May 14, 2004
Scottsdale Christian Academy took care of some of its unfinished softball business Thursday. A big part of it, in fact.
The Eagles snapped Thatcher’s 10-game state tournament winning streak and denied the Eagles from the north a possible third straight 2A title with a comefrom-behind, 2-1 victory in 10 innings at Rose Mofford Sports Complex.
Heidi Purtzer’s fourth single of the game scored Dani Lougheed from second base with two out in the bottom of the 10th to advance Scottsdale Christian (21-6) to its second consecutive 2A championship game. The victory avenged a 3-0 title-game loss to Thatcher last year.
Scottsdale Christian takes on Metro Region-rival Northwest Christian today at 5:30 p.m. at Rose Mofford. Northwest Christian edged Yuma Catholic, 2-1, in the other semifinal at Rose Mofford. Scottsdale Christian and Northwest Christian split two earlier meetings this season.
‘‘This one is sweet,’’ Scottsdale Christian coach Mark Hickman said. ‘‘We wanted to play Thatcher again. We said last year after the game that we hoped to see them. It was a great game.’’
Great might be an understatement. Scottsdale Christian beat Thatcher ace Rocky Bejarano, who pitched her team to titles in 2002 and 2003 and had a streak of 78 innings of scoreless state tournament play end when Scottsdale Christian tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth on Mandy Hickman’s RBI double that just missed being a game-winning, tworun homer.
Scottsdale Christian’s winning rally began with a one-out single in the bottom of the 10th by Lougheed. Lougheed stole second with Hickman at bat, but Hickman ended up being Bejarano’s 21st strikeout victim of the game. Purtzer followed with a sharp single to left center, far enough to get Lougheed home before a desperation throw from the outfield.
