Sunnyside improved to 14-0 on the year after winning a back and forth battle at Ironwood Ridge on Monday. The Blue Devils scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning an another in the top of the seventh to come away with a 9-7 victory in a game that seemed lost several times over.

Ironwood Ridge (12-5) led 4-0 after two innings of play, 4-2 after four innings and 7-5 after five and Sunnyside escaped a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth to help set up the victory.

Half of the Sunnyside victories came at the Westwood/Dobson Invitational held in February which puts the Blue Devils in a very favorable 7-0 record in power-ranking games with the initial set of rankings slated to be released on Tuesday, March 28. The team is set to travel once again to play in the Hamilton Invitational from Thursday to Saturday of this week before the taking on the bulk of the regular season including competition in the 6A South Region.

The Nighthawks are also in a great position with a 4-2 record in rankings games and the loss to Sunnyside will be an eventual bonus come seeding time. The Nighthawks have already completed tournament play with a good showing at the Dysart Tournament and the Desert Mountain Tournament. The Nighthawks will travel to Nogales (1-11, 0-5) on Tuesday and the team competes in the 5A Southern Region.

In the game with Sunnyside, Lola Weber came up with an infield single to score Mia Gutierrez to put the Nighthawks up 1-0 after the first inning and Bella Wolfe turned on a ball in the bottom of the second to blast a 3-RBI shot with two outs, scoring Alexis Martinez (courtesy running for pitcher Lili Vigil-German), Aspyn Nelson and herself. Down 4-0, Sunnyside scored two in the top of the third to stay in the game.

Alyssa Lopez singed with one out and then Natalya Rivera hit the ball up the middle to reach. Lopez scored on an error on the play and then Rivera scored on another error later in the inning to cut the lead down to 4-2.

Isabella Wolfe scores on her 2-run home run. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

Vigil-German singled in the bottom of the fourth and Gianna Medrano picked un an RBI to make it 5-2 Nighthawks. Things got a bit wild in the top of the fifth with Rivera reaching on an error, followed by a double from Taty Vega. Lauryn Carbajal singled to the outfield to cut the lead down to 5-3. Gracie Ayala to cut the lead down to 5-4 and then Carbajal scored on an error on the play to tie the game up 5-5. The Nighthawks responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning after Caelan Beatty drew a walk and Gutierrez hit a home run to left for a 7-5 lead.

Lopez doubled with one out in the top of the sixth and Rivera plated her to cut the lead down to 7-6. Carbajal singled with two outs and Rivera and Carbajal both scored on errors on the play to give the Blue Devils an 8-7 lead. The Nighthawks loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with a walk from Medrano with one out followed by another walk to Nelson. Liz Smith walked one out later to load the bases with two outs and then Gutierrez delivered on a shot to the fence but Lopez was able to track the ball down for the third out.

Mia Gutierrez on her shot. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

Gracie Ayala singled to start the top of the seventh and her pinch runner, Kassandra Alcaraz, scored on another error later in the inning to make it 9-7 Sunnyside. The Nighthawks put two on in the bottom of the seventh with one out but a double play ended the final threat.

Lopez went 3-for-5 for Sunnyside with a double, Rivera went 2-4 with an RBI, Vega had a double and she picked up the win with four strikeouts, Carbajal went 2-4 with two RBI and Ayala went 2-3 with 2 RBI.

Wolfe collected a 3-run home run for Ironwood Ridge, Gutierrez had a 2-run home run, Weber went 2-4 with an RBI, Medrano went 1-2 and Vigil-German had a single and she picked up two strikeouts while only giving up four earned runs.

The Nighthawks are led by longtime head coach Dave Martinez and he brought back former standout Makayla McAdams to coach his pitchers. McAdams led the Nighthawks from the circle to a 5A state championship final as a junior with a 30-7 record. She went on to play for New Mexico State, earning All-WAC recognitions.

Longtime assistant Ruben Cazares is taking over for legendary Sunnyside head coach Pete Palomarez, who led the Blue Devils to a state championship in 2007 and a runner-up finish in 2010. Cazares, along with his staff, Raul Vega, Ozzy Carbajal and Okzwoualdo Gonzalez, have led the Blue Devils to what is believed to be the best start in program history.

Tatyana Vega. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)