Two-time defending state champion No. 3 Canyon del Oro defeated No. 2 Goodyear Estrella Foothills 7-4 on Wednesday to advance to the 4A semifinal round next Wednesday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
The Dorados (24-6) used 11 hits, including four by leadoff hitt Ernie Alvarez, and the pitching of Grant Young and Tarrell Reid to defeat Estrella Foothills (27-4).
CDO will play in the semifinals against the winner between ALA-Queen Creek and Estrella Foothills, who will play in the elimination bracket on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Estrella Foothills.
CDO coach Jason Hisey’s team has won 13 of its last 14 games.
Young, a senior right-hander, improved to 9-0 with a 0.98 ERA following his 5 2/3 innings Wednesday in which he limited Estrella Foothills to six hits, three earned runs and two walks. He struck out four.
Reid earned his first save of the season pitching 1 1/3 hitless innings while striking out one and not issuing a walk.
Alvarez went 4 for 4 with two triples and two RBIs. He led off the game with a triple and then scored on a triple by Michael Jones.
The Dorados built their lead to 7-1 with two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings.
Alvarez hit an RBI single in the fifth and Alan Becker’s RBI single was part of the sixth-inning rally.
Chris Humphreys had a double and two RBIs and Young finished with two RBIs.
No. 1 Scottsdale Saguaro 2, No. 4 Salpointe 1
After losing to Scottsdale Saguaro and its ace Cam Caminiti on Wednesday at Tempe Diablo Stadium, Salpointe (21-7-1) will try to stay alive in the 4A state playoffs in an elimination-bracket game Saturday at home against Flagstaff.
The Lancers beat visiting Flagstaff 13-1 in five innings in a second-round game Monday.
The winner of the game will face Saguaro and Caminiti next Wednesday in the semifinal round at Diablo Stadium.
Caminiti, a Class of 2024 LSU signee who is a left-hander, struck out 17 Wednesday. He did not allow a walk and gave up only two hits, one of them an inside-the-park home run to Aciel Guillen in the fourth inning that tied the game at 1.
The Sabercats took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Caminiti, the cousin of late MLB All-Star Ken Caminiti.
Salpointe junior right-hander Izaiah Moraga scattered seven hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk.
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