Preps

Padilla, Sunnyside turn back Ironwood

Sunnyside avenged two regular-season losses to Ironwood Ridge by defeating the Nighthawks 7-3 Wednesday to win the Class 4A Sonoran Region tournament at Kino Sports Complex. The Blue Devils (20-8) entered as the No. 2 seed, but said they believed they were a better team than No. 1 Ironwood Ridge. "We beat them when it counted," Sunnyside senior Rene Garcia said. "We were always the better team." Sunnyside coach Ernie Palomarez chose not to match Garcia, his ace, against Danny Rossi, Ironwood Ridge's top pitcher. Instead, Palomarez put Garcia at third base and went with his No. 2 man, Alexis Padilla, who gave up seven runs in one inning in an April 14 outing that Ironwood Ridge won 17-1. "I knew I had to get my job done this time," Padilla, a junior, said. "It gave me confidence because I really didn't play my game last time." Padilla pitched a complete game this time. "You have to give credit to Padilla. He did a great job," Palomarez said. "They weren't sure what he was throwing, and if they were, they couldn't hit it." IR will play No. 3 Rincon/University today at 4 p.m. to decide the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to state. Sunnyside earned a first-round bye and will host a second-round state playoff game on Tuesday. - Larry Silver ° Rincon/University 4, Santa Rita 3: At Kino Sports Complex, Armando Moran's two-out walk-off single guaranteed No. 3 Rincon its first state playoff berth since 1997. Rincon (14-12) will face No. 1 Ironwood Ridge today at 4 p.m. to decide the Sonoran's second and third state playoff seeds. In the bottom of the seventh, Manuel Valencia led off with a walk, then moved to second on Jason Clark's sacrifice bunt. One out later, Valencia moved to third on Ryan Hanna's infield hit, which managed to stay fair down the third base line. Valencia then scored when Moran beat out a grounder to shortstop. Rincon starter Matt Hammond managed to hold down the No. 4 Santa Rita offense, despite having little energy. "He told me that he had a test today and forgot to eat lunch," Rangers coach John Robertson said. "I could tell he didn't have his best stuff, but he battled through it." Santa Rita (12-11) now will play Kino No. 4 Cienega (10-10-1) in the Kino-Sonoran wild card game for the fourth and final seed to the state tournament. - Larry Silver 4A Kino

° Catalina Foothills 2, Amphitheater 0: At Kino Sports Complex, the top-seeded Falcons defeated the No. 2 Panthers for the third time in as many games. After throwing a complete game Thursday against the Panthers, Foothills starter John James (10-2) went the distance again to earn the victory. Foothills (23-4) earned a first-round bye in the 4A state playoffs and will host a second- round game Tuesday. Amphitheater (18-10) will play No. 3 Sabino (14-7-1) for the Kino's second seed to state. - Larry Silver ° Sabino 10, Cienega 4: At Kino Sports Complex, third-seeded Sabino used a solid pitching effort by Morgan Ryan, and clutch hitting, to clinch a state tourney berth. Ryan pitched six innings, allowing two runs. No. 4 Cienega scored the first run in the second inning on Roger Barnard's sacrifice fly. However, the one-run lead would last only one inning. Sabino scored three runs in the third. Karl Whitley scored on Steve Brown's RBI single before Andrew Dunlap put Sabino up 2-1 when he came home on a fielder's choice. Brian Nichols added an RBI single later in the inning to give Sabino the two-run lead. Cienega (10-10-1) came within one run in the top of the fifth inning after an RBI single by Chris Story, but Sabino (14-7-1) again had an answer with a three-run inning in the bottom half of the frame. Sabino will play No. 2 Amphitheater today for the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to the state tourney. Cienega moves to the Kino-Sonoran wild card game against No. 4 Santa Rita for the fourth and final spot. - Jason Scheer

5A Southern

° Tucson 12, Salpointe Catholic 7: At Cherry Field, Ranulfo Grijalva hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to spark a five-run inning for the Badgers that earned them the fourth spot in the 5A state tournament. No. 4 Tucson (15-12) had 18 hits, including eight for extra bases. Matt Macias homered in the sixth to give the Badgers the lead, but No. 2 Salpointe (14-14) responded by scoring two in the bottom half. The teams exchanged leads until Grijalva homered to center field, and Tucson made its run. Nick Valdez earned the win. Lancer Evan LeBlanc was 4 for 4, including a home run. - Sean Coll

° Sahuaro 8, Flowing Wells 6: At Cherry Field, the No. 3 Cougars came back from a six-run deficit in the fourth to advance to the regional final against Canyon del Oro on Friday. The Cougars (16-9) will face CDO in the finals, a team that has already defeated Sahuaro twice. Justin Galvez of Flowing Wells had the only home run. - Sean Coll