The two-time Division IV, Section I Player of the Year made it to the doorstep of her childhood dream with her dad, who was also honored with his second straight sectional Coach of the Year award Saturday, May 14.
Camp Verde High School senior Taya Smith’s final run to the state softball championship ended with a 5-0 loss to Pueblo Magnet High School, from Tucson, in the Division IV title game May 9.
“When I interviewed for the job, I promised we’d be contenders,” said Taya’s father, Henry, who coached the Cowboys softball program to a state championship game in his second year as head coach. “But winning a championship is a whole different story. It’s very difficult.”
In the Cowboys’ first title game appearance in seven years, Smith found that out against a school with 1,000 more students and a 12-game winner in senior Nickole Robles.
“For her to come in and do what she did, hitting her locations, pitching’s tough,” he said. “They’re a championship team.”
The bats that had peppered Division IV pitching to the tune of a .442 average were relatively silent against Robles, who allowed only two hits and two walks, striking out seven.
“Eventually, it’s going to happen,” Smith said. “The next year, the year after, who knows?”
After her final game for CVHS, outside of Arizona State University’s Farrington Softball Stadium, Taya Smith’s tears did all the talking.
The Division IV Player of the Year candidate struck out four Warriors and mounted the biggest threat for the Cowboys on a leadoff double in the third inning.
But the Cowboys couldn’t score despite Smith making it to third base and sophomore infielder Miranda Sharp advancing to second after a walk and successful sacrifice by freshman shortstop Rachel Stockseth.
“We had a little trouble with our batting,” said Smith’s younger sister, Tyra, a freshman whose third-inning throwing error of a Pueblo ground ball skipped through Sharp’s legs into right field, costing CVHS two runs. “We couldn’t find what was wrong with us; we never got comfortable or patient.”
Junior all-section first-teamer Kayla Hackett, who was thrown out trying to stretch a first-inning single into a double, grounded out to third base to end the threat.
“This is what we always wanted,” said senior catcher Paige Church, who will catch at Arizona Christian University next season after her 12 home runs were second-best in Division IV. “I did what I could — I got on base a couple of times — they just hit the ball better than we did.
“We, especially as upperclassmen, have worked so hard. How many seniors can say they got to play for a state championship?”
CVHS got to that moment in thrilling fashion, rallying from a 2-0 semifinal deficit May 7 to avenge last year’s first-round loss to Morenci Junior/Senior High School, 3-2.
“That win, especially, was big for us,” Church said. “Every game gets harder the deeper you get into the tournament.”
Hackett’s two-out, walk-off double scored Smith and gave the Cowboys their 30th win.
“I’m pretty sad the season’s over,” said freshman right fielder Carlee Oesterreich. “I’m pretty proud the team got us here, but I’m definitely hungry for more.”
CVHS had advanced to play the Wildcats behind four RBIs from Church and three more from Serenity Garcia in a 12-5 quarterfinal win over Buckeye Union High School.
“We’re a young team,” Henry Smith said. “We’re going to have a lot more opportunities like this. The fact is, we’re going to be around for a long time.”
For all Camp Verde High School softball all-section honorees, please see the Wednesday, May 18, issues of the Camp Verde Journal and Cottonwood Journal Extra.
