There are no makeup exams in the first two rounds of the Division I state baseball tournament.

Lose and your season is over and viewed as somewhat of a failure, more so for teams that earned a first round bye. The first two rounds of state are single elimination encounters.

Valley Vista received a first round bye but appeared headed toward an unpleasant finish after giving up four unearned runs to a well-tested Brophy team. At the plate, Valley Vista was impatient early in the game.

But Valley Vista, which also is battle tested, didn’t panic. It regrouped and chipped away until a 4-1 deficit turned into a 6-4 victory thanks to a big inning in which Brophy helped Valley Vista’s cause.

Valley Vista scored five runs in the fifth inning, when Brophy committed an error and a pass ball allowed a run to score. But Valley Vista finally displayed some plate discipline, walking three times in the big momentum-turning fifth inning and collecting run scoring singles.

“We got away from our plan a little bit,” said Valley Vista coach Mark Flatten, who earned his 200^th win this season. “One thing we’ve done really well this year is that we’ve been consistent throughout our lineup and continuing to stay within the moment. The moment got a little bit big for some of our younger guys today and it showed early. But the nice thing is that they’ve been there before, and they were able to bounce back out of that.”

Valley Vista’s starting pitcher, sophomore Tyler Smith, kept his composure despite some early miscues, including a dropped fly ball that the wind seemed to carry with the bases loaded in the second inning.

On the mound, Brophy (18-10) countered with its No. 3 pitcher, Jeff Rula, who gave up just two hits in the first four innings.

Smith struck out six with the help of his curve and allowed four hits in six innings before giving way to side-armed pitcher Derek Dyer and the hard throwing Terrence Robertson, the team’s leadoff hitter.

“This is my most favorite team that I’ve ever played on,” Smith said. “The way we bounce back and face adversity is really great. I just love this team so much.”

Valley Vista (26-7) will have more room for error now that it’s moving to the double elimination portion of the tournament.

But it can’t get too comfortable, as an excellent Liberty team awaits in the next round, a Thursday match-up at Maryvale Baseball Park.