VarsityXtra

Chandler Seton Catholic right-hander Olivia Bergman gets in such a groove, she barely even bothers with warm-up pitches between innings.

At least twice on Tuesday, she threw just one warm-up toss before saying she was ready to go.  Bergman said it’s all about staying a rhythm. As long as her arm is loose, she wants to play ball.

“I’m pretty much warm anyway,” Bergman said. “I just like to keep the same rhythm each inning. I take the same amount of steps forward and the same amount of steps back (after a pitch). It’s kind of weird, but I don’t really even think about it.”

Since Bergman’s only goal is to get warmed up before an inning, and the Sentinels didn’t have any long frames offensively on Tuesday that would make her tighten up, she didn’t need all of the allotted pitches.

Coach Jerry Mullin said he’s never had a conversation with Bergman about throwing more, and doesn’t plan on it.

“As long as it’s working, we’re not going to mess with something that works,” Mullin said.

If there was ever a case to be made that 5A Division I boys volleyball tournament should be a double-elimination event, feel free to cite Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchups.

(I don’t see double elimination happening, although they should play this the tournament a week earlier since nobody does worthless region tournaments anymore).

Here’s what these quarterfinals look like:

No. 8 Highland at No. 1 Mountain Pointe: Though it’s been a struggle at times with injuries and inconsistency, Highland is the best No. 8 seed in boys volleyball tournament history (kind of like Phoenix Xavier at No. 16 in softball).  This should be a state semifinal, minimum.

No. 5 Mesquite at No. 4 Salpointe: The only reason Fiesta Region-winning Mesquite is a No. 5 seed is because the Wildcats got zero bonus points because they beat winless (as it turned out) Mesa Desert Ridge twice.  In turn, Mesquite has to travel to Tucson.

No. 6 Gilbert at No. 3 Red Mountain: Same affliction that happened to Mesquite also hurt Gilbert in the power rankings. Meanwhile, Red Mountain swept through the East Valley Region, and though it’s not as difficult as the Fiesta, the Mountain Lions also beat Highland earlier in the season, which Gilbert didn’t.

No. 10 Deer Valley at No. 2 Boulder Creek: It’s probably the least-scintillating of these matchups (I’m going with Boulder Creek), but even this one went up a notch when Deer Valley went to Brophy’s gym and knocked off the Broncos on Monday, a team many considered to be a sleeper in this tournament.

Phoenix Desert Vista and Scottsdale Desert Mountain play for their playoff lives Tuesday night at Tempe Dibablo Sports Complex and the right to try and beat Tempe Corona del Sol twice on Thursday if either wants a shot at the 5A Division I baseball crown.

Desert Vista and Desert Mountain played twice this season - one a non-counting tournament game and the other a power-point game.  Plan on a three-hour game if the previous two are any indication.

Desert Vista has won both games by scores of 23-17 and 20-15.  They are two of the top five hitting teams in the state.  It’s hard to imagine either school winning this one with less than 10 runs. Who knows,  it may take 20 again.

Chandler Hamilton and Gilbert Highland have been rivals for a decade in all sports.  Chandler Basha, which joined the prep ranks in 2004, has never been in the same region as its sister school a few miles to the north and west.

On Tuesday, Hamilton and Basha play in a 5A-I baseball elimination game at Tempe Diablo Sports Complex. Oddly enough it will be the first time the schools have ever played an official, meaningful baseball game. This one would qualify as official and meaningful.

Gilbert Highland’s baseball team has won the last two 5A-I Fiesta Region crowns and to do that they’ve had to dethrone Chandler Hamilton. The Hawks have done it legitimately. Dating back to April of 2007 , Highland  has beaten Hamilton seven consecutive times. Five of those wins have been by one run, one by two and the other by four.  Expect another tight one Saturday in their clash at 4 p.m.  at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Earlier this year, a coach in Texas was vilified because his girls basketball team beat another squad 100-0.

If a football team scores more than 60 or 70, opponents will accuse the coaches of running up the score.

But don’t blame Scottsdale Chaparral baseball coach Jerry Dawson for Tuesday’s 38-0 win over Apache Junction.

In the contest, the Firebirds scored six runs in the first, eight in the fourth, and a whopping 24 runs in the second inning.

But Dawson quickly pulled his starters when the game got out of hand and did everything in his power to end the game quickly. That’s easy in football and basketball. There’s a timer, so the teams can slow the game down and let the game end.

But in baseball, the defense has to get three outs. It would have been more demeaning if Dawson made his players bunt, or do something else to intentionally end the game.

Chaparral certainly didn’t mean to pile on. It was a tough situation for both teams, and one that should be without blame.

Rarely does officiating figure into story or blog content. It’s a thankless job, they’re not professionals and human error occurs.

No one ruling or call ultimately decides an outcome.

But even this one is confounding.

No. 7 Gilbert Highland trailed No. 2 St. Mary’s, 1-0, in the top of the seventh inning during Tuesday’s second round of the 5A Division I state softball championship.

