As if the way Xavier’s softball team lost 7-3 to
Glendale Mountain Ridge in Thursday night’s (May 14) winner’s bracket game of
the Division I state softball tournament wasn’t enough, now the Gators must do
it the hard way if they want to face Mountain Ridge in the state championship
game on Monday (May 18) at Arizona State.
Third-seeded Xavier (26-7) must come up through the winner’s
bracket in the double-elimination tournament and will need to defeat
second-seeded Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor on Friday night (May 15) at the Rose
Mofford Sports Complex in north-central Phoenix. The game was originally
scheduled for 8 p.m., but has been moved up to 6 p.m.
And it appears that Xavier will not be allowed to have head
coach Bobby Pena coach the team against O’Connor. He was ejected in the bottom
of the seventh inning against top-seeded Mountain Ridge, and rules state that a
coach must sit out a game before returning to the field.
Assistants Joe Bogart and Carrie Markham would coach the
team.
Xavier took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on
run-scoring hits by Megan Donahey and Becky Ducar. Mountain Ridge tied it in
its half of the third on a two-run home run by Bailey Gaffin.
The Gators inched in front 3-2 in the sixth inning when Sam
Sydenham singled with two out and came all the way around to score when a sharp
single to right by starting pitcher Emily Richards got by the right fielder for
an error.
A similar play allowed Mountain Ridge to tie it in the
bottom of the sixth.
Gaffin led off with a hit to right, the ball went off the
right fielder’s glove and Gaffin made it to third. She scored on a single by
Alyssa Dicarlo.
Xavier might have had a more comfortable lead, but two
runners were thrown out at the plate in the third and sixth innings. In both
instances, a pitch got away from the Mountain Ridge catcher, who recovered the
ball in time and tossed it to pitcher Giselle Juarez covering the plate.
With the score knotted at 3 and one out in the bottom of the
seventh, Richards walked a batter on a very close 3-2 pitch. Pena brought in
Caitlyn Dickman to pitch, and she walked a batter, putting runners at second
and first.
Mountain Ridge’s Taylor Kaye then hit a bouncer along the
first base line. Xavier first baseman Melissa Fedorka fielded the ball and
tagged the runner, at least according to the initial ruling by the base umpire.
Mountain Ridge coach Michelle Markham told her runner to stay at first and had
a discussion with the umpiring crew, and the base umpire changed his original
call.
Pena obviously was upset and protested first to the base
umpire, then barked at the plate umpire, who tossed him.
Xavier got a second out when a runner was forced at the
plate on a grounder to second baseman Mallory Belknap. But Dicarlo then sent
the ball over the fence for a game-winning grand slam to left, and that was
that.
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