Freshmen pitchers Kenadee Rausch (Perry) and Myka Sutherlin (Campo Verde) have made an impact in two weeks of their first varsity seasons. They accentuated that Wednesday afternoon locking up in terrific duel in the title game of the annual Marcos de Niza-McClintock Softball Tournament.

Sutherlin took a no-hitter and 1-0 lead to the top of the seventh, but Perry used its only two hits, two walks and well-executed bunts to score three times in its final at-bat and post an exciting 3-1 victory over Campo Verde at Marcos de Niza High School. Perry improved to 12-2 and Camp Verde is now 11-4.

"That was a good one," Perry coach Rob Hehe said. "We nearly cost ourselves giving them five outs in the inning they scored. The pitchers were outstanding on both sides."

A game that looked as though it might end in a tidy one hour -- perhaps with a Sutherlin no-hitter -- took 25 minutes to finish the final inning. Sutherlin had a 1-0 lead thanks to two Perry throwing errors in the bottom of the fifth. Sutherlin reached on the first error and her spot in the lineup scored. She retired the first 13 batters she faced before issuing her first walk to Perry's Emily Babcock in the fifth.

Rausch had to watch and wait to see if her teammates could rally and give her a shot at the win. Through six innings Rausch had nearly been Sutherlin's equal surrendered just two hits -- a double and triple to Campo Verde leadoff hitter Brenna Scudellari.

Sutherlin walked the first batter of the seventh, Adela Martinez. Piper Lujan put down a bunt intended to advance Martinez to second. It did more as Lujan beat out the bunt for two on and no outs. Sutherlin lost a 3-2-count battle with Hannah Johnson to load the bases. That brought up Babcock, who helped jumpstart Perry to its pool-clinching win Tuesday with a two-run single. Babcock came through again, lacing a hard shot to the hole at short that glanced off the glove of a diving Tori Eccleston. It ended up a two-run double as the ball trickled into left field. The 2-1 lead became 3-1 as Tatum Johnson's two-out  bunt scored the runner from third on a bang-bang play at the plate.

Rausch now had her chance to prevail.  It wasn't flawless. She got a fly out to left, allowed an infield single and a pop-up to first. A ground ball to short looked to end the game, but Perry committed its third error. With the tying runs on base, Rausch induced pinch-hitter Brandi Wilson to pop out to the catcher.

"Myka hasn't walked many batters this year," Campo Verde coach Joe Delsante said. "She's hit more than she's walked. Walks haven't been a problem. ... This is a great learning experience for us. We haven't been in a lot of close games. You need games like this to know how you'll react."

Defense was relied on heavily by both pitchers. Sutherlin struck out three; Rausch fanned one. Defenders made the other 38 plays. Most of those outs were routine. The teams met in the Lion Country Classic hosted by Red Mountain late last month with Perry winning an offensive game, 9-8.