Salpointe improved to 19-1 on the year after the Lancers came out on top of a back and forth battle at Canyon del Oro on Thursday thanks to the bat of senior standout Gianna Payne. Payne ended the game with four RBI on a 2-run shot to tie the game in the third inning and a 2-run single to put the Lancers up for good at 5-4 in the fifth inning.

More importantly, the victory moved the top-ranked 4A team to 7-0 in power ranking games and 3-0 in the 4A Kino Region. No. 10 Canyon del Oro (16-5) is still in a good position with a 5-3 record in ranking games with 10 games left in the regular season. The regular season region champion will earn a postseason spot in the 4A Conference but there is also a play-in tournament scheduled for April 26 so teams need to get into the top 24 to be safe.

Salpointe took a 1-0 lead on the Dorados in the top of the first inning after Payne walked with two outs, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a single from Jae Castillo. Canyon del Oro turned around and took a 3-1 lead on a leadoff single from Zaedi Tagalog, a single from Destanee Nez, an RBI from Molly Herman, and a 2-RBI double from Sydnee Wendel.

As mentioned before, Payne came through with a 2-run home run in the third inning to tie the game up 3-3 but Mari Asher came up with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to put the Dorados back up 4-3. Payne knocked in two runs in the top of the fifth for the 5-4 lead but the Dorados had a couple of chances to tie the game back up.

Allee Noble doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth but Gianna Mares would throw her out at home later in the inning on a sacrifice attempt. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Asher hit a shot to the left side with two outs but the ball hit Sammy Hudgens, who was midway to third base. Had the ball gone through the infield, it appeared to be hit hard enough to score Hudgens.

Besides Payne, Teixeira went 2-3. Arianna Flores got the start for the Lancers and Mares took the circle in the third inning. Noble went 3-4 for the Dorados and Amelia Streuber picked up eight strikeouts.

Salpointe will host the top-ranked 3A team in Sabino (19-2, 8-0) Friday night and Canyon del Oro will visit Flowing Wells (2-12, 2-9) on Monday.