The top two teams from East Valley in the current softball power rankings squared off Friday afternoon with No. 4 Gilbert hosting No. 6 Desert Vista. The game lived up to  their standing as Gilbert tallied with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning to walk away with a 2-1 victory.

Alexa Lecometros stepped up twice to deliver both runs for Gilbert. Lecometros, who was the most active defender for the Tigers, lifted a solo homer in the second inning and plated the game-winner in the eighth with a sharp single to left scoring winning pitcher Lynsey Duncan from third base. Gilbert is now 16-10 overall and 10-2 in power-ranking contests. The Lady Tigers ended Desert Vista's power-ranking game win streak at eight. Desert Vista is 12-7, 8-5 in prg.

Gilbert coach Shaundra Gutierrez had to sweat out jams in three of the last four innings when her team was in the field, but was confident when the Tigers came to the plate in the eighth.

"I knew we had the top of our lineup coming up," Gutierrez said. "That's five seniors in a row. That's what you want in that situation."

Two of the top pitchers in the division opposed one another in Duncan and Desert Vista's Brooke Hughes. Duncan, a senior, scattered nine hits and pitched out of trouble in most of the late innings. Hughes surrendered five of the eight hits she allowed in the first three innings. She appeared the stronger of the two down the stretch, but a walk, a couple bunts (one for a hit), an error and Lecometros' walk-off hit turned Hughes into the hard-luck losing pitcher. Hughes struck out nine and walked two.

Lecometros gave Gilbert a 1-0 lead by depositing the first pitch from Hughes in the second inning over the left-field fence. It was only the fourth home run Gilbert has hit as a team this year (Lecometros' first)  as manufacturing runs has become its mantra. Last season Gilbert was a power-hitting club the last couple seasons, belting 22 homers last year. Lecometros was busy in the field. She caught four pop ups and totaled five putouts. She also added four assists on ground outs.

Desert Vista, who tied the game in the sixth with a double from Hughes and RBI single from Kiara Kennedy, saw three plays on the basepaths hurt scoring chances. Jillian Navarro overslid the bag at second on a steal attempt and was tagged out in the fourth. Hughes followed with a single, but the inning fizzled.

In the fifth Desert Vista got a leadoff walk. A sacrifice bunt followed but resulted in a double play when the runner at second rounded the bag too far and was thrown out trying to get back by Lecometros. The Lady Thunder got a leadoff single in the eighth, but that runner was erased after a fly out to right. Gilbert appealed the runner tagged too soon to reach second base and the appeal was granted.