There’s an awful lot going on between pitches on the softball diamond.

Some of it is obvious like the batter taking practice swings, the third base coach giving signs, the umpire checking the clicker before giving the count, the catcher giving the sign and the pitcher going through her pre-pitch routine before pushing off the rubber.

Then there’s subtle stuff.

The batter moving up or back in the box, the catcher sliding to the outside portion of the plate just prior to the pitch so as to not give up location and so much more than isn’t always noticed.

A lot if it was on display in the early innings of Queen Creek’s 10-0 five-inning win over Boulder Creek at home on Friday in 6A non-region action.

In this case, it was all about the eyes.

Sometimes it’s a look in the eyes and other times it is locking eyes.

For example, when Queen Creek starting pitcher Aubrey Chavez was facing a bases loaded situation in the first inning, she turned toward shortstop Emma Reynolds.

It was all the right hander needed to get out of the tough situation as she struck out two of the final three batters.

“I calmed my mind, and looked at Emma,” said Chavez, who threw four shutout innings with six strkeouts and two bloop hits. “We just have that connection. I reset and tried to get the next two outs to get my teammates out of it.”

Reynolds was all about it. She made sure Chavez had nothing to worry about despite the Jaguars getting three straight runners on with one out in the opening frame.

“We’ve known each other forever, and she knows I got her back,” said Reynolds, who went 3-for3 with three runs, two home runs and five RBI. “Whenever she looks at me I just tell her to breath because it is a good way to reset, and she knows she can trust the whole team.”

The other example of it is Boulder Creek coach Marcos Gil wanting to look into his players’ eyes when the Jaguars dealt with some struggles against the undefeated Bulldogs (17-0).

Boulder Creek (13-3) failed to score in the bases loaded situation and then saw the Queen Creek offense smack four home runs – sophomore Delia Marquez and senior Keira Weekly added to Reynolds’ two long balls – to dig a big hole.

It was a great sport for Gil to see how his players were going to react. Boulder Creek won 13 of its first 14 games before losing to Pinnacle by one run on Thursday before getting run-ruled by the Bulldogs.

“When there is an opportunity missed or big situation doesn’t go our way, I always look at my players faces,” Gil said. “I want to see their reaction in a championship moment they might have missed. It’s up to use to get them back on their horse for the next at bat or pitch.”

Boulder Creek junior McKenzie Hernandez delivers a pitch against Queen Creek on Friday. (Jason P. Skoda/AZPreps365)

Those in between pitch moments clearly favored Queen Creek, but not as much as when the ball was in play.

The Bulldogs have been dynamic to start the year as they have rarely been challenged, and when teams like Basha and Hamilton have pushed Queen Creek to a seven-inning game, the Bulldogs have found a way to keep winning.

“Basha was a one-run game and Hamilton was a tight game,” Queen Creek coach Ann Pierson said. “We respect every team that shows up in the other dugout. We just know we’re going to see everything from everyone. We just have to prepare for their best shot.”

Queen Creek had 10 hits with Reynolds, Marquez and Tayla Falquez having multi-hit games and Chavez improving to 7-0.

The Jaguars, a junior-laden team, had three base runners in McKayla Chapman, Mikayla McCoy and Isabella Montes, while pitchers McKenzie Hernandez (9-1) and Kinsey Wilcox took the mound for Boulder Creek.