TEMPE — As a No. 1 seed in the loser’s bracket, Nogales wasn’t going to go easily.
Salpointe Catholic was hoping for another night of magic against the top seed.
But Nogales ace German Fajardo found his groove and the Lancers couldn’t pull together a rally as the Apaches survived, eliminating Salpointe Saturday with a 5-2 win in the Class 4A state tournament at Diablo Stadium.
“We’re playing with our backs against the wall,” Fajardo said. “Our goal is just to win. Just keep winning and advancing.”
Fajardo (8-1) allowed just three hits over six innings, struck out eight, walked three and only allowed two base runners after Salpointe’s two-run third.
No. 8 Salpointe ends the season 18-13.
“They got a few more hits than we did, they capitalized on a few more walks than we did,” said Salpointe coach Danny Preble. “It’s the game.”
No. 1 Nogales (27-5) plays Peoria Sunrise Mountain on Wednesday at Tempe Diablo. The Apaches would need to beat the No. 5 seed twice to reach the state championship game on May 14 in Mesa.
Second-seeded Catalina Foothills is the other unbeaten team left in the 4A bracket and faces Phoenix St. Mary’s – a 9-7 winner over Chandler Seton earlier Saturday – on Wednesday at 4 pm at Tempe Diablo.
“I was kind of nervous at first,” Fajardo said. “I felt like I settled in. I felt really good at the end.”
Nogales broke the 2-2 tie in the fourth, on Kenneth Jimenez’s run-scoring double to left center. The Apaches added two more runs when Jesus Lopez doubled in a run and Mario Duarte hit a run-scoring fly ball in the sixth.
Markie Lopez pitched the seventh, allowing a walk before Efrain Cervantes to fly out and end the game.
“We faced a lot of adversity early,” Preble said. “We put in a new whole kind of system, if you will, and it was tough. These kids battled through it and they never quit. At no point did they ever quit, in any ballgame.”
The Lancers fell behind 2-0 but tied it up in the third on Mikey Villa’s long two-run triple to center. Nano Vazquez and Daniel Durazo had walked and moved up a base on pitcher Fajardo’s errant pickoff attempt.
That erased Nogales’ early lead. Marcel Bachelier knocked in two with a single after Ricky Santiago walked two in the second. Santiago (1-1) allowed all five runs on four hits and three walks.
The Lancers lost twice to the Apaches during the regular year but Salpointe beat Nogales 4-2 on April 30 in the second round in Santa Cruz County.
