Mohave ousts Gila Ridge by 1 run in 4A 1st round

Ray blows out San Pasqual in 1A opener

The Gila Ridge softball team’s season came to an end Saturday with a 2-1 loss at No. 6 Mohave in the first round of the 4A state tournament.

The No. 11 Hawks (15-5 AIA), who were trying to reach the quarterfinals for the second time in program history, had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh but weren’t able to bring them in. Coach Jaime McGalliard called it a “classic state game,” and said her kids played well but just came up short.

Mohave took a 1-0 lead in the first, Gila Ridge tied it in the fourth and then the Thunderbirds (14-4) jumped back in front in the sixth.

As the final score would suggest, the game was a pitchers’ duel, as starters Kalani Reehill for Mohave and Tinley Schmidgall for Gila Ridge combined for 17 strikeouts and just 11 hits allowed.

Schmidgall, the Hawks’ star freshman who was coming off a four-hitter against No. 22 Greenway in the play-in round, allowed six hits and one walk while striking out eight over six innings Saturday. After retiring 12 of 14 batters she faced in the second through fifth innings, she allowed a leadoff bunt single in the sixth followed four batters later by a two-out double that drove in the game’s decisive run.

The only other run Schmidgall allowed came on a solo homer in the first.

Gila Ridge scored its run after