Perry softball coach Kevin Chapin couldn't get the words out fast enough. After his No. 17 seeded Lady Pumas gutted out a 2-1, 12-inning win over host and No. 16 Corona del Sol Saturday afternoon, his praise and sigh of pleasant relief were evident.

"That's one of the most inspired (pitching) performances I've seen," Chapin said of Corona ace McKenna Isenberg's 24-strikeout effort against his team. "Both sides fought their tails off."

Perry (25-7) got an infield hit from Devon Ryan, her third hit and second RBI of the game, with two outs in the top of the 12th to advance the Lady Pumas to the round of 16 where they visit No. 1 seed Mountain Ridge (29-2) on Tuesday April 30 at 4 p.m. Corona, which had a tough week dealing with the death of the father of one of its players, closed the season  21-12. 

The teams battled through rising temperatures for more than three hours. Temperatures rose from low 80s at the start to low 90s at the finish. Perry pitcher Jillian Leslie, Harvard-bound in the fall, also gave a courageous performance. The senior fought through at least a dozen illegal pitch calls combined from the home plate and base umpire. Those unnerved her at times. She, like Isenberg, pitched all 12 innings. Isenberg's 24 Ks and 2 walks were impressive. Eighteen of Isenberg's Ks came in regulation. She allowed 10 hits overall, five in the final five innings. Leslie finished with 11 strikeouts and 12 walks. But Leslie surrendered only six hits -- all singles -- and pitched out of jams in the first, sixth, ninth, 10th and 12th to pick up the win.

"When you're called for that many illegal pitches it gets in your head," Chapin said. "She managed to pitch through them. It wasn't easy. The defenses played well behind both pitchers. When a play had to be made it was."

Corona scored its run in the fifth with Alyssa Alan's sacrifice fly plating Corina Sepulveda for a 1-0 edge. Perry, which saw its first 15 outs be strikeouts by Isenberg -- including 11 in a row at one point - tied it in the sixth. Ryan's single scored leadoff hitter Laynee Gomez. Gomez had three hits and her final one came in the 12th as part of a three-hit rally off Isenberg. 

"(Isenberg) was great and they are a good hitting team," Corona del Sol coach Jeep Ray said. "We had our chances. Just left too many runners on base. The team battled this week with the death of one of our players' father. The services were Friday and they all went. Perry had seven players attend, too....  

Perry's 10 hits came from four players -- Ryan and Gomez with three each and Sabrina Nieto and Brittany Hopper with two apiece. Corona got two hits from Sarah McCabe.