Red Mountain has caused Mesa Mountain View some pain this season. Twice Mountain View has met up with its Brown Road rivals in softball with hefty winning streaks in tow and twice they've departed the field having to begin a new winning streak.

Red Mountain's Bre Macha, who handed  Mountain View a 4-1 loss last month, tossed a two-hitter and struck out 12 on Friday afternoon in leading the Lady Lions to an 8-0 win over Mountain View in a Division I contest at Mountain View.

Red Mountain didn't do a lot with its bats against Mountain View ace Val Kaff, but did square up two or three balls that helped score a couple runs. Mountain View's problem on Friday, however, was defense -- the lack thereof.

"It was a tough day for the defense," Mountain View coach Joe Goodman said referring to five errors and a misplay/lost ball in right field. "Val pitched great. We didn't help her much. Red Mountain's broken an eight-game winning streak and a 10-game winning streak (Friday)."

Mountain View (19-5, 10-2 power-ranking games) didn't need to help Kaff much. Kaff struck out 15, but a rash of miscues in the sixth and seventh when Red Mountain tallied six of its eight runs took its toll and finished any hopes of a comeback from a 2-0 deficit.

Red Mountain (23-5, 11-3 prg) picked up a run in the first thanks to a two-out, dropped fly in right. The Lady Lions made it 2-0 in the fourth when Marian Ruf lined a homer to left. Four hits and two errors in the sixth boosted the margin to 6-0. A hit, walk and two errors in the seventh brought in two more. The key hits for Red Mountain were an RBI double by Jordan Beck in the four-run, sixth and a two-run single by Ashley Hill in the same inning.

That was more than enough -- seven runs too many--  for Macha, who won her third game of the week. She kept Mountain View hitters off-balance and her defense made plays on a handful of bunt attempts that at times this year have been a problem for Rich Hamilton's team. Macha gave up infield hits in the first to Page Roberts and in the seventh to Kinsey Ryan.

"I was proud of our hitters," Hamilton said. "(Kaff) does a great job. For some reason we seem to get to her more than other people. We hit some good pitches. Squared up a few." 

The best news for Red Mountain was Macha's week. The junior right -hander had a tough time earlier this month in games against Gilbert and Desert Ridge, but took care of Pinnacle, Highland and Mountain View in a four-game week for the Lady Lions.

"It's a good time for her to pick it up," Hamilton said. "She pitched as well today as she has all year."

Red Mountain and Mountain View came into the game in the top 10 of the D-I power-rankings. Both have a goal of finishing in the top eight to secure a first-round bye at state in two weeks.  Red Mountain likely needs to win out to do that, but has a favorable schedule down the stretch. Mountain View has several tough games left, including Horizon, Desert Mountain and Sunnyside.

"We emphasized after the game this is just one game," Goodman said. "Our most important game now is Tuesday against Westwood.......We need to use this game to jump start a new winning streak to carry us to state."