While perfection is often described as unattainable, do not tell that to the Mingus softball team.
After defeating Vista Grande 5-1 on Thursday, May 2, the Marauders concluded this season with a perfect 10-0-1 home record.
“One of the biggest things we focused on heading into the playoffs was that we are playing at our house,” Mingus coach John Brown said. “This is the first time that we are undefeated during my tenure at Mingus and we wanted to keep our perfect record in tact.”
With the win, Mingus improved to 25-7-1 this season.
Senior Maddie Bejarano recorded one run and one hit in three plate appearances.
“Her performance against Vista Grande says everything about her,” Brown said. “Maddie is our core and the one that drives this team, so hopefully she continues to play like she is playing.”
Mingus freshman Alexis Ayersman pitched her first playoff game and did not disappoint, striking out six batters in seven innings.
“Ayersman studied and scouted Vista Grande and was phenomenal on the mound tonight,” Brown said. “She watched videos and did whatever it took for us to win tonight and she accomplished just that for us.”
Ayersman allowed only four hits, one earned run and one walk against the Spartans.
“Alexis has a lot of pitches, can move the ball well and she has a lot of confidence,” Brown said. “For a kid her age, that is pretty special.”
With the win, Ayersman improved to 14-3 this year on the mound.
“Her performance tonight was what I expected of her and maybe a bit better to be honest,” Brown said. “Alexis went out and did exactly what she told us she would do.”
After the Marauders hot start against Tucson’s Sahuaro High on April 30, Mingus started out slowly on Thursday in comparison.
“Each game is going to get tougher from here on out and Vista Grande was a better team than what we have played,” Brown said. “We knew coming in how good they are, and I think it to us a while to adjust but we made the necessary alterations to pull through.”
Nine separate Marauders registered a hit against Vista Grande.
“Offensively, some of the girls that had been struggling really stepped up, such as Ashley McCracken,” Brown said. “Ashley had a nice hit for us to open up the scoring and really starting things off for us.”
Brown also singled out senior Paige Bartel for her performance.
“Bartel hit a double down the line that opened it up for us and helped us grab the lead,” Brown said. “[She] and Ashley had been struggling lately so it was great to see them come up huge tonight.”
Defensively, Mingus has answered the call in the playoffs and allowed only two runs so far.
“It says everything about our defense, we had a couple of errors but they did not cost us any runs,” Brown said. “We ended up having to concede a run for an out but that is not that big of a deal.”
The Marauders had a date with the top-seeded Salpointe Catholic Lancers on Tuesday, May 7. Results were not available by press time.
Sophomore Alyssa Aguilar is likely to start for the Lancers and is 19-3 this season in 24 appearances.
Aguilar has pitched 117.1 innings and has struck out 176 of the 463 batters she has faced.
Senior Diana Montano leads the Lancers with 46 hits, 38 runs and 38 runs batted in.
Salpointe is currently on a 16-game winning streak and has outscored its last five opponents 63-2.
Last year, Salpointe captured the state title after defeating Cactus High School 2-0 on May 15, 2018.
The loser of the match faces Bradshaw Mountain on Thursday, May 9. Both meetings will take place at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex, 9833 N. 25th Ave., Phoenix.
