Casey McNulty is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Westwood High School for AZPreps365.com

It was a game of cat and mouse on Monday night between Mesa Public Schools' oldest rivals, Westwood and Mesa. After the two teams went back and forth with the lead throughout most of the game, the offensive momentum slowed, and the Warriors fell to the Jackrabbits 21-16.

"We were in it, but we weren't in it," Westwood junior Emily Stacey said. "It was like we wanted it, and we thought we had it, but I think we didn't."

Back in the 1900s, Mesa was the first high school built in the area, while Westwood was the second. History predicted the opening inning between these two region rivals, as the Jackrabbits established an early lead. With bases loaded, clean-up hitter junior Ana Hernandez stepped up to the plate. Hernandez wasted no time making contact and sent a perfectly placed pitch sailing over the right field wall for a grand slam. Although one player's run was not recorded because she failed to step onto home plate, the Jackrabbits secured a steady 3-0 lead.

Frustration was evident on Westwood head coach Alyssa Dale's face during the Warriors' first at-bat. Junior Analisa Garcia was the lead-off hitter instead of the usual Hope Hutchins. The junior didn't swing once while in the box and struck out looking despite receiving three pitches directly over the plate. After Garcia's backward K, Dale told the Warriors to start attacking strikes instead of waiting for them to happen, reiterating what she told the team before the game. 

"I talked to [the team] before the game and told them that we had a job to do today, and we needed to get it done," Dale said. "We scored 16 runs. It's doing a job. But just wasn't enough tonight."

The Warriors only scored one run in the first inning, but put up six in the second. With no outs, freshman Lilly Hutchison reached base on a grounder to third. Under pressure in a two-out scenario, senior Valerie Saucedo hit a fly ball to the gap between second base and right field to bring in Hutchison. Senior Navi Brinkerhoff was walked, and Stacey nailed a line drive to deep right field to score two runs. The momentum continued when senior Lexi Vasquez drove the ball to the right corner of the field for a triple, and Stacey scored. Bases were loaded for the Warriors after a walk and a successful drop third-strike. Westwood went through its entire lineup, and Hutchison nailed a grounder past second base for two RBI during her second at-bat. This offensive outing put the Warriors up 7-4, but their lead didn't last long.

The Jackrabbits had a showstopping fourth inning, scoring 11 runs on three hits and seven walks. The Warriors brought Hutchison into the circle to take over after sophomore Sara Campbell pitched the first three innings. Hutchison walked three of the first five batters she faced, so Dale made the substitution to bring Campbell back into the game. Campbell fared no better, giving up four more walks, a double, a single and a grand slam.

"I think our defense was really not the greatest," Hutchison said. "I think there were some easy plays and routine plays that we could have made, but we really just weren't there for that. So it really sucked."

Westwood would not score more than six runs in an inning after their defensive struggles in the fourth. There were multiple instances in the game where the Warriors' bats were hot, but miscommunication occurred on the base paths, causing two runners to be stationed at one bag. These mistakes were due to the Warriors' inexperience as a team, and it allowed for the Jackrabbits to make easy outs.

"We talked after that first inning about a couple of just rules that I think my girls weren't quite aware of, just experience, things that they needed to learn, some rules and so that should help," Dale said. "We haven't had a practice since last Wednesday. So some fundamentals to practice."

Last season, Westwood won both of the games it played against Mesa by 10 or more runs. This year was a different story, as the Warriors found themselves on the receiving end of the loss. Both teams will play against each other for the second time of the season on April 23, and by then, Dale hopes the Warriors will have learned from their mistakes.

"We got to make the outs that are available to us, and there were a few times we didn't do that tonight," Dale said. "We gave away a few too many free bases, especially in that fourth inning, and it really hurt us. Definitely defensively [the team] needed to make the plays that were available."