The last time that Peoria Sunrise Mountain and Glendale Raymond S. Kellis met on the softball field, Sunrise Mountain took control in the game’s late stages for a 4-1 victory.

That was on April 4, and on Thursday (April 18), the two met again for a rematch at Kellis.

This time, Sunrise Mountain didn’t have to worry about what the outcome would be.

The Mustangs got a strong pitching performance from Taylor Nowlin and a two-run home run from Kirsten Hostetler to highlight a five-run fifth inning for a 9-0 victory.

Sunrise Mountain, second in the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Division II power seedings behind Tucson Canyon del Oro, continues to look like a championship contender at 28-1. Kellis, sitting at No. 3, dropped to 20-7.

The left-handed Nowlin had a no-hitter until the seventh inning, when Taylor Uden snapped the string with a leadoff bloop single to right field.

Nowlin finished with a 1-hitter, striking out 11 and walking 4.

Sunrise Mountain scored its first run of the game on a groundout by Nowlin in the first inning. She and Kellis right-hander Jessica Rojo dueled it out for the next three innings until the Mustangs broke things open with their big fifth.

Nowlin drove in another run with a base hit, and Hostetler followed with her homer. Brooke Taylor also drove in a run with a triple and Morgan Leonard brought a runner home with a groundout.

Nowlin seemed to get stronger as the game went along, effectively mixing her power pitch with off-speed offerings to keep Kellis off-balance. She struck out the side in the sixth.

Kellis had two runners on in the seventh on Uden’s hit and a hit batter, but Nowlin kept the Cougars scoreless and recorded a strikeout to end the game.

Peoria Liberty will serve as the next opponent for both Sunrise Mountain and Kellis, visiting Sunrise Mountain on Friday (April 19) and Kellis on Monday (April 22).