You just never know what is going to happen when All-Star softball teams take the field.

For example, take Wednesday night’s (June 5) Arizona Softball Coaches Association game for Division II schools at Gilbert Higley High.

Pitcher Taylor Nowlin of state champion Peoria Sunrise Mountain started the game in the circle, pitched three scoreless innings before playing left field and then first base. She hit a grand slam in the fourth inning. And when the South began to rally in the top of the seventh, Nowlin went back to the circle to finish off the game, therefore earning the win and the save in the 6-2 victory to earn her MVP honors.

And Nowlin got help from her regular catcher for Sunrise Mountain, Morgan Leonard. Except that the big play came while Leonard was in right field.

When Nowlin went back in as the pitcher, the first batter she faced, Kim Myers of Casa Grande, sent a drive toward the gap in right-center. With two runners already in and the bases loaded, it looked as if Myers’ drive might clear the bases for a tie.

Leonard managed to track the ball down for the second out, and Nowlin got the final out on a line drive to second base. The North was allowed to bat again in the bottom of the seventh to allow players to get a few more at-bats, and it added a run when Nowlin singled and went on to score on a double by Alexis Nixon of Phoenix Paradise Valley.

Asked if she had ever saved her own victory, a beaming Nowlin said, “I don’t think so. It was fun. It was a good last high school game.’’

She thought her grand slam had bounced in front of the fence in left field and started sprinting around the bases.

And she wasn’t worried about whether Leonard would catch the drive in the seventh.

“I knew it. I knew she would,’’ said Nowlin, who will now move on to pitch for Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

It wasn’t the first time Leonard played in the outfield. She said she played there before becoming a catcher.

“She (Myers) hit one out there (right field) earlier in the game, so I thought she might try to hit it in the same spot again,’’ said Leonard, who will play collegiately at Northern Illinois.

Kaylee Romo of Flagstaff Coconino and Britnee Lopez of Glendale Apollo also pitched for the North.

Kali Renyer of Glendale Cactus had a pair of hits to lead the South.

Amanda Frank of Phoenix Shadow Mountain had a versatile effort for the North. Her throw from right field after catching a fly ball kept a run from scoring in the fifth, and she made a leaping grab of a line drive at shortstop for the final out of the sixth. She also hit a double in the fourth.