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MASON PHOTO |
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Cactus Shadows catcher Tera Bronis braces
for a collision with a Cibola runner during the team's
game at the Sandra Day O'Connor/Deer Valley Softball
Festival March 24. The Falcons lost the game 5 2. (Click
picture for larger image) |
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Successful
tourney finishes at O'Connor
by
Jason Stone
DVUSD/CCUSD - Nearly 20 teams and three days of softball action
without weather interruption resulted in last week's successful
SDO DV Softball Festival at O'Connor and Deer Valley high
schools.
Corona del Sol emerged as the winners as the Aztecs beat Greenway
for the team championship, while co host Deer Valley claimed
the consolation crown.
Local teams O'Connor, Boulder Creek and Cactus Shadows fielded
teams at the event with the Eagles coming out the best of
the three. O'Connor finished 2 2 at the tournament, while
Boulder Creek and Cactus Shadows did not manage a win in their
eight games.
O'Connor dropped a 1 0 heartbreaker to Sunrise Mountain in
the opener March 23 before reeling off back to back wins over
Desert Vista and Notre Dame. Greenway ended the Eagles' run
March 25, however, with a 4 0 win.
"I was very pleased with the girls' performance in the
tournament," O'Connor coach Melissa Shepherd said. "It
is very difficult for our team because not only do they play
in the tournament, but when they are not playing they are
working the tournament- whether it be sitting at the gate,
working the snack bar or doing field work. They are there
from before the first game time until everything is all cleaned
up at the end of the day.
"The
girls stayed very focused and played some great ball games."
Cactus Shadows was not as fortunate at the tournament. Although
the Falcons made strides by playing good ball in a couple
of close games, they still came up short in all four they
played.
"We're slowly making progress and we should have won
two of them," coach Danica Gianni said about the Falcons'
losses to Corona del Sol, Centennial, Cibola and Ironwood,
which left the team's season record at 1 8. "We played
some teams that had a lot of games (played before the tournament),
so now we should be ready for our (Wells Fargo 2) Region games.
We're ready to roll."
Hoping
to shake up the team's fortunes, the Falcons ran the basepaths
more aggressively during the tournament, but it came back
to haunt them in one of the winnable games. Cactus Shadows
opened the Ironwood game with a triple and three consecutive
singles, but two runners were thrown out at the plate during
the inning and Ironwood went on to a 2 0 win. |
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Cactus
Shadows has been shut out in five of its nine games this year, but
the Falcons started getting hits in groups during the tournament,
leading Gianni to feel optimistic about her team entering this week's
big stretch of three region games.
"Overall, I'm hopeful for region because this is where it counts,"
Gianni said. "Once we get rid of those zero scores, we're going
to just be fine."
Boulder Creek (1 12) had a tough time in its first appearance in
the annual tournament. The Jaguars lost to North Canyon, Notre Dame,
Xavier and Flowing Wells.
If the Jaguars are looking for revenge on Northwest Region foe North
Canyon for the 4 1 loss in the first game of the tournament, they
won't have to wait long. North Canyon and Boulder Creek were scheduled
to face off in a home and home series March 27 and 28. Results were
unavailable at press time.
Boulder Creek is scheduled to play its first ever varsity game at
O'Connor April 4. |
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