Desert Vista put up early offense Wednesday afternoon and pitcher Dani Block did her best to protect that output.

Well, Block did better than her best. Going the distance, Block fanned 15 and used strikeouts to shut down two rallies that helped carrry Desert Vista to a 9-3 victory over Ironwood Ridge on the second day of the Desert Mountain Softball Invitational at Horizon Park.

Block, a senior, was one of the keys to Desert Vista making a run to the Division I playoffs last season. She watched her teammates tally four times in the first two innings. An RBI single by Madison Bailey in the first and a two-run bloop double by Naomi Ricciotti and RBI single by Michaela Duarte accounted for three runs in the second.Block walked two batters in the first inning, but escaped damage with two Ks.

Then in the second with a 4-0 lead, Block surrendered hits to three of the first four batters and the Thunder's 4-1 advantage looked tenuous. Block fanned the top two hitters in Ironwood Ridge's order to escape further damage.

The key portion of the game, however, took place in the bottom of the fourth. Still leading 4-1, Ironwood Ridge loaded the bases on an error, walk and infield hit  with noone out. A strikeout, foul pop to third and strikeout No. 9 by Block ended the threat as quickly as it began.

In the top of the fifth, Desert Vista broke it open with four more runs on RBI by Bailey and Marissa Moreno and two more on a throwing error.

Block gave up two runs on three hits in the seventh, but a with a 9-1 lead and her penchant for strikeouts there was little to worry about. Block fanned at least two batters in every inning.

Ricciotti led Desert Vista with three hits. Duarte, Bailey and Alyssa Cerminara added two each. The only Ironwood Ridge players to solve Block were Reina Bondi (two hits) and Sarah Rodriguez (a double and three walks). 

A couple more teams ran their records to 2-0 on Wednesday. Horizon followed up a 3-2 win Tuesday over Mountain Ridge with a 4-1 triumph over Sahuaro. A two-run homer by Horizon's Kaila Jacobi in the fifth inning rallied the Huskies from a 1-0 deficit. Tamara Statman and Katie Gore knocked in runs in the seventh inning for insurance. Jacobi also homered in Horizon's win over Mountain Ridge. 

Canyon del Oro played its first two games of the tournament and returned to Tucson 2-0 with a wins over Hamilton (7-2) and defending tournament champion Mesa Mountain View (10-0). Mountain View won't win the tourney this year as its loss to CDO was its third of the tournament. Mountain View lost to Desert Vista (3-1) and Pinnacle (13-1) on Tuesday.

Other teams advancing to 2-0 were Basha, Corona del Sol  and Desert Mountain. Basha withstood a five-run rally in the last of the seventh to beat Pinnacle, 9-8. Corona del Sol topped Arcadia, 17-2. Desert Mountain run-ruled Seton, 14-3.