Sierra Vista tops Durango in slugfest

Watkins’ grand slam in 7th inning decisive

Ryan Watkins knew as soon as she hit it that the result was great. Some would even say it was grand. Watkins crushed a grand slam over the left-center-field wall to break a tie in the seventh inning Friday, and Sierra Vista’s softball team completed the comeback to win 16-12 over host Durango.

“Just to fix my adjustments and get on base,” Watkins said of her approach at the plate. “The girls are really talented and have sticks to hit the ball.”

The Mountain Lions (3-0, 3-0 Southwest League) pounced to a 7-1 lead after 1½ innings, but coughed it up when Durango scored six in the second. The Trailblazers added five in the third, and seemingly as soon as Sierra Vista got a big lead, it was facing a deficit almost as large.

But Sierra Vista kept pounding

away. Mia Buranamontri hit a tworun homer in the fourth, part of a 5-for-5 day for her. The Mountain Lions tied it in the sixth when Durango thought they had a strikeout to end the inning and walked off the field. But the count was 2-and-1 when Tyerra Kaaialii swung threw it, and when the Trailblazers trotted off, Buranamontri sprinted home with the tying run.

Two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Watkins in the seventh, and her blast on an 0-and-2 pitch gave the Mountain Lions nine unanswered runs. She finished 2-for-4 with two runs and six RBIS.

“I had no doubt she would put it in play,” Sierra Vista coach Raul Almaguer said. “It was just a matter of finding a good pitch to swing at.”

Harmony Dominguez pitched a complete game for Sierra Vista, and after struggling early, she pitched four shutout innings to end the game.

Kaitlin Fazendin had a triple and scored three times for the Trailblazers (5-5, 0-3), and Savannah Delgadillo went 2-for-3 with a triple, double, three RBIS, two runs and two walks.

Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2944. Follow @J15emerson on Twitter.