O’Connor tournament still local
by Jason Stone

NORTH VALLEY – The SDO & DV Softball Festival often draws teams from all over Arizona, but that doesn’t mean that this year’s tournament won’t have a local flavor.

Among the teams making up this year’s tournament field: co‑host O’Connor, Boulder Creek and Cactus Shadows will be three of the 20 teams competing for the title at the three‑day tournament.          

O’Connor and Deer Valley will co‑host pool play games March 22, then move on to the bracket portion of the tournament March 23 and 24. O’Connor will host the championship game at 2 p.m. March 24.

Other notable teams at the event include Xavier, Mountain Ridge, Greenway, Sunrise Mountain, Ironwood, Centennial and Flowing Wells.

O’Connor rolls to three straight convincing wins

NORTH VALLEY – O’Connor enters its own tournament as one of the hottest teams in the field. O’Connor whipped North Canyon, Kingman and Desert Mountain by a combined score of 27‑4 last week to carry a four‑game winning streak into the tournament.

O’Connor (10‑2 overall, 2‑0 Northwest Region) first handed North Canyon a 14‑4 loss March 13 in the region opener for both teams. A day later, O’Connor hosted Kingman and treated the guests to a 8‑0 shutout.

The Eagles moved back into non‑region play March 15 in the third of three straight games and walked away 5‑0 winners against Desert Mountain.

After this week’s tournament, O’Connor will return to Northwest Region play through the end of the regular season. The Eagles return March 27 with a home game against Boulder Creek.

Jaguars pick up first Northwest Region win

ANTHEM – Boulder Creek earned its first Northwest Region win in dramatic fashion March 15–a one‑run win over rival Goldwater.

The Jaguars nipped the Bulldogs 3‑2 to earn a split in the first week of region games. Boulder Creek (6‑4 overall, 1‑1 region) started the week with a 6‑2 home loss to Mountain Ridge March 13 in the region opener for both teams.

Goldwater (1‑7‑1 overall, 0‑2 region) also lost its other region game last week, a 13‑0 shutout March 13 at home against Deer Valley.

Unlike Boulder Creek, Goldwater is not in the O’Connor tournament. But the Bulldogs will be part of the four‑day Horizon Tournament March 28‑31.

Goldwater returns to Northwest Region action April 2 at O’Connor.

Falcons get extra spring break time

CAVE CREEK – It was a spring break before actual spring break for the Cactus Shadows softball team.

The Falcons, who were hoping to quickly capitalize on two big back‑to‑back wins March 8 and 9, did not play a game last week and had 11 days away from competition before returning to the field March 20. Cactus Shadows (2‑5 overall, 1‑2 Wells Fargo 2 Region) was slated to play Higley in a game played after press time.

After Higley, the Falcons will be part of the O’Connor tournament before returning to region play April 3 at home against Bradshaw Mountain. By time that game is played, it will have been nearly a month between region games for Cactus Shadows.