Not many games end the way Monday's soffball clash between Chandler and Mountain Ridge did.

It wasn't that a squeeze bunt with the bases loaded was unusual. It was pinch-hitting in the middle of that at-bat to accomplish the desired outcome that was a tad bizarre.

"Whatever it takes," Chandler coach Jana Rae Slayton said after her team plated the winning run in the bottom of the seventh -- a 1-0 win over Mountain Ridge in a Division I game at Chandler High.

Chandler imrproved to 11-6 overall and 5-1 in power-ranking games in avenging an invitational loss (2-0) to Mountain Ridge 10 days ago. The Wolves were facing the same pitcher -- Mountain Ridge lefty ace Giselle Juarez -- who threw a one-hitter to get the win in the earlier meeting. Juarez took a one-hitter again o the bottom of the seventh in this one, but Chandler gave itself a chance to win with two singles and a hit batter after Juarez retired the first batter of the inning.

With the bases juiced, Chandler's No. 8 hitter Jade Colter was up and her mission was bunt. Colter poked the first pitch foul. That prompted Chandler to ask for time as assistant coach Kerry Croswhite called over Slayton to dicusss a sub. Up came sophomore Jaslynn Rochin, a left-hand hitter. Croswhite reminded Rochin she had one chance at it. Rochin responded.

"We were hoping she'd push it to the right side," Slayton said. "That would have been ideal. It went to the left, but it was placed perfectly. (Rochin) finds a way to get it done. She's super consistent bunting."

Rochin stuck it past Juarez and made third baseman MacKenzie Whitten move far enough to to her left to field it with no play at home. Whitten went ahead and made the throw to first , but late. Didn't matter either way -- game over. Chandler catcher Rachel Brown, who started the rally with a hard ground single to right, scored.

Piror to the seventh Chandler had only one scoring chance. With runners on second and third and one out in the fourth, the Wolves opted not to bunt.

"We wished we would have then," Slayton said. "This was a heckuva game, and it was nice to come out on top."

Mountain Ridge (12-6, 4-2), last year's D-I runner-up, has taken on a new approach to maintain a contender. The Mountain Lions lost a lot of hitting and power to graduation and are more suited to the short game and tighter games with a pitcher the caliber of Juarez. Juarez finished up the contest allowing four hits, one walk and fanned 10.

Chandler starter Gabby Baker was pretty much the equal of Juarez in a slightly different way. Baker surrendered two hits and walked eight. She also registered 10 strikeouts. A strikeout or defense proved huge in In five Mountain Ridges seven at-bats.

Baker got strikeouts in the second with a runner at second, fanned Juarez with the bases loaded and two outs in the third and threw out a runner at third on a fielder's choice in the fifth . She also benefitted from a base-running error by Mountain Ridge for the final out of the fifth.

Baker induced a 5-3 double play to get out of the sixth and got her final K with a runner at second and two outs in the seventh.

"Defense has kept us in it all year," Slayton said. "We've been an underdog for awhile. We're trying to change that."

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