Mica Mountain sophomore standout Acelynn-Rose Heston belted a grand slam and earned a complete-victory in the circle Tuesday in a 4A elimination-bracket game against Phoenix Arcadia at Phoenix’s Papago Sports Complex.
The No. 7 Thunderbolts’ 8-1 win means they will play No. 4 Salpointe (29-3) in the semifinal round Thursday at a site to be determined in Tucson.
Mica Mountain improved to 21-8.
Salpointe is coming out of the winners bracket, which means it needs only one win over the Thunderbolts to advance to the championship game Saturday.
In the opposite bracket, No. 3 Canyon del Oro (32-2) will play No. 1 Mesa Eastmark (26-4) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Papago Sports Complex. CDO, also coming out of the winners bracket, needs only one win to advance to the championship Saturday.
Mica Mountain’s victory Tuesday included Heston hitting a grand slam as part of a six-run rally and dominating in the circle for the Thunderbolts.
Heston scattered five hits while striking out 12 without a walk.
Her grand slam in the third inning put Mica Mountain ahead 5-0.
After the Thunderbolts loaded the bases again that inning, they scored on an error and a fielder’s choice to take a 7-0 lead.
The lead became 8-0 when Shaylee Fuell hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth.
Arcadia rallied for a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Heston retired the side in the seventh for the victory.
Heston was 2 for 4 with a run and four RBIs. Fuell, Violet Redondo and Rylie Grabau each had a hit and an RBI.
6A ELIMINATION BRACKET
No. 7 Pinnacle 6, No. 10 Tucson 3 (eight innings)
Tucson concluded its season 26-8 after it lost following a three-run home run with two outs by Torynn Slaughter in the bottom of the eighth at Mesa’s Quail Run Park.
Slaughter also hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh when Pinnacle rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force extra innings.
Tucson’s Jaliyah Grigsby and Sofie Trejo each had two hits and an RBI for the Badgers.
Trejo opened the scoring in the game with a leadoff home run in the second inning.
Pinnacle (26-5) advances to the semifinals to play No. 4 Xavier Prep (26-4-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Quail Run Park.
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