The Hawks had a runner on second (Ashleigh Seipel) with two outs and Caitlin Konicek batting against  Knights aceDallas Escobedo.

According to Hawks coach Jamie Waldron:

Konicek swung and missed at the first pitch for strike 1, took two balls, then swung and missed again for strike two.

Konicek stepped out of the box to look at Waldron and take a practice swing.

That’s when Knights coach Bobby Pacheco called time, went to home plate and claimed Konicek swung at strike three which should have ended the game.

Waldron, the scorekeepers and the home plate umpire had two strikes in their counters. There were no game-ending cheers by Knights fans, no players  appeared ready to leave the field and Escobedo was ready to throw another pitch.

“(Pacheco) must have been the only one at the field who thought it was a third strike,” Waldron said.

Pacheco then went to the field umpire, who casually strolled into the infield and said it was strike three.

The game ended and the umpires jettisoned to the parking lot.

The Hawks were livid.  If it was strike three, how come nobody cheered or celebrated the end of the game? How come the home plate umpire didn’t have final say on what the count was? And if it was strike three, why didn’t either umpire make a declaration or signal the game was over?

Waldron is contemplating filing a protest with the AIA, though she knows it probably won’t change this outcome, and it would have been a tall task for Konicke to drive home Seipel with the tying run against Escobedo.

But the Hawks at least wanted a full chance.

Was Pacheco right and everyone else wrong about the count?  Was intimidation involved?

Nobody knows, but in a state tournament, this was a bush-league ending to an otherwise excellent softball game.

At least if Chandler High’s baseball team had to go to Tucson Tuesday and play a 7:30 p.m. game, the Wolves made the most of their time there.

Chandler outlasted Tucson High in a 5A-I state tournament elimination game, 3-2, in 13 innings at Cherry Field. The game lasted four hours. Logan Spears’ infield single in the top of the 13th plated Kyle Yount with what proved to be the deciding run.

Some of the odd numbers from the game.

– Chandler hitters struck out 21 times in the game.

– Tucson hit into six double plays, including with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th as the Wolves secured the win.

– Chandler reliever Albert Blanco pitched 7 1/3 innings of shutout relief and allowed just three hits to pick up the win. He induced five of the double play balls.

– Isaac Rodriguez got the final double play ball in relief of Blanco to notch the save.

Chandler coach Jon Watson, who lives in  Queen Creek,  got home about 3:15 a. m. and the team arrived back at Chandler High at 2:30 a.m. They held about a 90-minute practice Wednesday, working on hitting for Thursday’s 4 p.m. elimination game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium against Glendale Mountain Ridge.

“Striking out 21 times, hitting is something we need to work on,” Watson said. “It was an amazing high school game. One of the best I’ve been involved in. It was clean. We made one error and I think they made three. The umpiring was outstanding. Every call, the crucial ones, were all right.”

In a season where pitching hasn’t excelled too often, several underclassmen have come up big in state tournament games after the first two rounds of the 5A-I tournament.

Mesa Red Mountain sophomore Cole Gleason tossed a four-hitter at Mesa Mountain View last Saturday in a 3-2 victory.

Mesa Mountain View sophomore Hayden Rogers pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief Tuesday to help keep the Toros alive in a 3-2 win over Phoenix Mountain Pointe.

And Chandler Hamilton sophomore Zak Johnson threw a three-hit, complete game at Glendale Mountain Ridge in a 6-2 triumph that vaulted the Huskies to Saturday’s unbeaten round and matchup against Gilbert Highland.

The ball is back in the seniors’ court come Saturday in the battle of unbeatens in 5A-I and 5A-II.

Desert Ridge’s Jake Barrett should toe the rubber against Glendale Deer Valley in a 5A-II winner’s bracket game.

Look for Hamilton’s Cory Bernard to battle Highland’s James Pazos in a 5A-I winners’ bracket matchup.

All three have notched wins already in the first round of state.

I got my first look at Mesa Red Mountain’s Cole Gleason and Scottsdale Desert Mountain’s Taylor Lindsey last night, and it’s easy to see why they are two of the most feared hitters in the state.

Gleason has unbelievable power. An opposite field single he hit early in the game was an absolute rope, and later, a three-run homer was one of the farthest home runs I’ve seen of late. The blast easily cleared the 340-foot wall in left field at Tempe Diablo Stadium, and landed in the bushes past the outfield berm. It’s hard to believe he is only a sophomore.

The most impressive thing about Lindsey is his quiet bat. Lindsey has a short, quick stroke, which makes it easy for him to adjust to off-speed pitches. Since he came in with 18 homers, I knew the power was there, but he’s also a terror on the bases. Lindsey is very distracting to pitchers when he reaches base, bouncing around and stealing at a moment’s notice.

Lindsey himself is only a junior, so if you haven’t seen these two players yet, there’s still plenty of time.