SUNSET REGION: Near-perfect Harmon throws no-hitter in Shadow Ridge playoff opener

Mandy Harmon admitted she wasn’t at her best Tuesday. That ought to scare the rest of the field in the Sunset Region softball tournament.

After walking the first batter, the Shadow Ridge senior retired the next 21 in order for a no-hitter to lift the Mustangs to a 7-0 victory over Clark to open the Sunset playoffs at Majestic Park.

“Honestly, I felt like I wasn’t on top of my game,” said Harmon, whose team is bidding to win its third straight region title. “The team just played really well together. Our defense made all the plays.”

Harmon needed only 66 pitches, 50 of them strikes, to put away the Chargers (18-12). She struck out only six, including the side in the second inning.

Clark didn’t help its cause, with 10 of its 21 outs coming on first pitches. Still, it took some wonderful defensive plays by the Mustangs (23-10) to preserve the no-hitter.

Shortstop Rae-Ann Bohm made a running basket catch in shallow center field for the first out of the sixth, and charged well on a grounder, avoiding a potential short-hop, for the final out of the game.

“Mandy was making some good pitches, and there were just some great defensive plays out there,” Shadow Ridge coach Cynthia Winter said.

Harmon got 11 groundouts and four flyouts to go with the six strikeouts.

And she got all the offensive support she needed from the top three in the Mustangs’ order. Courtney Winnett, Ashley Eldridge and Bohm combined to go 7-for-12 with three doubles, five runs and three RBIs.

“We seemed to get a little more comfortable the second time through the order,” Winter said.

Winnett doubled and Eldridge singled to start the scoring in the third. The Mustangs added two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.

“They usually are great at the top of the order, but today they were even better,” Harmon said.

Shadow Ridge advances to meet Northwest League-rival Cimarron-Memorial in the winners’ bracket semifinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The Mustangs are hoping to qualify for state again and compete for the title there.

“I think we have a better shot this year,” Harmon said. “We get along so well. We’re playing as one and we love each other. We wouldn’t trade anybody for anything.”

Clark dropped into the losers’ bracket and will meet Bonanza at 4 p.m.

Cimarron-Memorial 4, Bonanza 2 — Nora Murphy’s three-run homer broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the fifth inning and sent the Spartans (22-9) past the Bengals (28-7).

All four of Cimarron’s runs were unearned, aided by five Bonanza errors.

Still, the Bengals rallied to within 3-2 in the sixth when Emily Osborn scored on Jessica Delp’s grounder and Nicolette Lind scored on a wild pitch.

Starlyn Thomas singled and scored, thanks to a two-out error, in the seventh.

Vanessa Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with a run for Cimarron.

The Spartans’ Carrie Sheehan pitched a three-hitter and struck out nine.

Durango 8, Arbor View 6 — Ashley Hall hit a three-run homer during a four-run first inning, and the Trailblazers (25-7) never trailed.

Hall finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs as Durango built leads of 5-0 and 6-1 before holding off a charge by the Aggies (16-15).

Arbor View pulled to within 8-5 in the seventh and had runners at second and third with no outs, but tried to score on a fly ball and had a runner thrown out at the plate.

Jaexie Balilea was 3-for-4 with a double for Durango, which will face Centennial in a winners’ bracket semifinal at 6 p.m.

Chelsea Venable homered for Arbor View, which will meet Desert Oasis in the losers’ bracket at 4 p.m.

Centennial 5, Desert Oasis 0 — Lindsay Konopelko pitched a three-hit shutout, and the Bulldogs (23-7) used a 12-hit attack to beat the Diamondbacks (13-21).

Kyiie Bartlett went 3-for-4 with a triple, a double and an RBI for Centennial, which scored three runs in the first inning.

Katie Lee was 3-for-4 and Paige Reese 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs.