Marana senior Hailey Oesterling stepped up to the plate at Cherry Field on Saturday night with the idea of hitting a single.
The Tigers loaded the bases with one out and, hit by hit, had just taken a 3-2 lead over Desert View in the championship game of the Badger Invitational.
So Oesterling wanted to continue the trend.
Instead, she took it to the next level.
With a grand slam over the left field fence, Oesterling gave Marana a 7-2 lead in the second inning - and essentially put the game out of reach as the Tigers went on to win 13-2 in five innings.
"Base hits were all we needed to keep the scores coming in," Oesterling said. "That's all I expected, that's all I needed to keep my teammates coming in, so when I hit it, that was just better than I could have hoped for."
The Tigers (16-5) sent 15 batters go to the plate that inning and ended up scoring nine runs on eight hits and two errors by the Jaguars. Marana finished the game with 14 hits.
Desert View (12-5) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Marana's Casey Cadenhead walked the first two batters, but she settled down from there. She gave up only three hits after the first and didn't allow another run.
It was the third time the Tigers and Jaguars met this season, and the win gave Marana a 2-1 edge in the series. They'll play again at Desert View on April 22.
Marana coach George Corona was happy with the way his team swung the bat, and he's hoping the Tigers' 7-1 record in the tournament can help momentum.
Even with the loss, Desert View coach Bert Otero still sees something special with this team, which advanced to the tournament final for the second straight year.
"The kids battled all week, and they played well," he said. "I couldn't be prouder of them."
Contact Daniel Gaona at 807-7761 or dgaona@azstarnet.com. On Twitter @DanielGaona13
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