Coconino survived a few mistakes, a schedule change due to rain in Flagstaff Tuesday and an extra inning in the second round of the 4A Conference state softball tournament, beating Eastmark on a walk-off single, 2-1, Wednesday at Boulder Creek High School in Anthem.
With runners at first and second base and two outs, freshman Hailey Householder connected for a hard hit off Firebirds starting pitcher Andrea Fletcher, bringing home聽Emma Kennelly for the game-winning run in the eighth inning and helping the top-seeded Panthers advance to the third round of the winner鈥檚 bracket.
Kaitlyn Tso, who pitched all eight innings for Coconino, reached base to start the final frame after being hit by a pitch and was replaced for聽Kennelly as the runner.
Tso allowed one run on four hits, keeping her team in the ballgame against the No. 9 seed thanks to recording 17 strikeouts and issuing just two walks. But the Panthers struggled throughout the contest to drive in runs, leaving runners in scoring position in all but the bottom of the first and sixth before getting the walk-off.
Fletcher gave up six hits, issued three walks and hit three batters.
Coconino was coming off a 3-0 win at home in the first round over No. 16-seeded Deer Valley in which Tso tallied a season-high 18 strikeouts.聽
Panthers manager Kimberly Dennis gave her team "kudos" for keeping its cool in the second round as it struggled to bring runners home.
鈥淭hey haven鈥檛 had to play in too many close games throughout the season, so these last two games have helped in that aspect, but they immediately showed their composure in both games," she said.
The Panthers improved to 3-1 in games this season decided by three or fewer runs.聽
Eastmark, which was the No. 1 seed in last year鈥檚 tourney and nixed Coconino from the loser鈥檚 bracket, dropped to 17-4 and into the loser鈥檚 bracket, where they will face No. 4-seeded Mica Mountain on Thursday.
Sophia Ormsby entered the lineup in the eighth inning for Coconino at the six hole and drew a key walk, moving Emma Kennelly, who was running for Tso, into scoring position with just one out. Mia Pozar popped up for the second out, putting pressure on Householder to deliver. Householder moved the count to 2-2 before roping her game-winner.
鈥淪he鈥檚 been a very big surprise for us as a freshman," Dennis said of Householder.
Householder was injured early in the season, and she was even in a bit of a slump entering the postseason, but 鈥渟he鈥檚 a gamer," Dennis said, "and with her, sometimes at the freshman level it鈥檚 just, 'Go be you and don鈥檛 overthink it.'鈥�
Coconino finished with two errors. The Firebirds started the game Tuesday in Flagstaff at Coconino High School with a double, which burned the defenders in the outfield. The next batter bunted and the throw to first was bad from Tso, allowing a runner to score to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Danica Kern went 2 for 4 and scored the first run for the Panthers, who have not lost in over two months since a March 4 defeat at Paradise Honors. With Kern at first after a single to start the third inning, Sophie Monsman put down a bunt, and as Kern stole third on the play to first, an error allowed her to come home to tie it at 1-all.
鈥淚 think it was a lot, but we were just telling them about being resilient," Dennis said about picking the ballgame back up Wednesday at a different venue.
Winning a game like Wednesday's is something Dennis believes will make her team more prepared for the rest of the postseason.聽
鈥淚t showed they can be calm in high-pressure situations," the longtime manager said.
She added: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the state tournament is all about, right?鈥�
Eastmark was on a three-game win streak entering the second round. It went 15-3 in the regular season and won a play-in match to get to the tournament. They, too, won their region crown this season in the East Sky.
Dennis said this week's been full of challenges for her team. On Monday, she said the team started a good practice outdoors before having to move indoors due to weather. While indoors Monday, a gas leak forced an evacuation of the school and a chaotic practice.聽
鈥淚 was like, 鈥楬ey, you know, we鈥檙e going to run through every obstacle right now, be resilient,'" she said.
Coconino, now 19-1, will host No. 5 seed Sahuarita on Saturday at 10 a.m.