Conway dominates as Catalina Foothills wins softball state title

TEMPE — Nic Conway lined up against a team playing in its third straight state championship game on Tuesday night, but the Catalina Foothills sophomore didn’t display any signs on being nervous.

Instead, Conway looked like the postseason veteran as she helped power the Falcons to their first-ever softball title.

Seventh-seeded Foothills dismantled No. 5 Payson 8-0 at Farrington Stadium to capture the Division III state crown. It was the programs first finals appearance since its only other in 2001, when it finished as the Class 4A state runner-up.

“We knew they would have experience so we just had to go out and beat them,” said Conway, who finished the season with 302 strikeouts and a 23-6 record. “This is probably the best win I’ve ever had — I’ve only been a state champion once.

Conway struck out 14 over seven shutout innings for yet another complete-game victory.

The left-hander entered Tuesday’s showdown with 47 strikeouts and just one earned run through four playoff games.

“She’s phenomenal, she owned it,” Foothills third-year coach Mark Stevens said. “Even in our losses this year, she threw just like this but we just didn’t give her any runs. She threw this way all season.”

Run support was not an issue on Tuesday night, as the Falcons got right down to business.

Senior center fielder Micayla Brooke led the game off with a walk and scored three batters later when senior cleanup hitter Marisa Garcia came up with a two-out RBI single.

Then the Falcons erupted for five runs in the top of the second, with the help of a Payson throwing error. Megan Kelch, a sophomore, led off the frame with a triple to left field and then senior catcher Lilli Wright got on with a walk.

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Both scored to make it 3-0 after the pitcher bobbled and then made a bad throw to first on a chopper by Brooke, who was one strike away from the third out of the frame.

“I got lucky on that one,” Brooke said. “This is fantastic; I played the other three years and I never thought that we’d make it this far.”

Brooke added a run one batter later when junior third baseman Natalie Stevens sent a double to dead center. Then Stevens, the coach’s daughter, put the Falcons up 5-0 when she scored on a two-out RBI single by Conway.

“I love my dad so much, he’s my best friend,” Stevens said. “To go through this with him has been awesome.

Another Payson error helped Foothills push its lead to 7-0 in the top of the fourth. Conway came up with another two-out RBI single and then Garcia did the same.

Wright doubled in the top of the seventh and scored one batter later, on an RBI single by senior first baseman Kathryn Lucio.

Conway credited Wright for her success on Tuesday and said she’ll miss her batterymate next season. Still, she expects to be back on this stage again over the next two years.

“She just called such an amazing game,” Conway said. “The whole time, she just trusted my pitches and called the best game that I’ve seen in a while. She always does.”

Conway struck out six of the last seven batters she faced, including a dropped-ball strikeout to end the game. As Wright made the throw to first, Conway calmly removed her facemask and her glove and tossed towards the dugout before being mobbed by her teammates.

“This has been such an amazing team to play for,” Conway said. “I’ve got such a great bond with all these girls.”