A day of never trailing and pounding opponents into submission was the avenue Division II power Canyon del Oro chose Saturday in claiming the championship of the 18th annual Desert Mountain Softball Invitational at Horizon Park in Scottsdale..

CDO's foe in the title game -- Division I kingpin Red Mountain -- made a habit of coming from behind in bracket play games Saturday to reach the final. For a couple innings of the title game, Red Mountain was stubborn about letting CDO pull away.  But CDO's relentless attack was too much for Red Mountain as CDO notched a 13-5 win in the finale.

Red Mountain had a bit of a rally brewing in the bottom of the seventh with one out and two runners on, but the lights at Horizon Park went out at 10:30 to short-circuit one last shot at a Red Mountain rally. Truth was both teams were subbing the final couple innings so Red Mountain had essentially waved a white flag.

CDO led Red Mountain 2-0 after the first, 3-1 after the second and 7-1 heading to thel bottom of the third. Red Mountain scored three times in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 7-4 and knock junior pitcher Randi Longville from the game. Longville was the winning pitcher in CDO's other two games on Saturday. Reliever Faith Orton piitched the next 3 2/3 innings and limited Red Mountain to one run. CDO scored five time in the fourth to push its lead to 12-4 and cruised from there. Topping the hit chart for CDO vs. Red Mountain (17 hits in all) were Carli Campbell (3-for-3 and a walk), Arianna Felix (3 for-3, 3 RBI) and Heather Knight (2-for-4, 2 RBI).   

CDO, which finished 6-1 in the tournament and won its last six games, tallied 78 runs in its six wins (13 runs per game). CDO's only loss was its first game of the tournament on Wednesday when it was blanked by Horizon, 7-0. CDO scored 28 runs and cranked out 35 hits combined in its 15-1 semifinal win over Pinnacle (in five innings) and its title-game triumph over Red Mountain. CDO cleared its bench in the fifth inning against Pinnacle and did the same the final three innings against Red Mountain so their production could have been more.

What transpired for CDO on Saturday in its trek to the title? The Dorados, seeded sixth of the eight teams in the championship bracket, blanked No. 3 seed Corona del Sol, 3-0, in its first game. Longville tossed a complete-game shutout for CDO and Jordyn Binnion gave Longville room to breathe late  with a two-run homer.

CDO wasted no time in dispatching No. 2 Pinnacle in the semifinals. CDO scored six runs on seven hits in the first inning and chased Pinnacle starter Marissa Schuld. Freshman Ellessa Bonstrom blasted a three-run homer in the inning and teammate Ari Acedo added a two-run homer. Binnion had three hits in the game, including two doubles. Ilena Santos added a a third homer CDO homer with a solo blast in the fifth. Longville worked all five innings and lmiited Pinnacle to four hits.

As for No. 5 seed Red Mountain's journey, the Lady Lions trailed  No. 4 Ironwood Ridge, 6-1, late. An 11-run inning rallied Red Mountain to a 12-6 lead and it hung on for a 12-9 victory. Its semifinal victory over top-seed Mountain Ridge, was more dramatic. Red Mountain trailed 8-5 heading to its final at-bat and was facing Mountain Ridge ace Giselle Juarez, who had come on in relief to close out Red Mountain. Two weeks ago Juarez fanned 10 Red Mountain hitters in a relief appearance and win.

Red Mountain wasn't having it this time. Alyssa Fernandez homered to open the seventh to cut the lead to 8-6. With two outs in the inning and the bases loaded Emily Stebbins was hit by a pitch forcing home a run to make it 8-7. Alyssa Honeywell then delivered a two-run single for a 9-8 lead. Alex Wiley came on in relief of Bailey Coronado and got the final three outs, including a game-ending, double play.

CDO and Red Mountain have been successful in their two tournaments this season. CDO was runner-up in its Dorado Classic in late February. Red Mountain won its own Lion Country Classic the same day so both have a title and runner-up showing.