SPRING JAMBOREE: Palo Verde finding its groove
The start to its season hasn’t lived up to the Palo Verde softball team’s expectations.
But two games at Majestic Park early Monday might be just what the Panthers need to get back on track.
Palo Verde routed Douglas 15-1 and then beat Foothill 4-0 in a well-played game to go 2-0 in Pool D in the Spring Jamboree tournament.
“I kind of yelled at them after the (Foothill) game,” Palo Verde coach Kelly Glass said. “I told them I was very happy, but I was mad at the same time because we need to do this in league (games).
“These games will definitely help us when we get back into league play.”
The Panthers entered the tournament 5-9 overall and 2-3 in the ultra-competitive Northwest League but looked like a much sharper team against Douglas and Foothill.
Against the Falcons, Missy McCormick and Foothill’s Shelbie Medrano locked horns in a splendid pitching duel.
Medrano carried a perfect game into the sixth before Hannah Stover’s one-out single to right gave the Panthers their first base runner.
After a groundout, McCormick smacked an 0-and-1 pitch over the fence in right-center field to give Palo Verde a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, Lauren Stover added a two-run homer to right-center to account for all of the scoring.
“We finally put some hits together,” Glass said.
McCormick handled the rest, allowing three hits and striking out 10.
McCormick, who also tossed five innings in the win against Douglas, got plenty of support from her defense, which didn’t commit an error.
“I just threw for my team instead of myself,” said McCormick, who set a state record with 22 strikeouts in a 14-inning game against Cimarron-Memorial earlier this year. “Now our team is believing more in each other.
“We knew each other could do it, but we were a little timid earlier in the season. Now we’re just relaxing and having fun.”
In the Panthers’ opening game in the tournament, McCormick led off the game with a home run, and Palo Verde kept scoring.
The Panthers put up nine runs in the first inning and cruised past Douglas. Stover also homered for Palo Verde.
“We’re playing more like a team now, instead of 13 individuals,” McCormick said.
Winslow (Ariz.) 7, Palo Verde 4 — In a non-pool game, Winslow rallied from an early 4-1 deficit to down the Panthers.
Foothill 9, Douglas 4 — Medrano slugged a two-run homer in the third inning and a three-run homer in the fifth to lead the Falcons past Douglas.
Kylie Ishikawa added a three-run double in a four-run fourth inning for Foothill, which scored the final nine runs of the game.
Centennial 9, Bonanza 4 — Centennial’s Lindsay Konopelko wasn’t granted a request for a timeout in the fifth inning, and Bonanza paid dearly for it.
Konopelko, who came up to bat with two runners on base in a 4-4 tie, asked for time as she prepared to see the first pitch from Bonanza’s Courtney Spencer.
The plate umpire didn’t grant the request, even as Konopelko held her right hand in the air.
Instead, Konopelko smacked the first pitch over the fence in left-center for a tiebreaking three-run homer.
“I do that to try to mess up the pitcher’s focus,” Konopelko said. “But then she just pitched it, so I just hit it. I was looking for something up and in, but it was just perfect.”
Konopelko, the winning pitcher, went 2-for-4 with five RBIs.
“Bonanza is a great team, and this gives us a lot of confidence,” Konopelko said.
Brandy Thaw was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs for the Bulldogs. Teammate Paige Reese went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.
Aimee Doyle had a two-run home run for the Bengals.
Centennial 11, Liberty 1 — Konopelko was 3-for-3 with a home run for the Bulldogs in their win over the Patriots.
Shannon Brown, Kylee Bartlett, Julaine Noa and Brandy Thaw each recorded a double for Centennial.
Winslow (Ariz.) 5, Centennial 4 — Winslow took advantage of a Centennial error to score the tiebreaking run in the top of the sixth inning and finish 2-0 in Pool E.
Bartlett went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs for Centennial. Teammate Johnna Brown was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Winslow (Ariz.) 1, Bonanza 0 — Winslow pushed across the game’s only run in the top of the second inning and held on to defeat the Bengals.
