Sunrise Mountain was hit hard Thursday by two things, Yuma Kofa's lineup and baseball's law of averages.

After ripping off six straight wins, including a first round victory against North, the Mustangs' season ended with back-to-back losses in the 5A-II playoffs, a 6-4 defeat Tuesday by Deer Valley — in which Sunrise coach Eric Gardner said his team played well — and the 13-4 loss to Kofa at Peoria Sports Complex.

"We're just out of gas," Gardner said. "We played very good baseball for a month, and eventually we were going to have a bad day."

Kofa (19-11) pounded Sunrise Mountain (21-11) pitching for 17 hits, and grabbed command with four runs in the second inning and seven more runs in the fourth inning.

"In the back of your mind, you hope it'll go like this," Kofa coach Richy Leon said. "It was our first experience on the big stage. The kids were not overwhelmed.They were excited to play here."

Instead, the Yuma squad was overwhelming. Senior Gustavo Albarran started Kofa's roll with a double that died in shallow center field. Senior Blake Johnston reached on a misplayed bunt. Senior Jarred Helms' sacrifice bunt moved both runners over.

Junior pitcher Simon Corea helped his own cause, driving in Albarran on a single to left field. Junior Timmy Lee's grounder was booted, allowing another run to come in.

"We made some mistakes early that got them going," Gardner said.

Senior Albert Alvarez's double to center and junior Sergio Sanchez' single drove in Kofa's other second inning runs.

The Mustangs stormed back in their half of the second inning, leading off with junior catcher Grady Oulton driving a barely fair ball over the 340 foot marker in left field. After getting two outs, Kofa gave one away, letting senior Bryce Wolff's popup drop between shortstop and center field.

Wolff's brother, Drew, took advantage with an RBI single that barely eluded a diving infielder. Corea walked senior A.J. Robinson to load the bases, but struck out senior Vince Gillies to end Sunise Mountain's best threat.

In the third inning Corea added to his cushion, knocking in Alberran with a triple to the base of the center field wall. He the retired the Mustangs in order.

"We break down things by each inning. We try to tell our guys to win each inning," Leon said. "During the game, I overheard our guys repeating that phrase."

The Kings scored a knockout in the fourth inning. Lee singled up the middle and scored on senior Claudio Valencia's ensuing triple. Sanchez singled after Valencia scooted home on a passed ball. Alvarez bunted his way on. Then Alberran drove in Sanchez with a double. Johnston walked.

At this point Kofa led 8-2, the bases were loaded with no outs and Sunrise Mountain called in junior Jered McDaniel, its third reliever of the inning. He recorded a forceout at home plate. Corea's ground out drove in another run. Then junior Cesar Valenzuela got in on the fun, driving in two runners with a slicing double that stayed fair. Lee capped the explosion with an RBI triple to right field.

"It was triple after triple and double after double," Leon said.

Sunrise Mountain scored twice in the fourth to prevent losing the game on the 10-run rule. Sophomore Aaron Bummer doubled down the left field line and later scored on Drew Wolff's sacrifice fly. The Robinson drove in sophomore Danny Schlief with a triple over the Kofa center fielder's head.

In the top of the fifth inning, Sanchez smashed another triple to the right field corner. Albarran brought him in with a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring.

While Thursday's ending was something he'd rather forget, Gardner said he'll have fond memories of the 2009 team. Despite losing most of the top players from the 2008 state runner-up, Sunrise Mountain captured its seventh consecutive region championship.

"They were kind of blue-collar tough baseball players," Gardner said. "I had more fun coaching them than any other team I've had."