Bulldogs win their way into tourney; Lady Bulldogs defeat Lady Sabercats in first round

WINSLOW, Ariz. — The Winslow Bulldogs won their way into the Arizona State 3A Conference Tournament with a 4-1 victory over the Valley Christian Trojans in Chandler April 27.

The win got the Bulldogs into the tournament as the 15th seed scheduled to play the No. 2 seed Casteel Colts May 3 in Surprise.

Valley Christian scored first in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Bulldogs took the lead with a three run top of the sixth inning and completed the scoring with a run in the top of the seventh and last inning.

Winning pitcher Junior Villanueva went the distance and gave up only one run on seven hits and one walk. Winslow had eight hits led by Daniel Vizcaya, who was three for four with three doubles. A. J. Huerta and Jalen Lyons were two for four with the Lyons having a home run. Jacob Guerrero was one for three.

The Bulldogs 13-1 loss to the Eagles and a 6-3 loss to the Show Low Cougars hurt their seeding in the conference playoffs and dropped them to 17th, necessitating a play-in game at 16th ranked Valley Christian.

In the loss to Show Low, both teams scored a run in the third inning and the Cougars took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth. The Bulldogs got the lead with a two run bottom of the sixth only to have Show Low score four times in the top of the seventh and hold the bulldogs scoreless in the bottom of the final inning to win the game.

Winslow surrendered six runs on 11 hits. The Bulldogs had only five hits and two of their runs were unearned.

Lyons and Vizcaya were both two for four with Lyons having a double. A. J. Huerta was one for four.

Lady Bulldogs defeat Sabino Lady Sabercats in first round of tourney

The Winslow Lady Bulldogs defeated the Sabino Lady Sabercats 3-2 in the first round of the Arizona State 3A Conference Tournament in Phoenix April 28.

Jordyn Johnson hit the game-winning home run with two out in the bottom of the seventh and final inning. Justine Butterfield got the win going the distance allowing just five hits. Sabino scored first in the top of the fourth inning, but Winslow took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a double by Butterfield, an error and a two-run double by Morgan Thomas.

Sabino tied the game in the top of the sixth but Johnson’s blast won it with the long drive over the centerfield fence. Winslow will meet the Chino Valley Lady Cougars, upset winners over fourth seed Safford.

Going into the tournament the Lady Bulldogs were 19-12 after a 6-5 loss to the Show Low Lady Cougars in Winslow April 23. Winslow was seeded eighth in the state, one place below Show Low for the automatic qualifiers. The Lady Sabercats defeated the Blue Ridge Lady Yellowjackets 7-0 in Tucson April 25 to get into the tournament. Going into play in the tournament Winslow was seeded fifth and Sabino 12th.

In Winslow’s loss to Show Low, the Lady Cougars scored three runs in the top of the first inning and Winslow plated two in the bottom of the first. The Lady Bulldogs tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth and took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Show Low scored three times in the top of the seventh for a 6-4 lead. Winslow scored once in the bottom of the seventh but it wasn’t enough, and the Lady Cougars claimed the victory.

Justine Butterfield took the tough loss, as all of Show Low’s runs were unearned. She gave up seven hits and no walks but was hurt by six Winslow errors. Winslow had eight hits and three earned runs. Brooke Williams was two for three with a double. Harleigh Scott was two for four. Butterfield and Cloe Wilcox were one for three. Jordyn Johnson and Morgan Thomas were one for four with Thomas having a home run.