ST. MICHAEL LADY CARDINALS 17, GANADO 3 (5 INNINGS)

1A St. Michael Lady Cardinals improved to an undefeated 3-0 mark after defeating 3A Ganado Lady Hornets, 17-3, in a five inning freedom softball game on Friday afternoon.

St. Michael southpaw hurler Gabriella Simpson struck out eight. Simpson allowed a triple, two doubles and three singles.

Sunshine Burnside belted three home runs and a double, while recording five RBI for St. Michael. Amaya Joe had one single, a triple and one RBI on the afternoon for the Lady Cardinals.

Ganado's losing pitcher Megan Lee fanned one batter, issued four base-on-balls and hit two batters. She allowed nine singles, one triple, one double and three home runs.

The Lady Cardinals' bats were alive in the first inning. St. Michael erupted for 10 runs in the first inning. The Lady Cardinals added six runs in the second stanza and crossed the plate once in the fourth inning.

Ganado could muster one run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings.

St. Michael head coach Karen Tom said the Lady Cardinals began the game strong offensiveky, with nearly every batter reaching first base with a single.

"(Our) pitching was strong and Ganado wasn't able tpo connect with anything Gabriella (Simpson) threw," Tom said. "By the fifth inning, Ganado started to get their timing down and our defense made some errors, dropping balls at first base and allowing runners to score."

Tom said overall, the Lady Cardinals started out with one goal in mind, advance in the state tournament.

"We are working hard on jumping on our bats right away and not waiting," Tom said. "Defensively, we're still finding out what needs improvement. I am happy with our development. We have to constantly stay ahead, working on personal goals and achieving them in practice and games. The team is excited and full of energy we're ready for a successful season."

St. Michael, 3-0, entertains Heber Mogollon on Tuesday in a single game at 1 p.m.

SNOWFLAKE LADY LOBOS 5, WINDOW ROCK LADY SCOUTS 3

The Snowflake Lady Lobos crossed the plate twice in the second inning and added three runs in the third inning, en route to a 5-3 victory over the Window Rock Lady Scouts ina softball freedom game in Snowflake on Friday afternoon.

Snowflake improved its overall season record to 3-0. Earlier this young season, Snowflake defeated Fountain Hills, 4-1, and the Lady Lobos beat Safford, 15-5.

Snowflake winning pitcher Ana Berger allowed four hits. Window Rock losing pitcher Rachael Smiley gave up seven hits.

"We started off slow with errors," said Window Rock head coach Cynthia Smiley. "We couldn't get our bats going. We left several runners on base and couldn't look to score."

Window Rock, 0-1, entertains Alchesay Lady Falcons in a freedom doubleheader on Tuesday. The varsity game is scheduled for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Junior Varsity contest is scheduled for 12 p.m.