Sunnyside freshman Ashley Rosthenhausler and Sunnyslope sophomore Kodi Crabtree electrified the crowd on Tuesday with a pitcher’s duel that went the distance until Leylanni Lopez broke up a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning with a double to the fence to knock in Lauryn Carbajal with two outs. The 1-0 victory came in the elimination round of the 6A state playoffs and the Blue Devils will advance to the second round of the elimination bracket on Thursday.

No. 3 Sunnyside lost to No. 14 Corona del Sol 7-2 in the first round on Saturday and No. 11 Sunnyslope lost to No. 6 Red Mountain 7-5 to set up the elimination game held at Sunnyside on Tuesday. Sunnyslope ends the season with a 22-9 record and Crabtree ended another successful season with 227 strikeouts to go along with the 221 she earned last year as a freshman.

Crabtree picked up eight strikeouts at Sunnyside and she shut down the first 10 batters she faced until Natalya Rivera earned an infield hit in the bottom of the fourth. She would give up a walk to Hilaria Burruel in the sixth but she closed out that inning with another strikeout. Meanwhile, Rosthenhausler put two on with walks in the top of the first inning but a strikeout and caught-stealing attempt ended that early threat.

An error put Bryn Daley on to start the top of the third inning for Sunnyslope but three straight strikeouts shut the door on the threat. A double play erased a walk in the fourth and a walk in the sixth was held in check by two quick outs. Sunnyslope came up empty in the top of the seventh and it looked like extra innings if the Blue Devils were unable to breakthrough in the bottom half of the inning.

Crabtree induced a ground ball to get the first out but Carbajal reached on a sharp hit to third. Rosthenhausler was hit-by-pitch with two strikes to put two runners on but Crabtree responded with her eighth strikeout of the game to make the situation more tense for the Blue Devils. Lopez delivered a double to the fence to score Carbajal.

Sunnyside will face the loser of No. 2 Basha and No. 7 Desert Vista on Thursday. The two teams will play their second round game on Wednesday. If Basha loses then Sunnyside will travel to play Basha but a Desert Vista loss will give the Blue Devils one more home game before the 6A tournament shifts to the Quail Run Sports Complex in Mesa.

Kodi Crabtree (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)