3A STATE QUARTERFINALS
No. 7 Empire and No. 11 Tanque Verde each won 3A quarterfinal games on the road Wednesday to advance to the semifinal round Friday.
Empire (24-7) defeated No. 2 Bourgade Catholic 3-2 and Tanque Verde (19-11) topped No. 3 Snowflake 10-2 to advance.
The teams will face each other Friday night at 7 at Amphi.
No. 7 Empire 3, No. 2 Bourgade Catholic 2
Empire ace Kendall Freidlinger allowed two hits with 13 strikeouts and one walk in her complete-game performance.
After the Ravens trailed 2-0 going into the fifth inning, they rallied for the victory.
Abby Zsitvay led off the fifth with a double and moved to third on a passed ball.
Eva Peace’s sacrifice fly to center field cut the lead to 2-1.
With two outs, Angelina Dehler, who earlier walked, scored on an error to tie the game at 2.
Peace delivered an RBI single with two outs in the seventh to put Empire ahead 3-2. The hit scored Callista Drawbaugh, who led off the inning with a single.
Peace, Drawbaugh and Freidlinger each had two hits.
No. 11 Tanque Verde 10, No. 3 Snowflake 2
Tanque Verde leadoff batter Paige Hammarstrom had three hits and reliever Claire Achilles allowed only one hit in the last 4 1/3 innings to lead the Hawks.
Tanque Verde trailed 2-1 before rallying for five runs in the fifth. Hammarstrom doubled before Lizzy Pratt produced a two-run single in the rally.
Achilles, also a rightfielder, went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs.
Hammarstrom was 3 for 4 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
Pratt and Cassidy Jones each produced two RBIs.
6A SECOND ROUND
No. 4 Xavier 10, No. 12 Sunnyside 0 (6 innings)
Sunnyside (21-10) was limited to one hit, a single by Tatyana Vega.
The Blue Devils will next play in an elimination-bracket game Thursday at No. 1 Mesa Red Mountain, which is coming off a 6-1 win over No. 9 Surprise Shadow Ridge on Tuesday. Red Mountain was upset 4-1 by No. 16 Tempe Corona del Sol in the first round on Saturday.
1A QUARTERFINALS
No. 4 St. David 9, No. 5 San Manuel 4
St. David (19-5-1) advanced to the semifinals behind the pitching performance of Paisley Gooding and hitting of the Jacquez sisters — Emeylnn and Anissa.
The Tigers will play No. 1 Bagdad on Friday at Phoenix’s Papago Softball Complex at 4 p.m.
Gooding scattered five hits and allowed two earned runs in seven innings while striking out 11 and walking four.
Emelynn Jacquez was 3 for 4 with a home run, two runs and three RBIs.
Anissa Jacquez went 2 for 4 with a run and two RBIs.
Emma Hart and Austyn Hatch each also finished with two hits.
No. 3 Williams 7, No. 6 Desert Christian 3
Alexa Yarger hit a home run and finished 2 for 3 with a run and two RBIs, but it was not enough for Desert Christian.
The Eagles conclude their season 19-11.
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