Fresh off of a silver bracket championship at the Grace Lee Haught Memorial tournament over the weekend and nine wins out of 10 games, the Mingus Union High School softball team is riding high.
But with nine games in the Grand Canyon Region yet to play, head coach John Brown feels like his team has not yet reached its peak.
“I would call it building momentum, we’re not playing at the top of our game yet,” Brown said.
After taking its first Grand Canyon Region loss of the season, 10-5 at Prescott High School on March 7, the team began its hot streak with a 14-2 run-rule win against Prescott on March 9, and continued with 14-0 and 14-2 wins against Saguaro High School and Notre Dame Preparatory High School, respectively.
What’s more is that the Marauders have gotten contributions from a variety of players, such as the four for four, seven-RBI, three-run outing for junior third baseman Nikki Zielinski that included two home runs in the big win over Prescott.
Junior pitcher Kaycee Williams came through with two hits from two at bats plus four RBI and six strikeouts against Notre Dame Prep. Senior pitcher and first baseman Krista Earl allowed just two hits and two walks along with nine strikeouts in a five-inning shutout of Saguaro.
Senior shortstop Maddie Bejarano has totaled 23 hits, 22 runs scored and 17 RBI during the 10-game stretch and senior center fielder Maliah Zillmer has accumulated eight hits, seven RBI and two runs scored.
Senior catcher Morgan Mabery has 17 hits, 18 runs scored and 13 RBI in that same span.
“Right at the moment we have six kids hitting over .400,” Brown said. “We’re slugging it pretty good … we have a lot of consistency, we’re getting production from different girls not just one or two.”
With all of the firepower on offense, likely Mingus’ least obvious strength is in its pitching and the differing styles between the duo of Williams and Earl. During the preseason, Brown noted what a difference it would make having more than one pitcher this season, and so far the results have come.
During the 10-game run, the only defeat coming 8-3 at the hands of Bourgade Catholic High School on Friday, March 17, Williams and Earl teamed up to limit their opponents to 21 earned runs.
Williams gave up 37 hits while striking out 26 in 30 and one-third innings and Earl gave up 25 hits with 37 strikeouts in 25 and two-thirds innings.
“Our pitching is building momentum and we’re hoping to continue to get better,” Brown said. “It’s different with a pitching rotation rather than having one kid pitch all the time.”
The two pitchers’ styles are what keep their opponents off balance. Brown described Earl as “a power pitcher that mixes pitches in with off-speed stuff” while Williams “relies on movement and spin” on her pitches.
Having outscored their opponents 119 to 28 during their run, the Marauders will enter the thick of their Grand Canyon Region schedule with just little things to improve upon.
“We see a few little tweaks we’ve got to make, but it’s not like we’ve got to reinvent the wheel,” Brown said.
They traveled to Winslow High School on Tuesday, March 21, but results were unavailable at press time and resume region play starting with a home doubleheader against Mohave High School at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.
