Down 7-5 to Chandler Prep with two outs and two on in the bottom of the sixth, Tanque Verde senior standout Rocco Haggard hit a home run to left field to put the Hawks up 8-7 but the team still had to shut down the Titans in the top of the seventh to secure the victory and that proved to be a difficult task.

Nathan Hallums induced a ground ball to get the first out but Trey Ritz followed with a single and then Derek Tucker reached on a bunt to put two runners on. Hallums got another ground ball to get the second out but Aidan Allen loaded the bases with a walk. Tanque Verde coach Tom Belter brought in freshman Lucas Kriegshauser to face junior Jaxton Brittain and he picked up the save after Landon Walker fielded a grounder at short to end the threat.

The victory moves the Hawks to 14-0 in ranking games and it preserved a No.1 ranking in the 3A Conference with four games left in the regular season starting with South Region rival Empire (9-5) coming in on Monday.  Chandler Prep (7-5) is ranked No. 11 in the 2A Conference ad a victory at Tanque Verde might have catapulted the Titans to a favorable spot in the top eight or so. The Titans will travel to St. John Paul II (7-6) on Tuesday.

Chandler Prep took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after loading the bases on three straight walks with two outs. Tucker put the ball in play and the two runs came in on an infield error. Kriegshauser picked up an RBI to score Braden Guest to cut the lead down to 2-1 but Dominic Steineke hit a grand slam in the third inning to put the Titans up 6-1. The Titans loaded the bases on an error, hit-by-pitch and a walk to set up Steineke.

Dominic Steineke hit a grand slam in the third inning to put the Titans up 6-1. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

Walker hit a double with one out in the bottom half of the third and he came in later on a wild pitch to cut the lead down to 6-2. Jace Ridgway picked up an RBI in the fourth to make it 6-3 and that stood up until the Titans made it 7-3 in the top of the sixth on another RBI from Steineke. Guest singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh and then Kriegshauser reached to put two on with no outs for Tanque Verde. Jack Elmerick doubled in Cooper Payne, who was pinch running for Guest.

Santino Celani reached on an error in the outfield, scoring Kriegshauser to make it 7-5. Haggard came up one out later and his three-run shot proved to be the game-winner.

Titan standout Robby Hirsch collected ten strikeouts in four innings of work and the senior is headed to Dayton next year. Steineke added four strikeouts in relief. Jacob Orr got the start for the Hawks, Hallums took over in the fourth inning and Kriegshauser got the save.