Warriors baseball qualifies for 1A state tournament

 ORME - San Pasqual's baseball team beat Orme 14-1 in a must-win regular season finale to lay claim on fourth place in the 1A West and a final spot in the state playoffs.

 The Warriors (12-10, 5-5 1A West) eliminated Orme from the running and now wait to see if Salt River or Tempe Prep tie them for fourth place, forcing a playoff game on Monday.

 San Pasqual coach Faron Owl called Friday's convincing victory a big win that wasn't assured. Orme held the same region record and had the advantage of not traveling five hours for the game.

 Still, San Pasqual seemed motivated by the prospect of qualifying for state and started scoring early. Ruben Esperanza hit a three-run homer and Victor Robles followed with a two-run homer.

 Esperanza was 4-for-4 and just missed hitting for the cycle with two singles, a triple and a home run. Owl said he was tempted to send Esperanza for the double after proving he could leg out a triple as a big guy, but decided against it.

 Robles was the winning pitcher with seven strikeouts in five innings.

 "We played a little bit better," Owl said. "This has been a Jekyl and Hyde team all year and today we brought a different ball club and won."