George Witkowski

For West Valley Preps

The Cactus Cobras are breathing a sigh of relief tonight, and it’s not because they are in the 4A championship game.

The Cobras (30-4) took a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning, but after being three-hit over six innings the Mohave Thunderbirds (21-13) erupted for three runs on four hits. A shallow fly ball out to left field ended the game with two on to give Cactus a 4-3 win.

#3 seed Cactus advances to play #5 Tucson Salpointe Catholic (32-4-1) 6:30 p.m. May 15 at Arizona State University’s Farrington Field.

Earlier in the day, Salpointe took a 2-0 win over #1 Tucson Canyon del Oro, sweeping out the defending champion.

Despite the win, Cactus coach Bartt Underwood said his team has to get better in a hurry.

“We had way too many pop-ups and I told my team to quit swinging at the high pitch,” Underwood said. “We played Salpointe three years ago in the playoffs and (now) they have new girls that we don’t know. Not seeing them you feel blind going in."

When the Thunderbirds went into the seventh inning down 4-0, Underwood stressed to his team to relax, but with teenagers, these happen.

“Their pitcher was aggressive and once we had a cushion, we could breathe easier, but what does that tell you,” he said. “Thank God we won, and that last fly I knew she’d catch it (sophomore Kaiulani Nowell). It was closer than I wanted it to be and you have to give credit to Shannon (Mohave coach Shannon Patterson).”

Cactus freshman pitcher McKenna Feringa rode out the Mohave offensive outburst for the win, although it was a little too close for comfort.

“It was a little crazy when a few runners got on and we had to trust our defense,” Feringa said.

Cactus opened the scoring in the home fourth when freshman center fielder Hannah DiFabio singled to right, took second and third on bunts and scored on an infield single.

Cactus junior shortstop Alynah Torres opened the sixth with a home run which looked at the time gave Feringa a 2-0 lead.

It ended up being a decisive hit.

“Once we got the home run, I knew we needed to score more because this game’s not over until the final pitch,” Torres said. “We don’t care who we play (in the championship game), we want to play the best we can. You need one to win anyway and (today) we needed to keep our composure, which we did.”

Following Torres’ home run in the sixth senior second baseman Nicole Osteen doubled home a run, and junior right fielder Carson Gambs singled home a run for what seemed safe 4-0 lead.

Bullhead City Mohave got started in the seventh with a single, walk and single to load the bases. Junior leftfielder Daezha McDaniel singled in a run, and a two-run single by senior pitcher Kalani Reehill tightened the score.

Cactus won championships under Jeff Griffith in 2006, 2004, 2003, 1994, 1989 and 1987. Griffin returned to the program as Underwood's lead assistant when the former Centennial coach took the helm of the Cobras in 2012.

In 2016, the Cobras reached the Division II title game, falling to Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge.

To get back, Cactus had to sweat it out for the first time in more than a week. The Thunderbird were far more competitive than on May 1, when the Cobras coasted to an 11-0 win in five innings.

“Mohave was a different team from when we last played them,” Feringa said. “It doesn’t matter who we play in the championship, we want to go out and have some fun and bring back the championship.”

Cactus sophomore Carson Gambs hits run scoring double for the Cobras in the sixth inning of a 4-3 victory over Bullhead City Mohave Thursday at Rose Mofford Sports complex in Phoenix. [Courtesy Ed Russell Photography/For West Valley Preps][/caption]