Not one, not two, not three. The Salpointe Catholic High School softball team is Class 4A champions for the fourth consecutive season.
Propelled by a seven-run second inning, the top-seeded Lancers beat No. 3 Canyon del Oro 10-7 on Monday night at Hillebrand Stadium to win the state title in a thrilling game.
After grabbing a 9-2 lead, Salpointe had to hold off a late rally by CDO. The Dorados fought back and made it 9-7 going into the bottom of the sixth until Salpointe pitcher Gianna Mares hit a solo home run for a key insurance run.
Mares got the final three outs in the top of the seventh to secure another Salpointe championship.ย
The heavy-hitting Lancers, which had relied on the home run ball at times this postseason, cut and diced their way to the victory with timely hits and patient at-bats early in the game. Krista Martinez and Gianna Payne each had two RBIs in the win.
Salpointe got on the board in the first inning, and quickly. Leadoff hitter Yannixa Acuna tripled to start and scored on the next batter on an RBI groundout from Logan Cole.
In the second, the Lancers took control on a two-run double from Martinez who sent a sharp fly ball to deep right field to make 3-0. Then, four straight walks issued by CDO, two by starting pitcher Zaedi Tagalog and two by reliever Amelia Streuber allowed the Lancers to plate two more runs.
Payne extended the lead to 7-0 on a two-run single up the middle and the Lancers were able to tack on one more before CDO got the third out.
It didnโt take long for the Dorados to respond as Megan Clark hit a two-run double to deep left center to bring it to 8-2. Salpointe added one more in the bottom half of the third but the Dorados again responded with two more runs, a wild pitch followed by an RBI single from Naya Campos made it 9-4.
CDO continued to make strides in its comeback effort with a three-run sixth inning. Taya Kelly
had a two-run single with the bases loaded and Julia Holt followed with an RBI single to cut it to 9-7.
But thatโs as close as the Dorados would get as Salpointe closed the door with a one-two-three final inning.
The Lancers rolled through the regular season with a 27-2 record to take the No. 1 seed in the 4A region. They won games over Notre Dame Prep, Bradshaw Mountain, Paradise Honors and Cottonwood Mingus to advance to the title game.
CDO was equally as dominant during the regular season going 29-3 to earn the No. 3 seed. The Dorados beat Prescott, Sahuarita, Mingus Union and Paradise Honors to set up a date with Salpointe.
The two schools met twice during the year prior to the playoffs with the Lancers winning both matchups, 14-3 and 7-1.
Salpointeโs state title is its fourth-straight since 2018. The 2020 state tournament was not played due to the pandemic.
