By Don Ketchum

After losing all three of his outfielders to injury during last year’s state softball tournament, Scottsdale Desert Mountain coach Rick Sharp learned that you can never have too much depth on your roster.

That aspect came into play again on Friday (April 13), when his team traveled to face Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep.

Sharp put together a jigsaw-puzzle lineup and it came through with a 5-3 victory.

Desert Mountain, which began the week as the No. 5 team in Division I power points, raised its record to 21-5. Notre Dame, which was sixth in Division II power points, slipped to 16-11.

Just a few minutes before the start of Friday’s game, Sharp’s ace pitcher, junior Andy Wellins, reported that she had significant neck stiffness while warming up.

That forced Sharp to call on his No. 2 pitcher, sophomore Cassie Belt. She started the game wearing a protective mask after breaking her nose, but discarded it after the first inning. She scattered eight hits over six-plus innings before a rejuvenated Wellins came on to pick up the save.

Desert Mountain also was missing its center fielder, Aubrey Downey, who had attended another school activity. And Sharp continued to plug in senior Rose Hannan at third base after she began the season as a catcher.

Hannan delivered a three-run home run to highlight a four-run fifth that snapped a 1-1 tie. She also took a bad-hop grounder off the chin in the seventh, but managed to survive. Hannan’s homer went just inside the left-field foul pole.

Belt and Wellins are different types of pitchers.

Wellins relies more on speed and power while Belt keeps hitters off-balance by changing speeds quite often.

“Cassie is still young, and I wasn’t sure she would be able to go all seven innings, after she had been through their lineup two or three times. But she did a good job,’’ Sharp said.

The coach also had praise for Hannan.

“It’s nice to see her have a big hit like that,’’ he said. “We’ve played her at catcher, third and in the outfield. Nobody works harder than that kid.’’