Down 2-1 to No. 2 Estrella Foothills in the bottom of the sixth with two outs with two runners in scoring position, No. 3 Canyon del Oro lefty sophomore Michael Chop took strike two looking to force a full count before connecting on a sharp grounder over third base to score Michael Jones and Tarrell Reid. Chop stood on second base, where he was stranded after the next batter, but the damage had already been done, the Dorados needed three more outs in the seventh to clinch another championship appearance.

Grant Young (10-0) took the mound once again and he completed the task, with the last out coming on a swinging strike three, his ninth strikeout of the game and his 76th of the year. Young, and Canyon del Oro (25-6), overcame a 2-0 deficit, that stood for four innings, to eliminate the Wolves from the 4A state playoffs.

Estrella Foothills (28-5) lost to the Dorados 7-4 in Round 3 action last Wednesday and the Wolves beat No. 11 ALA-Queen Creek 9-6 on Saturday for another shot at Canyon del Oro but, under the double-elimination format, the Wolves needed to beat the Dorados twice to advance.

Estrella Foothills knocked Canyon del Oro out of the state playoffs in 2019 in the same Tempe Diablo Stadium but that loss is now followed by four straight semifinal appearances by the Dorados with state championships in 2022 and 2023. The Wolves lost in the play-in round last year.

Estrella Foothills started the game strong with Alec Schaeffer reaching on a one-out single where Landon Sloan tripled him in for a 1-0 lead. Josh Vargas followed with an RBI ground out and the Wolves took the 2-0 lead to the bottom of the fifth thanks to the arm of junior Devin Kriley (3-2). Kriley gave up five hits but no earned runs in the outing.

Chop reached on a single to start the bottom of the fifth and Kael Phillips came in as a pinch runner for Chop. Phillips took second base and then third on a pickoff attempt that reached right field and Maximus Hendrix followed with an RBI single to cut the lead down to 2-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jones reached on an error to start the inning off and then Reid walked one out later. Kriley induced a fly ball for the second out but Peyton Carson’s fly ball was deep enough to move both runners over for Chop. Tanner Medina finished the game for the Wolves.

Canyon del Oro beat Salpointe 7-6 to win it all in 2022 and Saguaro 4-1 last year for the tenth state championship in program history. Only Tucson High (29) and Nogales (11) have more big school championships. Chaparral also has 10 and St. David leads the smaller schools with 18 titles.

Saguaro gets another shot at the Dorados this year after the top seeded Sabercats beat No. 5 Flagstaff 5-0 in the other semifinal game held at Tempe Diablo Stadium late Wednesday night. Saguaro (26-3) lost to Canyon del Oro 14-6 in invitational play way back on Feb. 23. Young got the victory in that game and the Sabercats threw four pitchers in the loss but the team is sure to throw lefty sensation Cam Caminiti (8-0), who committed to LSU but he is projected to go early in the MLB Draft on July 14. Caminiti has 108 strikeouts in only 45.2 innings of work. He reclassified to a 2024 graduate.