Cactus' Alynah Torres starts come-from-behind rally in win over Chaparral. (AzPreps365 photo)

 Bracket play commenced Friday at the 21st annual Desert Mountain Softball Tournament and the eight-team championship bracket featured a couple closely-played games - starting with No. 4 seed Cactus and No. 5 seed Chaparral.

Cactus battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the fourth inning with a four-run outburst that paved the way to a 7-3 victory over Chaparral at Horizon Park where all the tournament games have been played all week. Other scores in the championship bracket -- Pinnacle 5, Iolani HI 2, Hamilton 15, Highland 2 and Centennial 9, Sahuaro 3.

Emilie Guerra, Hannah DiFabio and Nicole Osteen drove in runs in the inning with a double, error at second base and well-executed squeeze bunt, respectively. Chaparral committed two errors in the inning that didn't help. Guerra come in to relieve starter Cassandra Elliott after the first two hitters reached base in the sixth and retired all three batters she faced to close it out.

Elliott struck out eight and didn't walk a batter. She scattered eight hits, including home runs by Haley Boxwell and Callie Honing that  staked Chaparral to its two-run lead. 

Chaparral's Callie Honig is welcomed to the plate after 4th-inning homer. (AzPreps365 photo)

Standout Cactus junior shortstop Alynah Torres contributed two hits, each aiding rallies in the fourth and fifth. Aubrey Chavez, Osteen and and Guerra also had two hits. All championship bracket semis -- winner's and loser's side - are set for Saturday at 1 p.m. The title game, third-place, fifth-place and seventh-place games follow at at 3 p.m.

In the other championship bracket games:

#1 HAMILTON 15, #8 HIGHLAND 2:  Macy Simmons homered and knocked in six runs and Dolores Trigueros also homered in the Huskies win over the Hawks. Taylor Gindlesperger was 2 for 2 and Abby Andersen 3 for 3 in leading a 12-hit attack. Victoria Sanchez and Rylee Nelson drove in the runs for Highland. Hamilton faces Cactus in the winner's bracket semis. Highland plays Chaparral in the consolation semis.

#2 PINNACLE 5, IOLANI HI 2: Home runs are a big part of the Pioneers offense and it took hitters in the lower portion of the order to deliver the long ball in the victory over the Raiders.

Junior thrid baseman Grace Rudolph broake a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third with a grand slam and Nicole Amodio followed with a solo blast to give starter Marissa Schuld all the runs she'd need. Schuld fanned nine in five innings and gave up one run - a solo homer to Kai Barrett. Pinnacle plays Centennial in the winner's bracket semis.

#6 CENTENNIAL 9, #3 SAHUARO 3: The Coyotes pounded out 16 hits and built a 9-0 lead before the Cougars were able to respond in the final inning.

Dren Megnnis hammered a pair of home runs and drove in four runs. Caitlyn Swisher added threee hits and three RBI and Marley Burd tacked on three hits.  Lauren Wedman paced  Sahuaro with three hits. Sahuaro plays Iolani in the consolation semis.

Scores Friday from silver bracket:

#9 Ironwood Ridge 6, #6 Chandler 3; #13 Shadow Ridge 2, #12 Queen Creek 0; #14 Corona del Sol 7, #11 Red Mountain 3; #15 Horizon 4, #10 Campo Verde 0.

Saturday's silver bracket schedule:

9 a.m. - Winner's semis - Ironwood Ridge vs. Shadow Ridge; Corona del Sol vs. Horizon; Consolation semis - Chandler vs. Queen Creek; Red Mountain vs. Campo Verde. 11 a.m. - 9th-place - Ironwood Ridge-Shadow Ridge winner vs Corona del Sol-Horizon winner;  11th-place - Ironwood Ridge-Shadow Ridge loser vs Corona del Sol-Horizon loser; 13th place - Chandler-Queen Creek winner vs. Red Mountain-Corona del Sol winner; 15th place - Chandler-Queen Creek loser vs. Red Mountain-Corona del Sol loser.