The ideal situation for a softball coach would be to have his pitcher put zeros on the board with only a few hits for seven innings.

But there are days when hits and even errors are as plentiful as spring weeds on the front lawn.

A team has to find a way to survive.

Coach Bartt Underwood and his Cobras from Glendale Cactus did just that on Wednesday (March 13), outlasting host Glendale Apollo 9-8.

The lead was exchanged several times, and appeared it might do so again before Cactus held on.

Cactus raised its record to 6-3, while Apollo dropped to 8-4.

Apollo scored two runs in the fourth for a 7-5 lead, but Cactus rallied for three in the fifth on an error and a two-run single by Delani Sipila.

The biggest run, the one that proved to be the game-winner, came in the sixth on a single by Giselle Juarez.

The Lady Cobras needed that one because Apollo pulled to within 9-8 in its half of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Brianna Mora.

By then, Tatumn Porras had relieved Cactus starter Morgan Renyer. Neither was particularly effective, although Porras was efficient when she needed to be the most, in the bottom of the seventh.

She retired the side in order, on a liner to second base and groundouts to third base and shortstop.

“It would have been easy for our girls to quit when they got behind, but they didn’t. I haven’t seen them quit once this season,’’ Underwood said.

“Sometimes, you have to change pitchers and it can be good on a particular day. Today, it was. We did what we needed to do.’’

The Lady Cobras have two more games this week, on Thursday (March 14) against Glendale Raymond S. Kellis and against Phoenix Greenway on Friday (March 15). The west Valley is full of quality teams.

“I told the girls that we needed to try to get three wins this week, that if we did that, we would have a good chance of getting into the state tournament,’’ Underwood said.

Cactus had six players with two hits each. Starting pitcher Brittnee Lopez and Celina Chairez each had two hits for Apollo.