3A BASEBALL FIRST ROUND
No. 7 Tanque Verde 8, No. 10 Empire 5
Home runs by senior Rocco Haggard and Landon Walker and junior Alex Page powered host Tanque Verde (19-7-1) to a victory over rival Empire, which ended its season at 18-10.
The Hawks avenged a 17-10 loss at home to the Ravens on April 20.
Haggard belted his 13th home run and Walker his 12th. Page has five home runs.
Tanque Verde trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the third. That’s when senior Santino Celani hit an RBI single and Walker and Haggard followed with back-to-back home runs.
Empire senior Zach Breinlinger hit a home run in the top of the fourth to give the Ravens a 5-4 lead.
Tanque Verde answered with a three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Mason Angeley hit an RBI single and Walker later had an RBI single. A run scored on an error on that play and the Hawks led 7-5.
Page closed the scoring with his solo home run that led off the bottom of the fifth.
Haggard (4-0) was also the winning pitcher, scattering seven hits over four innings. He allowed five runs, struck out eight and walked four. Celani earned his first save of the season, allowing only one hit in three innings. He struck out two and walked one.
Next: Tanque Verde will play at No. 2 Yuma Catholic (21-5) in a quarterfinal game Saturday at 2 p.m.
No. 2 Yuma Catholic 12, No. 15 Pusch Ridge 0, 5 innings
Pusch Ridge ended its season 18-11 with the run-rule loss in five innings to host Yuma Catholic.
5A BASEBALL ROUND TWO
No. 2 Catalina Foothills 9, No. 7 Nogales 2
Senior Paden Good went 3 for 3 with four RBIs and senior pitchers Alek Leyva and Isaac Kirkendall combined to limit Nogales (20-9) to five hits in the victory Tuesday at home for Catalina Foothills (22-6).
Catalina Foothills led 3-0 with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the second from the resumption of Monday night’s game that was suspended because of rain.
The Falcons led 9-1 by the end of the third inning.
Junior Alec Olivas and senior Yaxel Ledezma each had two-run singles. Ledezma also drew two walks.
Leyva (4-0) allowed four hits and a run in five innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Kirkendall allowed a hit and a run in two innings of work. He struck out three and walked one.
Nogales junior Xaciel Garcia was 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Next: Catalina Foothills will play No. 11 Scottsdale Horizon (13-16) in a third-round game of the winners’ bracket on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Diablo Stadium in Tempe. Horizona has upset No. 6 Gilbert Campo Verde 3-0 and No. 3 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep 8-4. Nogales will play at Notre Dame Prep on Thursday at 4 p.m. in an elimination game.
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