Red Mountain has not lost often this season in softball as its 22-6 record shows. But when it meets an opponent for the second time that defeated the Mountain Lions the first time, trouble has loomed.

Xavier tried to be the third team to victimize Red Mountain in that regard Thursday. The Gators, who beat Red Mountain 5-4 one week ago and are the only 5A-I school to defeat Red Mountain this season, had the Mountain Lions thinking here we go again after five innings. Fortunately for Red Mountain, standout hitter Courtney Sherwin would have none of that.

Sherwin's third hit of the game -- a tie-breaking home run in the seventh inning -- lifted the Mountain Lions to a hard-fought 7-4 win over Xavier in a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the 5A-I power rankings at Rose Mofford Softball Complex.

"Her average has dipped a little bit lately, but she's been working hard to get going again," Red Mountain coach Rich Hamilton said. "She had a great day for us."

Sherwin, the Mountain Lions senior center fielder, progressed with each at-bat on Thursday and finished with three hits and four RBIs.

After hitting into a force play in the first inning, she blooped a single to left in the third that knocked in a run and tied the game at 1. In the fifth she broke the tie with double to right center, igniting a three-run rally.

After Xavier responded with a three-run rally of its own in the fifth tying the game at 4, Sherwin came to bat in the seventh with a runner on and no outs. She promptly stroked Xavier pitcher Natalie Both's offering over the left-field fence for a 6-4 lead. The Mountain Lions (12-2 in power-point games) added another run to take a three-run advantage to Xavier's half of the seventh.

Red Mountain finished the day with 12 hits, getting three more from Siera Phillips and two from ninth-place hitter Marisa Mayes.

"Our hitting is starting to come around again," Hamilton said. "We've had some strange innings on defense this year. They've come against the teams that have given us trouble."

The other two teams that beat Red Mountain twice this season are Buchanan High (Calif) and Canyon del Oro.

Xavier got the final out of the top of the seventh on a great play from its center fielder Katie Park. Park gunned down Phillips at home to cut off Red Mountain's seventh-inning outburst.

Park carried that momentum to her leadoff at-bat in the bottom of the sevenh lining a leadoff single. The Gators Emma Bogart, who had a double and two RBIs earlier in the game, whistled a line drive at Lions first baseman Brittany Dvorak, who took a step to the bag for an easy double play that extinguished any chance of another comeback.

"We play tough teams like Red Mountain like this," Xavier coach Bobby Pena said. "A lot of them are one-run games and we've won about half of those. I'd like to play them once a week.... They bring out the best in us."

Xavier is now 10-5 in power-point games. They trail Red Mountain in the Fiesta Region standings by 1 1/2 games. Red Mountain has four region games remaining and Xavier has three.