Fri, Dec 05, 2008

high school sports

High school Baseball

Sabercats rally to win Sonoran Region tourney

By Brian J. Pedersen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.02.2007
Riding a 16-game winning streak and brimming with confidence, there was not much the Sabino High School baseball team had not accomplished this season.
But Tuesday's 8-7 victory over Ironwood Ridge in the 4A Sonoran Region tournament final at Kino Sports Complex enabled the Sabercats to add battling back against a red-hot opponent to their impressive résumé.
"You know what, I like these kinds of games," Sabino coach Rod Allen said. "It teaches kids how to deal with adversity. That it's not always going to be easy."
There was nothing easy about dealing with Ironwood Ridge (17-13-1) on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Nighthawks were coming off a 10-2 victory over rival Canyon del Oro in Monday's Sonoran semifinals, and after spotting No. 1 Sabino (20-2) a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Nighthawks scored at least once in each of the next five innings.
A two-out, two-run double by Zach Morales gave IR a 7-5 lead in the top of the sixth, but Sabino rallied for three runs in the bottom half, thanks to some fortuitous bounces.
After Travis Graham led off with a walk, Cory Perreault hit a slow roller that died in the infield grass.
The throw to first was late and got past the first baseman, allowing Graham to score from first.
Sabino tied the game three batters later when Jake Hanson hit a double to right field, scoring Perreault.
Hanson scored the winning run when, after two walks to load the bases, Marc Tarantola was hit by a pitch.
4A Kino
● Amphitheater 11, Sahuaro 8: At Kino Sports Complex, the top-seeded Panthers (24-4) completed a perfect run through the region, thanks to a nine-run fourth inning that included just three hits.
But one of those hits was a grand slam by Jesus Lopez, the final blow that saw Amphi turn a 5-2 deficit into an 11-5 lead.
No. 4 Sahuaro (15-12-1) led 5-1 at one point, using a pair of Amphi errors in the second to score four times off Panthers starter Ryan Duffy.
4A Gila
Douglas 14, Desert View 8: At Kino Sports Complex, the top-seeded Bulldogs (16-10-1) scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Douglas collected 17 hits, with 10 players getting at least one. Freshman third baseman Fabian Ochoa went 3 for 3 with a double and five RBIs.
Fourth-seeded Desert View (12-12), which reached the Gila final with one-run victories over Palo Verde and Santa Rita, got as close as 5-4 and 10-8 but was unable to keep Douglas' hitters at bay.