Leftover randomness from another state tournament softball weekend:
It was refreshing to see an outcome like the Tempe Corona del Sol slugfest with Sierra Vista Buena (who could meet again later this week). This time of year is all about pitching and defense, and since most teams who reach this far have dominating pitching, it was fun to watch offenses have their day (unless you were those pitchers).
Forget the final game against Phoenix St. Mary’s, in which Gilbert had no chance against Dallas Escobedo and Phoenix St. Mary’s. How about the job done by first-year coach Shaundra Gutierrez? The Tigers were a double-digit seed in the tournament the past two years, and couldn’t go anywhere. Their play was scatter-brained early in the season (as many teams are) but won five consecutive Fiesta Region games to win the region title. After losing the first tourney game to Gilbert Highland (barely), could have gone the ways of predecessing teams, but they rode freshman pitcher Michelle Duncan into the quarterfinals. Coach of the year candidate? Absolutely.
Speaking of St. Mary’s, the Knights are getting more dangerous by the hour. Not only has Escobedo been lights out in the tournament, but the team is hitting well enough around her to beat anyone. They were admittedly out of sorts for a time this season when Escobedo was nursing her injured hand and as St. Mary’s dealt with the death of a JV softball player - Phoenix Xavier went through the same tragedy - but not anymore.
There were four diving catches in the Chandler Basha-Mesa Red Mountain game. Bri Benjamin’s vault at second base to take away a leadoff hit might have saved the game for the Bears in the fifth inning.
Two players I’d pay to watch take batting practice: Ashley Hansen (Corona) and Caitlin Bayley (Xavier).
