Vail Cienega (24-8) and Tucson Salpointe (28-6) are set to play each other for a shot at the Division II state title Thursday night.  With both teams coming from Southern Arizona, the semifinal will be held at Tucson Cherry Field at 6:30 p.m. in what should be a battle in front of several thousand fans.

Cienega got past Peoria Sunrise Mountain 13-5 on Tuesday night to set up the game with Salpointe while the Lancers needed an extra inning and some heroics to get past Glendale Cactus 5-4 moments later.

Kayla Green (18-5) was tested early by Sunrise Mountain and gave up three hits and a run in the top of the first but her offense responded quickly when lead-off batter Shelby Kennedy reached on an infield hit then scored on a three-base error. Miranda Carley would later double in the inning to score Micaela Keiser to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game.

Only a freshman, Carley is batting .500 with four home runs and four triples but she sees her effort as only a part of a greater cause.

“I never look at it as how well I’m doing,” Carley said. “We all play together and I’ve learned to take things one game at a time.”

Green wasn’t completely out of the woods thanks to a three-run shot from Bri Ambrose in the top of the third to give the Mustangs a brief 4-2 lead. Once again, the Bobcat offense would respond.

Taylor Lambert came up to bat in the bottom half of the inning with the bases loaded and delivered on a bases-clearing triple to help Cienega retake the lead 6-4.  Sunrise Mountain would add an unearned run in the fourth but that was a close as they would get the rest of the way and Cienega pulled away for the 13-5 win.

Meanwhile, Salpointe had given up an early 4-2 lead to Cactus in the sixth to set up extra innings with both teams tied 4-4.

Cactus failed to score in the top half of the eighth inning but Salpointe came through with back-to-back doubles for the 5-4 victory.

Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage started things off with a shot that looked like it might clear the wall but in came up a bit short and she found herself at second base on a ground-rule double. Senior Nique Payne followed with the intent to try to move Aguilar-Beaucage to third base but she got a whole lot more.

“I was struggling early to just put the ball in play so I was going up there hoping to help my team by moving Brianna,” Payne explained. “So I went for the right side and I started to run. I didn’t see her score or anything but when I stepped on second I heard everyone celebrating at home so I ran over there.”

Cienega defeated Salpointe 3-2 in late March but all bets are off at this point with the winner earning a spot in the state championship game.

Meanwhile, Sunrise Mountain will play Oro Valley Canyon del Oro tonight in an elimination game set for Rose Mofford at 6:30 p.m. and Cactus will play Goodyear Desert Edge in the other elimination game.

The winner of those games will play each other on Thursday. The schedule sets up for a lot of games in a short period of time but most of these athletes have grown up playing six games in a weekend and sometimes four in a day on the club circuit.

The big difference here is school pride and the chance to play in front of fans. Lots of fans.