Editor's note: As the 2024-25 high school sports season around Southern Arizona kicks into full gear this week, the Star gives one final look back at the programs that took home state championship trophies during the 2023-24 school year. One of those champions: Empire High School softball, 2024 Class 3A champions.
An adage goes, “good things come to those who wait."
Empire softball’s wait proved to be worthwhile.
After a rough, oft-delayed state championship game in 2023, Empire (26-7) came back to win the state Class 3A title in Spring 2024.
“It was so awesome to be able to end my career with a championship win,” said first baseman/outfielder Morgan Faunce, a senior on the Empire 2024 title-winning roster. “We’ve been progressing each year and going to semis and semis again and then runner up and it’s so cool to be able to end on a positive note and to finally see our hard work pay off.”
The Empire High School softball team takes a team photo with the trophy and banner celebrating the Ravens' 2024 Arizona Class 3A state championship on May 11 in Tempe.
After falling to Sabino 1-0 in 15 innings in the state semifinals in 2021 and again losing to the Sabercats in 2022, 16-7, the Ravens thought 2023 was their year.
That time, they met Sabino in the state championship game, and it was at the University of Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium. However, a quick storm was enough to make the field unplayable; the title game was postponed a day.
Take two, however, resulted in another delay. After then-Empire junior utility payer Callista Drawbaugh opened the game with a triple and scored, the game was restarted again Saturday of that week at Cherry Field.
“It definitely was a little bit unorganized I felt but I think it was definitely hard on all of us mentally especially after that first game when we got it going,” said 2024 junior shortstop/third baseman Angelina Dehler. “I think everyone was basically at their highest point and it felt a bit dragged along after getting delayed after delayed and then having to move fields, I just really think it was tough mentally on all the players.”
The seventh-seeded Empire softball team was all smiles in defeating top-seeded Chandler Valley Christian 10-6 to win the Arizona Class 3A state championship on May 11 in Tempe.
Sabino would go on to win the final restart 5-2. It was the Sabercats' fourth state title in a row.
Empire head coach Shannon Woolridge said the delays were probably one of the hardest situations to coach.
“You get up for a game one day and then the rains come, the field’s not tarped, you don’t get a chance to play ... Then you start playing the next day, the same thing — the rains come and you can’t finish that game and then you’re told that you have to restart. You can just imagine what that does to a team mentally and emotionally,” Woolridge said. “Not making an excuses by any means but that definitely was very difficult to endure but I also think we kinda used it to our advantage it provided a focus going in the season that we’re going to go after what we feel is rightfully ours.”
But 2024 really was Empire's year — finally.
The Ravens would go on to roll through the state tournament and claim their third softball state championship in May while riding a 17-game win streak. Although they were a seven seed in the 16-team single elimination tournament, the Ravens topped No. 1 Chandler Valley Christian 10-6 in the title game.
Empire's Eva Peace rounds third for home with a high five from coach Shannon Woolridge after Peace's two-run home run put Empire up 4-0 en route to an eventual 10-6 win over Valley Christian on May 11 in the Arizona Class 3A state title game in Tempe.
“It was amazing ... I felt so many emotions like at that time. I just ended up in shock,” said 2024 junior pitcher/first baseman Kendall Freidinger. “But overall it was just super happy to win that game, get redemption from last year, have a good last game for the seniors.”
Empire also won it all in 2015 and 2017.
“I think in ’15 and ’17 we did not set out to win a state championship, it was more about ‘let’s be the best that we can be,’ and we ended up with two state titles in those years,” Woolridge said. “But with the talent, skill and experience that we’ve had the last couple of years the mission has been to win a state title.”
After a slump in the midseason, Empire, which went 9-0 in the 3A South, eventually lived up to its destiny.
In mid-March, after losing to 6A Marana twice, to 5A Cienega and to 6A Tucson High (the tourney host) at the Badger Classic, the Ravens’ record dropped to 9-7. However, once they returned to playing schools their size or close to it, they ended the season with the win streak.
The Empire High School softball team was 26-7 in 2024, including state tournament victories of 18-0 (over Crismon), 3-2 (over Bourgade Catholic), 6-0 (over Tanque Verde) and 10-6 (over Valley Christian).
"We had a little bit of struggle in the beginning but we had a turning point halfway through,” Faunce said.
Since 2015, a school from the Tucson area has won the 3A (or rough equivalent) softball state championship every year.
The run started with Empire’s 2015 title at the Division III level. Then in 2016 when there was four divisions, Catalina Foothills won D-III and Pueblo D-IV.
In 2017, when the current six conferences with 6A being the highest and 1A the smallest started, Empire won its second title. Then in 2018, Sahuarita took the title, followed by Sabino four times except for 2020 when COVID-19 caused the cancellation of the softball seasons.
Empire wasn’t the only Vail School District school to do well in the softball state tournaments.
In 5A, Cienega reached the state quarterfinals, and in 4A, Mica Mountain finished third.
“It was really nice, it was fun to like go home after our games and see like ‘oh how did Mica do?’ ‘how did Cienega do?’ because I grew up with a lot of those girls,” Freidinger said. “So I’m just really glad that we represented Vail and Tucson and did well.”
