Mesquite and Hamilton have exchanged imporant  volleys over the last few years in baseball and Tuesday night it was Mesquite's turn to advance in an eilimination game.

Mesquite's John Ferrendelli shook off a rough second inning and was dominant from that point on as the sixth-seeded Wildcats topped No. 8 Hamilton, 7-3, in a loser's bracket  contest in the Division I state  tournament at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Mesquite (24-8) moves on to face No. 3 Sandra Day O'Connor (19-12-1), a 5-3 victor over top-seed Pinnacle in Tuesday's other elimination game. Mesquite will try to avenge its only loss in the tournament again O'Connor on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Camelback Ranch Stadium in Glendale.

"Four of the last five years we've knocked each other out," Mesquite coach Jeff Holland said. "Woody (Hamilton coach Mike Woods) and I golfed together Sunday. We knewthat one of us was going to come away broken-hearted. This time it was them.."

Last year it was Hamilton knocking off Mesquite on the way to a runner-up finish. The year before Mesquite prevailed before it bowed out in the semis. In 2008 Hamilton beat Mesquite, 6-5, in the titled game, rallying late from a 5-2 deficit.

This time, however, Mesquite grabbed the lead early and  in a big way .More importantly than other times this season, never surrendered that advantage.

Mesquite opened against Hamilton starter Parker Gallegos with three consecutive singles. Catcher and clean-up hitter Jake Howard followed through with what his spot in the order is supposed to do, belting a grand slam deep to left.

The 4-0 lead was slashed in the second to 4-3 as Hamilton collected four of its six hits. The Huskies got RBIs from Gallegos, Connor Woods and Skyler Palermo leaving fans to think a slugfest was in store. Ferrendelli was picked up by his teammates in the bottom of the second as Spencer Applebach flared a two-run, two-out single to right to bump the margin to 6-3

Ferrendelli had other ideas at that point about a high-scoring affair. He allowed just one hit over the final five innings -- a two-out single in the fifth to Trent Goodrich. Ferrendelli escaped trouble in the fourth walking the first two hitters of the inning. A pop up and strikeout followed. With runners at the corners the play of the game was turned in by Mesquite second baseman Brad Holland. Holland ranged far to his left and dove to smother a grounder by Kyle Pechloff. His throw to first beat Pechloff by a step, keeping the Wildcats on top 6-3.

"Ferrendelli picked his team up," Woods said. "He pitched great. He got better late in the game. We left too many guys on the first few innings, didn't get a bunt down in fourth. We battled, but they were the better team today."

Ferrendelli walked five and struck out eight. Four of his seven strikeouts were recorded among the last seven outs.

"After the fourth he was in a zone," Jeff Holland said of Ferrendelli. "I saw it in in his eyes. He wasn't coming out."