Scottsdale Chaparral always has had one of the state’s more fundamentally sound softball programs, but now it seems the Firebirds are playing with more grit, more of an edge.

It is in the mold of their coach, Stefanie Ewing, a former star catcher at Scottsdale Desert Mountain who went on to play at Oregon State.

In Day 2 of the Desert Mountain Invitational tournament at Horizon Park in north Scottsdale, Chaparral defeated Chandler 9-4 on Tuesday night (March 20).

Chaparral (11-4) took control early with a big five-run first inning. The highlight was a three-run home run by Lauren LaTerra. Chandler (7-5), which defeated Scottsdale Saguaro 11-1 in the game preceding this one, came back with a run in the bottom of the first on a single by Kayla Escobar.

Chaparral scored single runs in the third and fourth innings and increased its lead to 9-1 with a pair of runs in the sixth. One run scored on a wild pitch and the other on a bases-loaded walk to LaTerra.

The deficit was too much for Chandler, although the Wolves did stage a comeback attempt with three runs in the seventh on RBI hits by Ashton Spears, Haley Barraza and Sydney Behrens.

Chaparral pitcher Dallas McBride had given up a hit in the first inning but nothing more until the seventh. She struck out eight, including the side in the sixth inning. She also hit two batters.

The Desert Mountain is one of the top tournaments in the state and if a team can hold its own here, they should be able to do the same thing in the state tournament in May. Both of these teams would appear to fall into that category.