Xavier Prep is much further along in power-ranking games (games that count toward state tournament qualifying)  than most of the rest of Division I teams. The Gators results are pretty good to date. Xavier ran its power-ranking game record to 6-1 on Monday afternoon with its sixth ower-ranking game win in a row in dealing Hamilton a 4-1 loss at Xavier.

Junior Caitlin Dickman  threw a complete-game, four-hitter and blanked Hamilton for six innings before getting touched for a run in the seventh. Dickman improved to 7-2 for the season. She did not walk a batter and struck out one. She also drove in a run to help seal the victory late.

Xavier had trouble opening up a lead, scoring twice in the fourth and twice in the sixth off Hamilton's Cheyenne Noli. The Gators two runs in the fourth were unearned and came via a throwing error. They added insurance runs in the sixth on a solo homer by Amanda Preach and an RBI double by Dickman. Dickman drove in Emily Richards, who had drawn a two-out walk.

Xavier is 14-4 overall and has won five games in a row, including the championship of its own tournament March 14 against Boulder Creek. Its six power-ranking wins include five teams that qualfiied for the D-I state tournament last season. The loss was the third in a row in power-ranking games for Hamilton. The previous two were to Pinnacle and Mountain Ridge prior to Hamilton going on an invitational tournament binge.

The Huskies are 8-9 overall and played their 13th game in the past 11 days on Monday. They played in the Bullhead City Tournament of Champions (March 12-14) posting a 3-3 record and in Desert Mountain's Invitational last weekend (3-3).