Mesquite softball coach Jeff Shufelt has seen his team surrender bushel baskets of runs lately (39 in its last three defeats) and battle the loss of a couple key players (Ayssa Vargas and Katie Greco) to injury.

The Wildcats, however, were definitely battlers Monday afternoon, coming back from two-run deficits early and late to subdue Perry High, 7-6, in a 5A non-region game at Mesquite.

"This was a good win for us," Shufelt said. We've been trying to string a few wins together. Now we have."

Mesquite (9-13), which has a modest two-game win streak going to improve to 5-3 in power-point games, pushed across what looked at the time to be an insurance run in the sixth inning on an RBI single by  Vargas. The hit  gave the Wildcats a 7-4 lead.

Vargas, who missed the last five games nursing an elbow injury after she was hit on the elbow by a pitch 10 days ago at the Desert Mountain Invitational, ended up with the game-winning hit on a single to right. That's because Perry's Jillian Leslie hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to pull the Pumas within 7-6 with one out before Mesquite's Domi Shone secured the final two outs.

Vargas' single scored a courtesy runner for Shone, who helped herself with three hits and a walk while going the distance in the circle. Shone has pitched nine of Mesquite's last 10 games. Greco was sharing duties in the circle before being idled by the ankle injury. She missed virtually all the Desert Mountain tournament (six games). Greco last pitched in a game on March 11.

"Domi's had to shoulder a heavy load (pitching) lately," Shufelt said. "With Katie missing some games with a bad ankle, Domis done almost all the pitching. It was nice to have  Vargas back in the lineup and have her get a key hit."

Another big hit for Mesquite came from ninth-place hitter Claudia Vazquez, who launched a two-run, tie-breaking double to center to cap a four-run Wildcats' rally in the fifth after Perry had taken a 4-2 lead in the top of the frame. Vazquez had only one extra-base hit and three RBIs for the year coming into the game. She struck out in her two previous at-bats.

For Perry, that four-run outburst by Mesquite was tough to swallow. The Pumas (16-6) made two errors in the inning - their only miscues of the contest - but they were costly. A comebacker to pitcher Jessica Wilkinson with one out and the bases loaded should have been an easy force at home and perhaps a double play. Wilkinson's throw to the plate was wild and the tying runs scored. The comebacker was put in play by Greco.

"Defense wins ball games," Perry coach Allison Robinson said. "That's been our weakness.  We've made too many errors. We're 16-6, but were not consistent. We beat them twice before, but those were in tournaments. Today mattered the most (power-point game). Give them credit. Their hitters stepped up."

Perry outhit Mesquite,12-7. The Pumas scored two runs in the first inning before an out was recorded. They didn't mount a threat again until taking the lead in the fifth. Laynee Gomez and Bree Contreras had three hits apiece to lead Perry.