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Second-seeded Sunnyside easily moves to second round Three local teams lose in 5A state playoffs High school baseball, softball state tournament pairings set

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Sunnyside earned its second straight win via the mercy rule in the Class 5A-II state playoffs Tuesday, scoring two runs in every inning to beat visiting Flowing Wells 10-0.

Mari Contreras surrendered two hits in the five-inning win for the second-seeded Blue Devils (29-4), who advanced to the quarterfinals of the double-elimination tournament.

Sunnyside will play No. 3 Glendale Sandra Day O'Connor on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Rose Mofford Softball Complex in Phoenix.

"This was a good game for us," said Sunnyside coach Pete Palomarez. "I still don't think we've played our best ball, though."

The Caballeros' starting pitcher, Mari Mata, gave up six runs on only three hits.

"We really struggled defensively today," said Flowing Wells coach George Corona. "They put the ball in play, and we couldn't make plays."

In addition to her mound effort, Contreras (8-1) went 3 for 4. She just missed hitting a homer in the second inning when the ball sailed foul. On the next pitch, she tripled to left field, then scored on the same play after a throwing error.

Flowing Wells (12-15), the No. 10 seed, will play Thursday at the Rose Mofford Softball Complex in Phoenix against Glendale Ironwood at 5 p.m. in a losers bracket game.

● Sierra Vista Buena 4, Salpointe Catholic 0: At Buena, Salpointe, pitcher Tiffany Havens located her pitches well, but when she missed, the Buena offense made her pay in the 5A-I second-round win.

Melissa Hardy hit her ninth home run of the season, and Alicia Banks belted a two-run shot as the top-seeded Colts (29-4) advanced in the winners bracket.

"I wasn't really looking inside. She'd been throwing us outside all game," Banks said of her towering fifth-inning homer inside the left field foul pole. "I had to turn my hips a lot on that one."

Earlier, Salpointe threatened to erase Buena's 1-0 lead in the second. The Lancers (19-12-1) loaded the bases on a walk and a pair of bunts back to the circle with no outs.

But Buena pitcher Jordan Trujillo (15-0) coaxed a pair of harmless grounders, which led to force outs at home, and got another grounder to first as the junior escaped the jam unscathed.

"We had some golden opportunities, but having the bases loaded with no outs and not scoring broke our backs," Salpointe coach Ted Farhat said.

Buena will face Tempe Corona del Sol in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Rose Mofford in Phoenix.

Salpointe dropped into the losers bracket, where it will face Mesa Mountain View on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., also at Rose Mofford.