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District 12 8-10 Softball Championship
Sunnyside 17, San Xavier 0 (3 innings)
Sunnyside District 12 8-10 Softball champions. https://t.co/SYwBp2qgE2 pic.twitter.com/RVhxTUxF4w
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2023
Sunnyside pitchers Sofia Clark and Viviana Salaiz combined on a one-hitter and Clark hit two inside-the-park home runs, tallying five RBIs, to lead their team to the victory Wednesday night over San Xavier at Manzanita Park.
Sunnyside advances to the state tournament that begins July 8 at Avondale. Marana is the District 5 champion that is also part of that tournament.
Clark pitched the first two innings against San Xavier and recorded four strikeouts with one hit allowed. Salaiz struck out the side in the third with a walk in between.
Clark went 3 for 3 at the plate with her two home runs — a two-run blast that capped the scoring in a 12-run first inning for Sunnyside.
Sunnyside 8-10 softball standout Sofia Clark combined on the three-inning one-hitter with Viviana Salaiz in a 17-0 win over San Xavier in the District 12 championship. She struck out 4 in the first two innings and also had two inside-the-park HRs, tallying 5 RBIs. pic.twitter.com/NgwEjp9xPl
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2023
“When I first got here (joining the Sunnyside team for the first time), I’ve never done that much before,” said Clark, who trains with pitching coach Monica Ortega. “It feels good to go to state.”
Salaiz, trained by pitching coach Raquel Duarte, showed speed and control with her pitches.
“I felt good,” she said. Overpowering? “Yeah.”
She also hit a double, scored twice and had a stolen base.
Sunnyside P Viviana Salaiz struck out the side in the third inning to close out a one-hitter with Sofia Clark in 17-0 win vs. San Xavier. Despite only 10, she brings heat and control with her pitches, best I’ve seen at her age in my five years now covering Little League softball. pic.twitter.com/a0Jo74OzJl
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2023
Sunnyside coach Leo Valenzuela, who is also the Little League organization’s new president, can extend to four pitchers, he said, but primarily utilizes Salaiz and Clark — a luxury for a team this young.
“They throw hard, and they throw strikes,” Valenzuela said. “(Salaiz) uses her whole body and windup.”
Valenzuela coached Sunnyside’s 8-10 team to the third round of the state tournament last year and most of his players return.
“I learned a lot — me and my coaching staff did — we learned a lot from the competition that we faced, compared to district, when we went to state, it was another level,” Valenzuela said. “We got a few tricks up our sleeves. We’ll be ready.”
Other standouts for Sunnyside included Eva Lopez (2 for 2 with three runs and an RBI), Daniela Leon (1 for 2 with a run, RBI and stolen base) and Viany Toledo (RBI single with two runs and a stolen base).
San Xavier’s Aaliyah Martinez hit a single.
— Javier Morales
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28
D-5: 8-10 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
CDO 11, Continental Ranch 1 (CDO wins series 2-0)
Connor O’Shea helped lead CDO to a District 5 championship pic.twitter.com/UzAw0A4IrN
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) June 29, 2023
D-5: 50/70 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Continental Ranch 15, Flowing Wells 2
Cody Johnson with the complete game victory to lead Continental Ranch past Flowing Wells 15-2 in the D5 50/70 championship pic.twitter.com/brx24JncAe
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) June 29, 2023
D-12: 8-10 SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunnyside 16, San Xavier 0
D-12: 8-10 BASEBALL MANZANITA
Empire 20, Cactus 0
Copper Hills 20, SW Foothills 0
Rincon 15, Los Ninos 0
Sunnyside 23, San Xavier 0
D-12: 9-11 BASEBALL LAWRENCE
Rincon 7, Copper Hills 2
San Xavier 11, Cactus 1 (Elimination)
D-12: JUNIOR BASEBALL LAWRENCE
Cactus 13, SW Foothills 2
THURSDAY, JUNE 29
D-12: 9-11 BASEBALL LAWRENCE
Copper Hills vs. San Xavier, 6:30 p.m. (Elimination)
D-12 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL LAWRENCE
Cactus vs. Copper Hills, 5:15 p.m. (Elimination)
Randolph vs. Rincon, 7:45 p.m. (Elimination)
FRIDAY, JUNE 30
D-12: 8-10 BASEBALL MANZANITA
Cactus vs. SW Foothills, 5:15 p.m. (Elimination)
Los Ninos vs. San Xavier, 5:15 p.m. (Elimination)
Empire vs. Copper Hills, 7:45 p.m.
Rincon vs. Sunnyside, 7:45 p.m.
D-12 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL LAWRENCE
Sunnyside vs. Empire, 5:15 p.m.
Los Ninos vs. San Xavier, 7:45 p.m.
D-12: JUNIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND LAWRENCE
Randolph vs. Cactus, 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, JULY 1
D-12: 9-11 BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES LAWRENCE
Rincon vs. TBD, 6:30 p.m.
D-12: JUNIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP LAWRENCE
Randolph vs. Cactus, 6:30 p.m. (If Necessary)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5
ARIZONA STATE JUNIOR SOFTBALL ARTHUR PACK
District 8 vs. Avondale, 5 p.m.
District 12 vs. Four Peaks, 7:30 p.m.
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