In the 20 years before Stacey Iveson coached Pima College to the 2004 NJCAA softball world series, the nation’s most dominant team — think of the New York Yankees of the 1950s — was nearby Central Arizona College.
The Vaqueras won 11 national championships from 1985-2003, the first two by coach Mike Candrea. And when CAC didn’t win the NJCAA title, it often won the region and advanced to the NJCAA World Series, blocking ACCAC teams like Pima College from advancing outside the state.
But in the spring of 2004, Iveson’s Aztecs beat CAC in the region playoffs and moved on to the NJCAA finals in Clermont, Florida, a suburb of Orlando.
Over four days, Iveson’s lineup, dominated by former Southern Arizona high school players, won the NJCAA championship in epic fashion.
Fighting through the consolation bracket, Pima had to win four games on a Saturday to become national champs. Here’s how it went:
9 a.m.: Defeated No. 7 Indian Hills College of Iowa, 8-0.
11:30 a.m.: Defeated No. 1 Indian River State College of Florida, 7-0.
2:30 p.m.: Defeated No. 3 Gulf Coast College of Florida, 12-0.
4:30 p.m.: Defeated No. 3 Gulf Coast College of Florida, 1-0.
When you outscore four elite opponents by a collective 28-0 in one day, there’s no quibbling. You are No. 1.
The 2004 Aztecs were no one’s idea of a Cinderella. They won 35 consecutive games during the season, finished 71-8, and stormed through the ACCAC — probably the nation’s top junior college softball conference — with a 37-3 conference record.
Seven of the nine starters were from Tucson high schools. Kendra Palmer, who stole 42 bases, outfielder Jackie Martinez and .413-hitting shortstop Rebecca Lebsack were from Salpointe Catholic; pitcher Veronica Ralston, who went 28-1 and didn’t allow a run in the final two games, was from Catalina Foothills; first baseman Ashley Monceaux, a first-team All-American who had a team-high 79 RBIs, was from Flowing Wells; and third baseman Lisa Parks, who hit 22 home runs, was from Sahuaro.
Pitcher Nicki Johnson, also from Sahuaro, shut out No. 1 Indian River College in the second of Pima’s four victories that day; Johnson was 57-7 in her two seasons with the Aztecs.
Pima beat Gulf Coast College in extra innings to win the title. A single by Santa Rita High School grad Angela Guerra scored Monceaux for the game’s only run.
“It was a Kirk Gibson-type of moment,” Iveson told me in 2020. “Angela had hurt her leg and couldn’t do much more than limp to first base. I was praying that the right fielder wouldn’t throw her out at first. We had so many heroes.”
Pima’s Kristina Schmallen tries to keep cool in the hot sun during their team’s third of four games on May 22, 2004.
Temperatures at the softball complex in Clermont, Florida, that day reached the mid-90s. The humidity wouldn’t quit.
Lebsack, the All-ACCAC shortstop, had to be treated for heat-related issues before the showdown with No. 1 Indian River. The only shade at the softball complex provided by the roof over the dugouts. Lebsack played anyway.
“It was just the longest day,” said Iveson. “But nobody gave in to the heat or to the opponents. I still remember Lisa Parks’ home run over the water tower in left-center field. You couldn’t hit the ball farther than she did, and it won a game for us.”
Pima’s Lisa Parks, right, watches her home run sail over the left-field wall during the second inning of the Aztecs’ third game of the day. Parks hit 22 home runs in 2004.
Iveson wasn’t a one-shot wonder. She coached Pima College to a second national championship in 2006 and then, after moving to Prescott, coached Yavapai College to the 2009 and 2011 NJCAA titles.
Pima assistant coaches Bob Moreno, left, and Alison McCutcheon celebrate after watching Lisa Parks’ home run.
She remains one of the leading names in Tucson softball history, coaching Salpointe Catholic to the 1993 state championship and then becoming pitching coach for Arizona’s 1996, 1997 and 2001 NCAA championship. She is now the director of softball operations at Arizona, where she played on Candrea’s first UA teams in the late 1980s.
