Raymond S. Kellis and Canyon del Oro both appeared primed for a battle royale in the losers' bracket of the Division II state softball tournament on Saturday.That figures to take place when the tournament's No. 3 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, are playing for their lives much earlier than expected.

But CDO took the fight out of Raymond Kellis quickly, scoring eight unearned runs in the first inning with a mix of errors and hits that turned into a 10-0 romp in six innings  for the defending state champs at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex. 

"Coming out today we knew we had something to prove," Canyon del Oro coach Stephanie Nicholson said. "This is the second year we've had to come back in the losers' bracket. ......We have to play them one game at a  time now."

Canyon del Oro (30-5) advances to play again on Tuesday May 7 at 6:30 at Rose Mofford against the loser of the Monday May 6 game between Sunrise Mountain and Salpointe. Raymond Kellis ended a strong year 24-8-1.

Canyon del Oro's crushing uprising in the first started innocently. Back-to-back errors with one out in the first -- plays that should have had Kellis returning to its dugout unscathed --  were the beginning. Five hits and two more errors  followed adding up to an 8-0 lead. The key hits were a two-run single by Kate Klotz and two-run double by Brenna Griesser. All this came off Kellis starter Jessica Rojo, who went the distance allowing only one earned run. She was touched for 12 hits.

With a big lead to work with, CDO senior pitcher Alexis Alfonso retired 14 batters in a row in one stretch. Alfonso finished with a one-hitter, a clean single to center by Kellis' leadoff hitter Madison Uden. Alfonso walked three (two with two outs in the first) and fanned six.

Kellis junior third baseman Jessica Jantz, couldn't remember the Lady Cougars having an inning like the first prior to Saturday. Nerves might have played a part.

"A little bit maybe," Jantz said. "We wanted to do something big. It didn't happen. We'll come back and try again next year."

CDO did have help from Raymond Kellis' defense, but hit the ball hard often as well. Becca Ziegler and Makenzie Sullivan had three hits apiece and Makenzie Sullivan and Carli Campbell two hits each.

Kellis struggled offensivelyin the playoffs, according to coach Shawn Sullivan. The Lady Cougars scored nine runs in three state tournament games, only two total in its two losses.

"That's the third game in a row we didn't hit," Sullivan said. "We hit some balls hard, but didn't get anything to fall."