Jaguars softball looks good early
Prep Softball Roundup
by Jason Stone            

NORTH VALLEY – Boulder Creek and Sandra Day O’Connor have each jumped out to fast starts in the 2007 softball season.

Heading into the first big week of Northwest Region games, the two teams have combined to win 12 of their first 17 games.

Boulder Creek (5‑3) is coming off a week in which it won two non‑region games–at South Mountain and home against Westwood–while O’Connor blanked Carl Hayden 10‑0 last week after going 5‑2 at  a tournament in Tucson the weekend before.

Boulder Creek put up two runs in the first inning against Westwood March 9 to spark the 6‑3 victory. Junior Jamie Behrans earned the victory on the mound.

For O’Connor, it has been feast or famine with the offense, but that hasn’t stopped the Eagles from consistently winning. The Eagles entered the week with a 7‑2 record, thanks to three games when they exploded for 10 or more runs. O’Connor has also been held to one run twice and it lost both of those games.

Goldwater (1‑5‑1) enters region play after winning one of three games last week. The Bulldogs blanked LaJoya 10‑0 March 6, but dropped a pair of back‑to‑back games later in the week                to Marcos de Niza (13‑3) and Cibola (2‑8).

Cactus Shadows earns first wins of season

CAVE CREEK – Back‑to‑back road wins at Moon Valley and Washington have sparked new enthusiasm at Cactus Shadows, which won its first two games of the year with the help of an explosive offense.

After scoring a total of six runs in its first three games, Cactus Shadows busted loose for eight runs in an 8‑5 victory March 8 at Moon Valley. A day later, the  Falcons rallied from      deficits twice in a 10‑8 victory at  Washington.

Sophomore pitcher Kilee Ferguson earned the win in the game against Washington.