Eastmark may have experienced another growth spurt Tuesday night.

The fourth-year varsity program with just two seniors on this season’s roster trailed 3-0 early to Coconino and the state’s strikeout leader, Kaitlyn Tso. With its season on the brink of ending, Eastmark responded, just like veteran ballclubs do.

The No. 1 seed rallied to eliminate Coconino, 6-3, at Papago Sports Complex and advance to the 4A state semifinals for the first time.

“So the lights are on us now,” Eastmark’s coach Darryl Allen said. “The mics are in our hands, and we are either going to drop them or start singing back. Today, they battled their tails back and started singing back, and once we started we never stopped.”

Back-to-back doubles by Tso and Aryanna Dominguez in the fourth inning allowed the three-time defending Grand Canyon Region champ to jump ahead 3-0. But that’s when Eastmark began to chip away.

A three-time region champ already, Eastmark loaded the bases in the fifth and scored twice without the ball leaving the infield. It added another run in the sixth.

One of Eastmark’s two seniors, starting pitcher Tayler McCombs, didn’t allow Coconino to stretch its lead before giving way to Lexi Mendez. Mendez and her teammates struggled in their 8-3 loss to Salpointe on Friday.

But the sophomore came in and was back to her normal self, striking out opponents at a high rate. Mendez will get the ball Thursday when her and Eastmark face arguably the best pitcher in 4A, Canyon del Oro’s Amelia Steuber.

Eastmark must beat CDO twice Thursday to advance to next week’s 4A championship. Guiding the team through uncharted territory is a motivational force, coach Allen.

“The bottom line is that you want to be in these moments,” Allen said. “If you are going to be one of those teams, and we talked about this all year, you want to be in this moment playing against that team with that kid in the circle. I love our kids. I love our chances. I love our pitcher. I think we are going to be perfectly fine at the end of the day. But we relish the challenge of playing those guys. Because we know we can’t grow and get to where we need to be if we don’t face the monsters.”

Grab your popcorn.

Mica Mountain avenges playoff loss

On Tuesday, the Mica Mountain Thunderbolts avenged their second round 4A playoff loss and did so in impressive fashion.

A week after dropping a 3-1 decision to Arcadia, Mica Mountain responded with a resounding 8-1 victory over the same team in an elimination game.

“The way we played defense, and I think we had a great approach at the plate is what stood out,” Mica Mountain coach Steve Garcia said. “We’ve been working on our approach and staying comfortable at the plate. We cleaned up a lot of things since we played them last time, and I think the helped us today.”

Acelyn-Rose Heston was in control in the circle and blasted a grand slam early in the game to put her team up 5-0.

“(Heston) is a beast,” Garcia said. “She pitches a lot bigger than what she really is.”

Shaylee Fuell also can be intidmidating even though she is just a freshman.

The shortstop also hit a homer to help her team advance to the state semifinals for the first time. In fact, this season also marks the first time that Mica Mountain has won in the playoffs.

But its next test is a doozy: five-time defending champ Salpointe. They will meet at a yet determined site in more than likely Tucson on Thursday.