Desert Vista is not usually found in the bottom portion of the 5A-I baseball power rankings.

The reality for the Thunder heading  to Tuesday night's clash with Fiesta Region rival Red Mountain was a 2-8 power-point game record (29th out of 31 teams) and a desperate need for a victory.

Junior Garret Brandt provided what may be a first step. The left-hander stymied Red Mountain for the second time this season, scattering nine hits and leading the Thunder to a 6-3 win over the Mountain Lions at HoHoKam Park in Mesa.

"We came out tonight and all we wanted to do was win," Desert Vista coach Stan Luketich said. "We've been telling the kids if you continue to work hard, good things will happen. They've been working hard in practice, but not getting the results. But they continue to fight and tonight was a good result."

Brandt  struck out seven, walked one and pitched out of a couple tough spots in the second and fourth innings. In both frames Red Mountain had runners at second and third with noone out. They managed to tally just one run.

"He's been tough against us," Red Mountain coach Jason Grantham said. "He beat us earlier in a tournament. We've got 19 hits off him in two games, but only five runs. That's the bottom line. He got outs when he needed to and we can't get timely hits against him."

Desert Vista, which hasn't missed qualifying for the 5A baseball playoffs since 2003, pieced together two three-run rallies to offset three single tallies by Red Mountain.

The Thunder stole home and got RBIs from Hunter Rodriguez and Nick Farina in a three-run second inning. A three-spot in the fourth highlighted by Casey Thomas' two-run triple gave Brandt a 6-2 cushion after four innings and he rode it out the rest of the way.

"We haven't had a good streak yet," Luketich said. "Hopefully this is one with more to come."

Brandt gave up just two hits over the final three innings. The only run late came on Ryne Dean's homer in the sixth.

Red Mountain, another East Valley school with a long run in progress of state tournament appearances in baseball, dropped to 5-7 in power-point games. The Mountain Lions are hanging around the No. 20 slot at present. They haven't missed state since 2002.

"This one would have been nice to get," Grantham said. "We had a game with Brophy slip away when we had a 7-3 lead late and lost, 11-7. We have to come back and get one Friday against them."