The Grand Canyon Region title may be out of reach, but Mingus Union High School’s softball team is making the most of its final games of the regular season.
Ranked No. 8 in the Conference 4A poll, the Marauders will make the state tournament for a second season running. To further solidify their place in the rankings, they swept Lee Williams High School on senior day, Friday,
April 20; winning game one 12-1 and game two 16-0, both in five innings.
“I thought we played well. I thought we played as well as we should’ve to win the game, so I’m happy with the outcome,” Mingus head coach John Brown said after game one. “It’s a tough finish. We still have to play [Bradshaw Mountain High School] on Monday, and they’re going to be a tough team — they’re anxious to get back at us. Unfortunately, mathematically it looks like we’re not in the run for the region championship, but we’re still playing for pride and then of course for rankings overall.”
Mingus, which will have cemented second place in the region for the second year in a row, plays in one of Conference 4A’s toughest regions. Four of the region’s six teams are in the top 10 of the 4A rankings: No. 7 and first-place Mohave High School [12-4, 9-2 Grand Canyon], No. 8 Mingus [13-4, 8-3], No. 9 Coconino High School [12-6, 7-5] and No. 10 Bradshaw Mountain [12-5, 7-4].
The Marauders hosted Bradshaw Mountain on Monday, April 23, but results were unavailable at press time. In the event they won, they will host a first round state tournament game Saturday, April 28, at 10:15 a.m.
Five seniors were honored after the second game against Lee Williams: Mattie Bollen, Bailey Brown, Sonya Saucedo, Kaycee Williams and Nikki Zielinski.
Lee Williams scored its lone run on the day in the first inning of the first game. A throwing error by Marauders junior third baseman Lacey Saravo permitted the Volunteers run to get on base and advanced to second.
Lee Williams junior catcher Courtney Janney doubled the run in before Williams coaxed a ground out to junior second baseman Ashley McCracken to end the inning.
Mingus stranded two runners in the second inning without scoring. Williams singled and Marauders sophomore catcher Jasmine Shults walked. The pair’s courtesy runners, junior Lexi Ough and freshman Kaylee Watson, respectively, combined to steal three bases, but Saravo’s fly out ended the threat.
The Volunteers would get just four more baserunners as Williams and the defense tightened up. Williams struck out two in the second inning after walking the leadoff batter, and McCracken helped spur a double play after another leadoff walk in the fourth.
Williams finished the game with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work, giving up just the first-inning hit.
“Defensively I thought we played well, we had one error in the first, we laughed it off and were able to come back and not make any more, so that’s important,” John Brown said.
Bollen, who played first base, struck out in her first two at-bats and grounded out to Volunteers sophomore pitcher Lauren Mastin in her third. She had just six at-bats in five games played heading into the afternoon, and made the most of her fourth plate appearance of the game.
Leading 10-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Marauders were staring down a mercy-rule win with runners at first and second and two outs. Bollen stepped to the plate, and drove the 3-1 pitch into right field for a two-RBI single that sealed the deal.
“I just knew I had to do it for my team, and I knew I had all of their backs, and that’s what we talked about, was getting on [base], so I knew I just had to get on,” Bollen said. “It was definitely hard, because I was going to be the winning run, I had to help them out, so it was definitely scary.”
Mingus scored its first runs in the second. Zielinski’s double plated two runs before McCracken singled Zielinski in to make it 3-1. McCracken later crossed home for the fourth run of the inning.
| Grand Canyon Region Standings | ||
|
Team Mohave Mingus Bradshaw Mountain Coconino Flagstaff Prescott Lee Williams |
Region 10-2 9-3 7-5 7-5 6-6 3-9 0-12 |
Overall 13-4 14-4 12-6 12-6 9-9 6-12 4-14 |
Bailey Brown went three for three in the game, driving in sophomore center fielder Dylan Sweeney before being plated by Saucedo’s RBI ground out to increase the lead to 6-1 in the third frame.
In the fourth, Sweeney’s RBI through the left side scored two runs. Bailey Brown then crept off first base, drawing a throwdown to second base that allowed Sweeney to steal home for the 9-1 advantage. Williams struck out two of three batters in the fifth as the Marauders retired all three Volunteers in what was their last chance at avoiding a shortened game.
Mingus blew open game two with an 11-run second inning. Technically playing as the away team, it scored one run in the first and two in each of the third and fourth frames. Marauders freshman Chloe Shults pitched three innings, giving up three hits while pairing three strikeouts with two walks. Williams gave up zero hits and struck out one across the final two frames.
The Marauders put together 13 hits, led by three each from Sweeney and Jasmine Shults. Five Marauders had two RBI each.
Region standings were updated online on Tuesday, April 24.
