Double play staves off Safford threat for Winslow

WINSLOW

A 1-2-3 double play staved off a bases-loaded threat for the Winslow softball team on Tuesday afternoon.

The second-seeded Lady Bulldogs pulled that off in the top of seventh and advanced with a 6-1 win over No. 15 seed Safford in the 3A softball state playoffs.

“They scored a run on us and my assistant coach went out to the circle when we had no outs in the last inning and he told the girls that we can afford for them to score a run or two,” third-year Winslow coach Megan Lymer said.

“So he told them to don’t focus on the run scored, and focus on trying to turn a nice double play, and that is what we did,” she said. “We were able to shut them down and close out the game.”

In other 3A state action, No. 3 Page came up short to No. 14 Tanque Verde as the Tucson-based school shutout the Lady Sand Devils by a 9-0 count.

At Winslow, senior ace Mckenzie Flores caught Safford third baseman Paige Perea off balance at the plate as her hit rolled toward the Winslow pitcher to set up that double play.

“We talked about that in the huddle and we executed it pretty good,” said Flores, who went the distance by giving up one earned run on six hits while striking out six batters.

The Winslow ace got plenty of help as the defense behind her came up a big by stranding eight Safford runners, including five in scoring position.

“Our defense has been pretty strong all year,” Flores said. “Honestly, it’s probably one of our best defenses we’ve had in my four years of high school.

“They make plays every single day, so it’s nice to have them back me up, especially for this playoff game because we were playing with nerves,” she added. “It’s nice to get that from them, and they just calm me down.”

Lymer said her club stayed composed even though Safford had runners on the corner in the first, fifth and sixth inning.

“I want to say that we have the most grit in our conference,” the Winslow coach said. “I absolutely love watching our defense. They work really hard at practice. I mean, they work equally as hard during games, so it’s really, really awesome to see it all come together every day.”

Winslow got on board first with an unearned run from Flores as the Safford defense got off to a rocky start.

Safford ace Breana Arbizo gave up a pair of walks to start the inning and Winslow loaded the bases with an error at first base with no outs.

Safford retired the next two batters, but a hit pitch from Arbizo sent Flores home for a 1-0 Winslow lead.

After three scoreless innings, the Bulldogs got a rally going in the fifth, batting in three singles and a two-run double from senior outfielder Andrea Guzman for a 4-0 cushion.

The Bulldogs added two more runs in the sixth with sophomore Brinleigh Arredondo nailing a two-run single in centerfield.

“You know, we had a slow start and that was based off of nerves,” Lymer said. “I think the girls we’re trying to do a little too much at the plate, so we had to make some adjustments.

“We needed to score more security runs because one is just simply not enough for us,” she added. “When they made those adjustments they started to put the ball in play and that’s is what we needed.”

Winslow finished with 10 hits with seven coming late in the contest. Guzman led the way with three singles while Arredondo and Flores added two hits each.

The Bulldogs will face No. 7 Bourgade Catholic on Friday at 4 p.m. at Rose Mofford Complex in Phoenix in the state quarterfinals.

Bourgade Catholic went eight innings to upend ALA-Ironwood 5-4 on Tuesday.

The winner advances into Saturday’s semifinals. The championship game is scheduled for May 13 at 3 p.m. at the ASU’s Farrington Stadium.

“I think we can make it,” Flores said of playing in the finals. “I think we have a really strong team, and I think that we all complement each other pretty well.”

To get there, Lymer said her club needs to be a little more confident at the plate right from the get-go.

“Like I said, nerves played a factor with our at-bats at the beginning of the game,” she said. “Now that we have this first game out of the way, I think we can start building some momentum.

“Hopefully that carries us the rest of the way.”

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