Deer Valley baseball squeezes past Kofa into semifinals

By the narrowest of margins, Deer Valley is the last Northwest Valley team standing in the 5A-II playoffs.

The Skyhawks survived a late charge by Yuma Kofa (20-12) to win Tuesday night's elimination game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Deer Valley (21-10) advanced to the state semifinals for the fourth straight year with its 5-4 win.

"Fortunately we got some two-out hits with runners in scoring position," Deer Valley pitching coach Dale Milton said. "The ball fell in for us with two outs and didn't fall in for them and that ended up being the difference."

Senior pitcher Chris Capper and his fielders saved their greatest escape for the sixth inning. Kofa racked up 13 hits in the game, but had trouble translating that into runs in the first five innings.

Trailing 5-1, the Kings surged in the sixth. Seniors Jarred Helms and Blake Johnston singled, and junior Cesar Valenzuela drove both runners in with a triple that dropped just in front of a diving Deer Valley outfielder. Junior Timmy Lee bunted has way on.

Senior Claudio Valencia's infield hit knocked in Valenzuela and moved the tying run into scoring position. Capper recovered, getting two fly ball outs to preserve the lead.

"To be honest, I wasn't that worried abut that," Capper said. "I have confidence in my defense. (Kofa) hadn't hit anything really hard. I knew I could throw strikes and get groundouts."

Were it a regular season game, Capper's night would have been over. But the senior had more to give with the season on the line.

He induced ground ball outs from all three Kofa batters to secure the complete-game victory.

"Coach Milton came out before the seventh inning to ask me if I could still go. I still felt pretty good, and I told him 'I started this, I want to finish it,'" Capper said.

The seventh was Capper's easiest inning. He allowed two runners in scoring position in three consecutive innings, but only gave up one run in that stretch.

In the third inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Kofa senior Albert Alvarez grounded into the double play.

Kofa broke through in the fourth inning on Johnston's RBI infield hit. Another double-play ball ended the threat.

"They jumped on my first pitch fastball pretty good today," Capper said.

Capper struck out Alvarez and got senior Gustavo Albarran to hit a pop fly to end the fifth inning. The Kings did not score despite having runners at second and third with one out.

"We dodged some bullets because of our defense and because Chris kept throwing strikes," Milton said.

In contrast, Deer Valley took advantage of every opportunity in building its lead. Sophomore Darien Ramage led off the first inning with a walk. Junior Jacob Doyle doubled.

Ramage scooted home on a wild pitch to senior Steve Sakata, who hit a ball of the glove of Kofa's shortstop, allowing Doyle to score.

Ramage and Doyle factored in the second inning as well. Ramage drove in pinch runner Stetson Jackson on a double that hugged the left field line and dropped an inch in fair ground. Doyle's ensuing single plated Ramage and gave the Skyhawks a 4-0 lead.

"We were ahead and I wanted to get insurance runs," Doyle said. "I wasn't nervous."

Doyle tallied another RBI in the fourth inning, on an infield hit. This run ended up being the game winner.

Now the Skyhawks will get a second crack at No. 1 seed Mesa Desert Ridge (26-5). The Javelinas beat the Skyhawks 13-3 Saturday.

They'll meet again at 4 p.m. Thursday at Surprise Stadium, 15930 N. Bullard Ave. If Deer Valley wins, the teams will play again at 7 to determine which team reaches the state finals.

"With their lineup, you can't walk people," said Doyle, who will start Thursday's game. "That's what we did last time and they made us pay."