The Bobcats defeated Salpointe 9-2 Tuesday night to capture the Division II championship and the win was the third over the Lancers this year. No, the third time may not have been difficult, but it was impressive.
D-IV Baseball: Desert Christian wins third championship in a row
Oro Valley Canyon del Oro defeated Tucson High 8-5 Thursday night in Division II playoff action. The win sends the Dorados to the state championship game while the Badgers will face Tucson Salpointe in the elimination final on Saturday night.
D-II Softball: Cienega and Salpointe advance to semifinals
Finally, Oro Valley Canyon del Oro (31-6) and Tucson Sahuaro (25-9) had another epic playoff battle with the Dorados coming out on top 12-11 in eight innings. The game lasted over three hours and over 30 players were used.
Canyon del Oro (32-2) outlasted Tucson Salpointe 16-15 in the winner's bracket of the Division II state playoffs to set up an improbable rematch 13 years later in the semifinal round with Tucson (27-5) after the Badgers got past Tucson Sunnyside 4-2 in the nightcap.
Billed as a high-powered double header at Amphitheater High School, the third round of the Division II playoffs turned into a night of missed opportunities and errors. Plenty of errors.
No. 4 Vail Cienega run-ruled No. 12 Tucson High 14-0 in the first game on Thursday night and No. 2 Salpointe defeated No. 7 Canyon del Oro 12-4 in the nightcap.
Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge hosted Tucson Salpointe in the quarterfinal round of the Division II playoffs on Wednesday and came away with a 5-1 win to advance.
Verrado (25-7) hoped to avenge last year's playoff loss to Oro Valley Canyon del Oro (30-5) but they fell short, losing 7-2 on Tuesday.
Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge junior Josh Darang pitched his way out of a couple of jams and held No. 19 Phoenix Arcadia (20-11) scoreless in the first round of the Division II baseball playoffs Saturday afternoon.
Darang improved his record to 6-1 on the year while the No. 14 Nighthawks picked up their 21st of the season (21-8) thanks to their 3-0 win over the Titans.
With the top three teams in each section claiming an automatic bid to the state playoffs, Section III hasn't even decided a winner much less an order of ranking.
The Tucson Salpointe Lancers softball team finished the regular season 25-6 and will most likely earn the top seed in the Division II playoffs but that is just part of the bigger story.
Southern Arizona boy's team tennis roundup
Playoffs: May 15-16
Prescott Antelope Hills Golf Course
Tucson Catalina Foothills has been a consistent presence in postseason play. Except for the 2012 season where the Falcons dropped eight of their last nine games to fall out of contention, one would be hard pressed to point to a "bad" season over the last decade or so.
Payson is the top-ranked team in Division III and Tanque Verde is ranked second. The Hawks know a rematch in the state playoffs is possible if they can remain unbeaten and they took another step with a 16-8 victory over D-IV power Tucson Desert Christian on Thursday.
Ranked third in Division II softball, Tucson Sahuaro will gladly accept the Section II title they earned by beating Sierra Vista Buena 9-0 on Wednesday but the Cougars have much loftier goals. Once the most powerful softball program in the state, Sahuaro has not won a state championship since 2001.
Tucson St. Augustine (9-5 in power-rankings games and 5-2 in section) and Pima (9-6, 3-3) are part of a group of teams fighting for an at-large invitation to the Division IV state playoffs.
We can learn a lot from Amphitheater's Marie Nzeyimana
Tucson Catalina Foothills wrapped up another perfect regular season Thursday night with a 7-1 win at rival Division II power Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge. At 14-0 overall and 8-0 in Section V, the Falcons have only given up 10 points all year but only three since March 9.
Based only on games that matter, Tucson Salpointe is the top-ranked D-II team with an 11-1 record in power-rankings games and a 7-0 record in Section VI battles. The Lancers can clinch a section title if the beat Tucson Catalina Foothills (3-8, 2-2) next Monday or if Ironwood Ridge (11-3, 4-2) and Canyon del Oro (9-3, 5-2) both lose before that.
The state playoffs for individual and doubles are scheduled to start next Friday, Apr. 24 while the team portion is set for the following Wednesday, Apr. 29.
16 teams will qualify from each of the three divisions with the top two teams from each section earning an automatic berth.
Baseball: Spotlight on Division II section races
Boys Volleyball: Ironwood Ridge defeats Canyon del Oro to remain undefeated with the grandfather of boy;s volleyball in the stands.
Cole Kowalski arrived on the Tucson Catalina campus one year after the Trojans won their second straight Division II boy's volleyball state championship. It was the spring of 2012 and the freshman setter and found himself on a team without all-state players Ryan Graham, Josh DeYoung, Lorenzo Gonzales, Ethan Mangosing and his brother Cooper Kowalski.
1824 articles by Andy Morales
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