Having already disposed of one Saguaro (Scottsdale) in the Division II state baseball tournament, Phoenix Sunnyslope turned its attention to a different Sahuaro  (Tucson) on Thursday (May 2).

The result was the same. Sunnyslope, the defending state champion, emerged with an 8-5 victory over Sahuaro at Camelback Ranch Stadium in Glendale.

Sunnyslope, seeded fifth, advances to the next round in the double-elimination format and will meet either top-seeded Chandler Seton Catholic or No. 8 Yuma Gila Ridge on Saturday (May 4) at 6:30 p.m. at Camelback Ranch. Seton and Gila Ridge met in the later game on Thursday.

Sahuaro, the No. 4 seed, drops into the loser’s bracket and will meet the loser of the Seton-Gila Ridge game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Surprise Stadium.

Sunnyslope scored three runs in the first inning on only one hit, scored another in the third and added three more in the fourth for a 7-1 lead. The Vikings made it 8-1 with a run in the top of the seventh before Sahuaro staged a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh that proved to be too little, too late.

“Momentum played a big role in this game,’’ said Sunnyslope coach Jeff Shillington. “We had it for a couple of innings, and then they (Sahuaro) showed signs of taking some of it back. Sahuaro is a good team and we knew they were not going to give up.’’

Sunnyslope’s pitching ace, junior left-hander Calvin Lebrun, got help from his team’s early offense. But Sahuaro kept chipping away and finished with 12 hits. Sunnyslope had seven.

“We talk to our pitchers a lot about poise, holding your emotions in when things get tough. Calvin has the ability to do that,’’ Shillington said.

Royal Love had a three-run double for Sunnyslope in the first inning. Lebrun, Casey Bowman and Ryan Oberg had RBI hits in the fourth.

Sahuaro got its runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Alex Verdugo, a two-run double by pitcher Vinnie Tarantola and a double by Justin Hammergren.

Shillington knows his team has a target on its back because of its defending champion status.

He said his team is solely focused on “winning the next game. Any way we can get the win is fine with us.’’