Bonanza 7, Cheyenne 1 — Emily Osborn hit a two-run double to open a five-run fifth inning for the Bengals in their win over the Desert Shields.
Osborn finished 2-for-4. Bonanza’s Jessica Delp knocked in another two runs in the fifth.
Brittany Spencer’s two-run triple in the third inning scored the first runs of the game for Bonanza.
Sam Snyder spun a seven-hitter for the Bengals.
Durango 6, Coronado 4 — Ashley Hall’s two-out grand slam on an 0-and-2 pitch pulled Durango out of an early hole, and Nicole Schultz’s two-out, two-run homer in the sixth pushed the Trailblazers past Coronado.
Schultz finished 3-for-4 with a double and the home run. Nicole Herrera was 2-for-3 for the Trailblazers.
Lexy Moss had a two-run double for the Cougars. Kim Dawson went 2-for-3 and scored a run.
Durango 7, Arbor View 6 — Jaexie Balilea went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI to help the Trailblazers build a 7-1 lead and hold off Arbor View.
Herrera went 2-for-3 with a double.
Durango 12, San Fernando (Calif.) 5 — Schultz went 4-for-5 with two RBIs to lead an 18-hit attack as Durango finished 2-0 in Pool A.
Gabby King was 3-for-4 with two doubles for the Trailblazers.
Arbor View 6, San Fernando (Calif.) 3 — Chelsea Venable smacked a two-run home run as the Aggies downed San Fernando.
Brooke Petersen went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Arbor View. Amanda Jones was 2-for-3 for the Aggies.
Foothill 8, Arbor View 7 — Rhiana Baluan drove in the eventual winning run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning as the Falcons nipped Arbor View.
The Aggies took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning, but a bases-loaded walk to Roseanne Ritchie and a two-run double by Medrano tied the game. Baluan’s sacrifice fly plated Ritchie with the go-ahead run.
Medrano went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs.
Jones went 2-for-3 with a run for the Aggies.
Rancho 10, Bishop Gorman 8 — Kylee Ridge went 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs to help Rancho defeat the Gaels.
Rancho led 7-2 after four innings and had to hold off a late Gorman charge.
Jomel Rayos went 2-for-3 with two runs for the Rams.
Claudia Franco went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI for Gorman.
Liberty 10, Bishop Gorman 0 — Breanna English tossed a two-hitter and struck out 11 as the Patriots blanked Gorman in five innings.
English also went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double for Liberty. Nikki Blindeagle was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs.
Liberty 12, Rancho 2 — Breanna English hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to cap a five-run inning that put Liberty up by 10 in its win against the Rams.
English finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a triple.
Winning pitcher Francesca Foti struck out six and allowed three hits.
Coronado 15, San Diego 1 — Morgan Yuhas was 3-for-3 a home run and three RBIs as the Cougars went 2-0 in Pool B with a three-inning win over San Diego.
Amanda Garrison (four RBIs), Lexy Moss (three) and Devyn Choltko (two) all went 2-for-2 for Coronado.
The Cougars scored 11 runs in the second inning.
Coronado 10, Cheyenne 0 — Allie Amato threw a one-hitter for the Cougars in their win against the Desert Shields.
Coronado’s Katie Cochran finished 3-for-4 with a three-run home run to spark a six-run second inning.
Amato finished 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Cheyenne 14, San Diego 1 — Rachel Holly’s first-inning triple drove in Jamie Schaefer from second and April Killinger from first as the Desert Shields took the lead early and never looked back.
Holly finished 2-for-4 and picked up the win in the circle.
Cheyenne’s Katelyn Barnum finished 2-for-2 with one RBI.
San Fernando (Calif.) 17, Rancho 0 — In a non-pool game, San Fernando scored early and often to beat the Rams.
Douglas 10, Bishop Gorman 0 — Douglas’ Stephanie Harper tossed a three-hitter as the Tigers blanked Gorman.
