They finished the game early, reaching the ten-run rule in the fifth inning.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Lady Sand Devils won the state Conference Play-in game against the Kingman Bulldogs on home field Wednesday at the Sports Complex in Page.
It was the bottom of the second inning when the Sand Devils, ranked number 9 in Division, almost sent the Bulldogs, ranked number 24, home suffering from a shut-out, ten-run rule.
Tyanna Kelly got the Sand Devils’ offense going for her team when she hit a triple . The Sand Devils went through the entire rotation of their roster before the Bulldogs ended the inning. The Sand Devils led 6-0 at the end of the second inning.
The Sand Devils increased their lead by an additional two points in the third inning when when Camryn Nockideneh and Shelby Blake worked together to see two runs home.
But the Bulldogs fought back in the fourth inning. They scored one run putting the “elimination by ten-run rule” a little further out of reach. The Sand Devils earned two more runs in the fourth inning giving them a 10-1 lead.
In the bottom the fifth the Sand Devils surpassed the ten-run rule when a single from Amaya Curley advanced Mikenna Penrod and Erin Hunt to home plate. The game ended there with the Sand Devils winning 12-1.
“We loaded the bases up and the girls did what they needed to do. The pressure was on them and it was either we break down and we let them score more runs or we take them out one at a time. And we did that.” said Head Coach Sunni Crank, hoping to see some of the same focus during the playoffs in Phoenix. “We will just do what we did here; get defense up and our bats going, take it one inning at a time.”
Crank is looking forward to a rematch against the Winslow Bulldogs if both teams make it to the championship round. “It would be one of those redemption things. We lost to them during the regular the season. That was an off game for us and it would be good to come back from that double-digit loss. That would be icing on the cake.”
The Sand Devils play the Holbrook Roadrunners in the next round of state tournament in Phoenix at the Rose Moffard Complex this Saturday at 3 p.m.
