SUNSET SOFTBALL: Patient Aggies walk past Gorman

Patience hadn’t been Arbor View’s strong suit for much of the softball season.

It was their best friend in their first game of the postseason.

The Aggies worked deep counts Monday, drawing six walks and turning four of them into runs in a 7-3 win at Bishop Gorman in the opening round of the Sunset Region playoffs.

Arbor View (19-13) will visit Palo Verde (23-5) in a winners’ bracket semifinal at 4 p.m. today.

“It has taken us a long time to work on being selective at the plate,” said Arbor View coach Maria Yoder. “We broke out a little bit late in the season, and we’re hoping it will be contagious.”

The Aggies showed off their patience and got plenty of good fortune in a six-run fourth inning that featured only one hit.

Ashlyn Ames started the inning with a six-pitch walk, and Karli Lehr followed with a single to right. Courtesy runner Katelyn Hall mistakenly tried to advance to third on the hit, but the Gaels’ relay throw, which should have retired Hall by plenty, was wild, allowing Hall to reach third and Lehr to move to second.

After two strikeouts, Marissa Bachman hit a wind-blown high fly to left that was dropped, allowing two runs to score.

The next three batters — KeAnna Kamaka, Kayla Stephens and Adrianne Drewniak — all walked, and all three scored when Danielle Sheridan’s grounder to third was thrown away.

“That’s something we’ve had done against us a lot this year, with walks coming into score,” said Yoder, whose team took advantage of five Gorman errors and played flawless defense. “This was a good game for us, a good win.”

The Aggies forced Gorman’s Dayton Yingling to throw 41 pitches in the inning. Yingling, who struck out eight and allowed seven hits, threw 137 pitches in the game. All seven Aggies’ runs were unearned.

Lehr was 4-for-4 with a double.

“We’re looking at this as a fresh start; it’s the first game of a new season,” Yoder said. “Hopefully we’re able to take things one game at a time and keep moving along.”

Sierra Dias went 3-for-4 with a double, and Shelby Estocado hit a solo home run for Gorman (19-12), which will host Legacy (14-13) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Palo Verde 10, Legacy 0 — At Palo Verde, Kelsea Sweeney spun a three-hitter and struck out six as the Panthers topped the Longhorns in five innings.

Breanna Beatty belted a three-run homer, and Dayana Gage added a two-run shot for Palo Verde. Rachel Williams was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, and Kali Tomlinson was 3-for-3 for Palo Verde.

Kierra Otis went 2-for-2 for Legacy.

Centennial 13, Spring Valley 0 — At Centennial, Alyssa Finger went 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and four RBI as the Bulldogs (30-6) routed the Grizzlies (14-9) in five innings.

Heather Bowen was 3-for-3 with a double, and Bailie Nelson and Lauren Stroman each went 2-for-3 with two doubles for Centennial, which also got a home run from Ashley Ross. Savannah Horvath was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Bulldogs.

Kate Rauskin and Cheyenne Cudahy combined on a three-hitter for Centennial, which will host Shadow Ridge (13-5) at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Michaela Hood was 2-for-4 with a double for Spring Valley, which will visit Cimarron-Memorial (17-13) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Shadow Ridge 6, Cimarron-Memorial 2 — At Shadow Ridge, Tana Feiner went 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs to lead the Mustangs by the Spartans.

Jojo Brewer was 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Mustangs. Sarah Pinkston tossed a four-hitter for Shadow Ridge.

Carli Stafford was 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs, and Carmen Hasbrouck went 2-for-3 for Cimarron.