Salpointe senior Yannira Acuña (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Salpointe standouts Peyton Lewis and Abby Russell took second place at the inaugural Beach Volleyball Pairs championship Thursday night held at Mesquite High School in Gilbert. Lewis and Russell came in ranked No. 2 in the state and the pair fell to the top-ranked team from Corona del Sol, Brooke Nuneviller and Mady Noble.

In softball action, No. 5 Salpointe beat No. 1 Canyon del Oro 2-0 in the 4A semifinal round to send the Lancers to the state championship game scheduled for Tuesday, May 15 at ASU where the Lancers will take on No. 3 Cactus at 6:30 p.m.

Pima West hosted Salpointe (32-4-1) and Canyon del Oro (27-10) for the second time in a week with the Lancers coming out on top 5-4 last Thursday to send the Dorados to the elimination bracket. The Dorados beat No. 9 Coconino 6-1 on Tuesday to set up the semifinal rematch with Salpointe…

SALPOINTE/CDO GAME AT AZPreps365.com

In 5A semifinal action, No. 8 Ironwood Ridge knocked out No. 1 Arcadia 9-0 to advance to the 5A championship game set for Monday, May 14 at ASU but No. 3 Cienega fell to No. 6 Centennial 2-1 in the other semifinal game.

The loss by the Bobcats sets up a winner-take-all game against Centennial on Friday night for a shot at Ironwood Ridge in the 5A championship game.

Ironwood Ridge (26-9) beat Arcadia 12-3 in the second round which means the Nighthawks have outscored the top-ranked 5A team 21-3 in the playoffs. Even better, the Nighthawks have outscored all playoff opponents 36-3 for an average margin of victory of 9-1.

Frankie Lucio picked up eight strikeouts and limited Arcadia to three hist for the semifinal win. Emma Almodoba went 4-for-4 with a triple and three RBI, Diana Nisbett went 2-4 with a double and two RBI, Morgan Reidhead went 2-4 with two RBI and Keira Painter finished 2-3.

Abby Doughty went 2-3 with a double to lead Cienega.

Amya Legarra (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

THURSDAY, MAY 10

BEACH VOLLEYBALL PAIRS: SEMIFINALS at Mesquite
No. 2 Peyton Lewis/Abby Russell, Salpointe over No. 3 Matea Suan/Ellie McDonald, Perry, 2-1

BEACH VOLLEYBALL PAIRS: CHAMPIONSHIP at Mesquite
No. 1 Brooke Nuneviller/Mady Noble, Corona del Sol over No. 2 Peyton Lewis/Abby Russell, Salpointe, 2-0

SOFTBALL: 5A SEMIFINALS at Rose Mofford
No. 8 Ironwood Ridge 9, No. 1 Arcadia 0
No. 6 Centennial 2, No. 3 Cienega 1

SOFTBALL: 4A SEMIFINAL at Pima West
No 5 Salpointe 2, No. 1 Canyon del Oro 0

FRIDAY, MAY 11

SOFTBALL: 5A SEMIFINAL at Rose Mofford
No. 3 Cienega vs. No. 6 Centennial, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 12

BASEBALL: 4A SEMIFINAL at HoHoKam
No. 1 Nogales vs. No. 5 Sunrise Mountain, 6:30 p.m.

BASEBALL: 3A SEMIFINALS
No. 1 Sabino vs. No. 12 Empire, 6:30 p.m. at Amphi
No. 3 Sahuarita vs. No. 2 Casteel, 6:30 p.m. at Surprise

MONDAY, MAY 14

SOFTBALL: 5A CHAMPIONSHIP at ASU
No. 8 Ironwood Ridge vs. Cienega/Centennial, 5:30 p.m.

BASEBALL: 4A CHAMPIONSHIP at Hi Corbett
No.2 Catalina Foothills vs. Nogales/Sunrise Mountain, 7 p.m.

BASEBALL: 3A CHAMPIONSHIP at HoHoKam
Sabino/Empire vs. Sahuarita/Casteel, 4 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 15

SOFTBALL: 4A CHAMPIONSHIP at ASU
No. 5 Salpointe vs. No. 3 Cactus, 6:30 p.m.

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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com