So Basha and Glendale Mountain Ridge are taking a detour of sorts – “the scenic route” – to try and reach the Division I state championship game on Monday night at Arizona State’s Farrington Stadium.
It’s not much of a detour, at least, since both the No. 1-seeded Bears and No. 4-seeded Mountain Lions haven’t spent a lot of time (or had to play many games) in the bottom part of the bracket. Always a big deal when it comes to advancing this far in the double-elimination state tournament.
They meet tonight …

We touched on Wednesday night’s big Div. I softball state tournament semifinal a bit here between Red Mountain and Mountain Ridge, but there’s quite the compelling matchup set to take place on a Rose Mofford field next door at the same time Wednesday night (6:30 p.m.) between No. 1 Basha and No. 6 Horizon.
These two schools met early on during the Desert Mountain tournament in March, a game won by Basha, 8-6. But that was awhile ago, and things (naturally) have changed.
For starters, Horizon freshman Tamara Statman has since emerged …

One week to go.
In exactly seven days (May 14 at 7:30 p.m.) the Division I (and Division II) softball state champions will be crowned at ASU’s Farrington Stadium (a fine place to hold a couple championship games). For two schools, the dream of playing inside a college stadium for 90 percent of softball players will be realized. For the fortunate few, it could be an appetizer for what they’ll be lucky enough to experience at the college level.
A few different paths will diverge to reach next Monday. One school only …

The heat is on.
Thermometers will creep up into the mid-90s on Saturday, and intensity should uptick as well as the quarterfinals (winner’s bracket) or elimination games begin Saturday morning (9 a.m. for Div. III and IV) and continue through mid-afternoon (Div. II at 11 a.m. and Div. I at 1 p.m.) at Rose Mofford Softball Complex in Phoenix.
It’s nothing new for Div. III and IV. Friday’s second-round matchups for the likes of Valley Christian (vs. Phoenix Country Day) and Tempe Prep (Pusch Ridge Christian) have been win-or-go-home from the start.  …

Before we take a look at the Division I softball state tournament matchups on Thursday  night – and there are a couple doozies – best of luck to Valley Christian, Scottsdale Christian and Tempe Prep as those schools begin the Division IV state tournament journey on Wednesday afternoon.
Unfortunately it’s single elimination format and the brackets don’t yield favorable matchups (especially in Friday’s possible second round), but nothing spells unpredictability like smaller-school state tournaments.  Good luck.
Farewell to Division II, as the three East Valley representatives Saguaro, Queen Creek and Notre Dame …

Round one is in the books, a Saturday filled with some drama, blowouts and a few surprises (congrats to Chandler and Desert Vista) sets up a few interesting matchups on Tuesday.
This is the last “elimination” round of the tournament, which means the winners on Tuesday advance to the final eight in Division I or Division II and will have a double-elimination format the rest of the way (until obviously the championship games).
All games at 4 p.m.:
Division I
No. 16 Perry at No. 1 Basha:  The Pumas have won 10 consecutive games …

As the “second season” begins on Saturday around the state, a few bits of randomness about these brackets.
–For the most part (and it’ll never be exact) the seedings at the top of Division I are pretty spot-on. Or, at least, there are good arguments to be made that Basha (No. 1), Red Mountain (No. 2), Xavier (No. 3), Gilbert (No. 4) and Horizon (No. 6) are worthy of their spots. Xavier might be the biggest question mark of those given the Gators’ late-season slide after dropping three of their last …

A critical baseball game between Horizon and Desert Mountain will finish on Thursday, in time to count toward the power point standings.
The game was tied at 10 in the bottom of the eighth on Tuesday when it was called due to darkness, but that’s only a part of the story.
The Wolves rallied from a 10-1 deficit to tie the game, and had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth. A ball was hit to third, and after the base was touched for one out, Wolves …

This is it:  The last of the regular season matchups. All teams vying for playoff positions, “bubble teams” trying to get into the top-24, and jostling for one of those top 8 seeds (especially in Div. I and Div. II) have until Wednesday evening to determine whether summer vacation begins early.
The top 4 teams in each Section (based on power points) are automatic entrants, with the remaining 12 spots based solely on power points.
We’ll update the state tournament brackets as soon as they’re posted late this week.
Let’s get to it.
(All …

And then there were two. As in, two weeks of regular season action left before the softball state tournaments begin in earnest on April 28.
The playoff push begins now, because teams who wait until next week to try and make a move could easily be left on the lurch.
(All games are 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted. All records are power point games as of Monday morning):
Xavier at Basha (Tuesday):  The Gators took last week off for their (late) spring break, and are No. 1 in power points at 13-0. The …