter on with a walk and she promptly stole second base.
This is what the Cazares’ team does, putting pressure on the opponent right off the bat.
Two outs later, centerfielder Lauryn Carbajal tripled to the power alley and the Devils were on the board 1-0.
Mountain View with their first at bats saw Talia Martin get on when the centerfielder misplayed the ball. A wild pitch and a base on balls got the Lions in business. Another wild pitch moved both runner up sixty feet.
The Lions scored two runs run off a ground out to and a late throw to the plate. The View went up 2-1.
Sunnyside came back in the top of the second with Kassandra Alcarez single to left field. Gracie Ayala was safe on an error by the first baseman who couldn’t handle the throw. That put runners on second and third.
After two outs, Alyssa Lopez hit a sharp ground ball to the shortstop who couldn’t come up with it and Ayala scored to tie the game 2-2.
With two errors in the inning, Coach De LaOssa was visibly concerned giving up his brief lead.
Deborah Wallace got Mountain View going with a single in the bottom of the second inning and got as far as second but was stranded,
In their next at bats, Sunnyside put their vaunted offense on display. Once again the Blue Devis got the lead off batter Gabriela Morales on base with a walk. Next up, Lauren Carbajal drilled a pitch to the left center alley. A single to left scored two runs and broke the tie and the Devils regained the lead 4-2.
Mountain View’s pitcher was still struggling with her control as she walked her second batter of the inning to put runners on first and second base.
Gracie Ayala was safe on an error by the third baseman and Leylanni Lopez singled to center drove her in to make it 5-2 with one out,
Hilaria Burruel laid down a bunt, but saw the runner at third get caught in a pickle and was put out.
A second consecutive bunt, Alyssa Lopez was safe at first to reload the bases.
Once again control problems plagued Mt. View as they forced in two more runs on back to back walks.
Still not finished, Lauryn Carbajal’s single to left field drove in a run and kept the bases loaded. There was no let up in the inning for Sunnyside.
A double on the next batter cleared the bases and three more RBI. After the dust cleared, the Lions saw themselves down 12-2.
A bit shaken, but not detoured, Mt. View got a couple of runner on base after two outs via a walk to Clarissa Figueroa and a single by Addie Noriega. They were left stranded to end the bottom half of the inning.
On to the top of the fourth inning. Gracie Ayala flied out to right field for the first out. Leylanni Lopez smacked a shot to shortstop Figueroa, which initially handcuffed her, but threw her out from her knees on a bang-bang play.
Back to back walks put Burruel and Lopez on base. Natalya Rivera wasted no time as she singled to let field droving in Burruel for their thirteenth run.
Mountain View needed to make something happen to get back in the contest going into the bottom of the fourth. A walk to Sophia Martinez and Berlin Potter was struck by a pitch that put runners on first and second.
Aaliyah Pereda loaded the bases with her singe to center field. Then a strange play occurred. A passed ball by Blue Devil catcher Amerika Lopez on a third strike allowed the Mountain Lions to score two runs.
Deborah Wallace drove in a run on a fielder’s choice groundout to get the Lions their first runs since the first inning. The score now sat at 13-4 Blue Devils still with a comfortable lead.
Sunnyside got back to work in the top of the fifth inning as Tatiana Solana led off with a single to center field. She took second on a steal before Vianney Cruz walked and runners were now at first and secind.
A hit batter loaded the bases. Consecutive line drives first to the shortstop held the runners in place. The second was snagged but the second baseman who doubled up Cruz to end the threat.
That pumped life into the Lions going into the bottom of the fifth and a chance to get closer.
With one out, Juliana Molina singled to left center field. She advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Arianna Figuero knocked one to left field to put runners on the corners.
Then Sofia Martinez grounded out to the shortstop with the runner advancing to third and scoring on an error by the first baseman.
Mountain View took further advantage of the extended inning as Mira Berger got another run home on her single to left field. The score tightened up slightly at 13-6.
Sunnyside got a couple of baserunners on in the top of the sixth but failed to score.
Mountain View’s bottom of the inning was almost a carbon copy of the top half with an inning ending double play to send the game to the seventh and final inning.
The Blue Devils once again got a couple of runners on base. A Lauryn Carbajal single to left field and an Kasandra Alcaraz walk, but a nifty 4-6-3 Lions double play ended the inning.
With their final at bat, Mt. View had runners at the corners off a Sophia Martinez single.
A tricky hop grounder by the second baseman got a run home and still two runners on base. Then a Aaliyah Pereda’s base hit to center loaded the bags.
Megan Newton’s ground ball handcuffed the Devil’s shortstop allowing another run to score to make it 13-9.
Down to their last out, Coach De La Ossa reached into his bag of tricks and called a successful double steal to put runners on second and third. That’s when the fire was extinguished as the final batter flied out and Sunnyside came away with the win.
This game was an enigma in itself as the Lions came within one batter of putting the tying run at the plate. Other than the huge third inning that broke the game open early for the Devils, but this scrappy Mt. View squad came clawing back and outscored Sunnyside 7-1 the rest of the way.
Final Score: Blue Devils 13 Mountain View 9.
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