SUNRISE REGION: Foti fires second straight shutout as Liberty tops Foothill

Heading into the last game of the regular season on May 5, Liberty High softball coach Kris Jensen feared his team might fail to make the playoffs.

Less than a week later, Jensen was talking about the possibility of winning a regional championship.

Junior Francesca Foti tossed her second shutout in as many days Wednesday to lead the Patriots (21-10) to a 5-0 victory over Foothill in the second round of the Sunrise Region softball tournament at Coronado.

Liberty will play at Coronado (30-2) at 3 p.m. Thursday in the winners’ bracket final. The loss dropped the Falcons (17-11) into the losers’ bracket, where they will play Rancho (18-15) in a 5 p.m. game at Foothill.

“Francesca is tough as nails,” said Jensen, whose squad squeezed into the playoffs last week with a 6-4 win over Green Valley in its final Southeast League game. “She’s one of the strongest competitors I know.”

The game stayed scoreless over the first three innings, though Foti barely escaped a second-inning jam by forcing an inning-ending double play. She later got out of a sixth-inning jam to preserve the win.

“I knew I had good defense behind me,” said Foti, who struck out just four batters. “I knew that even if the ball was put in play, there were good people behind me.”

The Patriots jumped ahead 2-0 on a two-run single by Carson Cooper in the fourth inning, then extended their lead to 3-0 on an RBI triple by Diana Cassaro.

Jensen, whose team is not known for its power, said his players’ mastery of simple fundamentals paid off.

“We work on small ball in batting practice,” Jensen said. “We have small-ball scrimmages. It’s really been a discipline of ours.”

After Foti squelched Foothill’s sixth-inning rally attempt, the Patriots took advantage of two errors and three wild pitches to score two insurance runs in the top of the seventh without the benefit of a hit.

“For the whole season, the girls just wanted to get into the playoffs, then they would take care of business,” Jensen said. “Once they got in, they just kind of shined as the team they were.”

Brittany Huff went 2-for-4 to lead the Patriots’ modest five-hit attack.

Katlyn Kapral went 2-for-3 to lead Foothill.

Coronado 11, Silverado 1 — At Coronado, Lee Harrison went 3-for-4 with a towering three-run homer to lead the Cougars past the Skyhawks (13-7) in six innings.

Coronado notched eight of its 15 hits in the first two innings to take a 5-0 lead.

Though Silverado’s Taylee Heckman made it 5-1 with an RBI single in the fourth, the Cougars had three straight hits to open the bottom of the inning, scoring one run before Harrison’s homer to center field put the score out of reach.

Danielle Amato scattered seven hits to earn the win for Coronado, and teammate Morgan Yuhas went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Silverado will meet Las Vegas (15-13) in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Thursday at Foothill.

Las Vegas 10, Eldorado 9 — At Foothill, Brooke Booth doubled home Taylor Price with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as the Wildcats completed a remarkable comeback after trailing 9-4 in the sixth inning.

The Wildcats, who never led until the game’s final play, scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game and got singles from Price and Jasmina Salas ahead of Booth’s game-ending hit.

Jenice Gutierrez was 3-for-3 with a double, and Booth finished 2-for-4 with two doubles for Las Vegas.

Teresa Cianflocco was 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for the Sundevils (13-12). Ashley Jarzombek was 2-for-3 with two doubles, and Cheyanne Schindler tripled and doubled for Eldorado.

Rancho 8, Valley 3 — At Foothill, Aly Lamboo was 2-for-4 with a solo home run, and Amber Marlett went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Rams past the Vikings (14-17).

Brandy Marlett and Lamboo combined on a three-hitter.