The Pima Community College softball team (44-7, 36-6 in ACCAC) closed out the regular season on Saturday at Phoenix College (37-11, 31-11).
The No. 7 ranked Aztecs rallied back in the second game to earn a split with the No. 16 ranked Bears.
The Aztecs secured the ACCAC Conference Championship and will be the No. 1 seed in the Region I, Division II Tournament. they will host regionals at the West Campus Aztec Field for the first time since 2010.
Freshman Soleil Ponce (Sunnyside HS) had six hits on the day as she finished 6-for-9 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Freshman Angelina Dehler (Empire HS) closed out the day going 4-for-7 with five RBIs and a run scored while sophomore Jiselle Nunez (Tucson Magnet HS) went 2-for-5 with five RBIs, two runs and four walks.
Sophomore Julissa Lopez (Tucson Magnet HS) finished 3-for-8 with four RBIs and four runs. Sophomore Amerika Lopez-Bedoy (Sunnyside HS) was 5-for-8 with two RBIs and two runs. Sophomore Clarissa Figueroa (Mountain View HS) contributed by going 2-for-6 with five runs scored and four walks.
Sophomore Belen Camacho (Pueblo HS) went 1-1 as she got both decisions in the circle.
Game 1: (16) Phoenix College Bears 13, (7) Pima CC Aztecs 11: The teams went back and forth but the Bears scored five runs in the 6th inning and the Pima rally in the 7th inning, fell short.
Lopez put the Aztecs ahead 8-7 in the 5th inning with a three-run homer to center field to score Lopez-Bedoy and freshman Kayla Hendrix (Canyon del Oro HS).
The Bears countered with five runs in the bottom of the 6th as Phoenix’s Gianna Baca hit a grand slam as part of the inning as the Aztecs trailed 13-8.
The Aztecs loaded the bases with three straight walks to start the 7th inning. Dehler hit a line drive to right field to bring in Figueroa and Lopez to put the score at 13-10. Ponce followed with a fielder’s choice that brought in freshman Tayah Lyons. Two straight strikeouts and a fielder’s choice out at second base ended the game.
Nunez hit a three-run homer in the 1st inning and drew a bases loaded walk in the 2nd inning as she finished 1-for-1 with four RBIs, a run scored and three walks. Lopez went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored while Ponce hit an RBI single to tie the score at 5-5 in the 4th inning and was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Figueroa closed out the game going 1-for-2 with three runs scored and three walks. Dehler finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks and Hendrix went 1-for-4 with two runs.
Camacho took the loss in relief as she pitched two innings, giving up six runs (six earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk on 48 pitches.
Game 2: (7) Pima CC Aztecs 11, (16) Phoenix College Bears 7: The Aztecs fell behind in the 1st inning but chipped away and used a big 7th inning to earn the split.
With the score tied at 5-5, the Aztecs scored six runs in the 7th inning to take the lead for good. Lyons led off with a double and scored on a fielder’s choice play to home plate. Nunez hit a sacrifice-fly RBI to right field to bring in freshman Izabel Rodriguez (Sahuarita HS). Dehler followed with a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Figueroa and Lopez to make it 9-5. Ponce added some insurance with her RBI triple to left field, driving in Dehler and Lopez-Bedoy had Pima’s third straight RBI hit, bringing in Ponce.
Phoenix’s Harli Noriega hit a two-run homer in the 7th but Camacho got three straight outs to end the game.
Freshman Isabel Mendoza (Cienega HS) put the Aztecs on the board with a two-run double in the 2nd inning.
The Aztecs took the lead with three runs in the 4th inning. Dehler and Lopez-Bedoy were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded, and Ponce hit an RBI single as the Aztecs took a 5-4 lead. The Bears tied it with a run in the 6th.
Dehler, Ponce and Lopez-Bedoy (the No. 5, 6, 7 hitters in the lineup) went a combined 9-for-12 with seven RBIs and four runs scored as they each went 3-for-4 in the game. Mendoza finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs while Lopez was 1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Figueroa finished 1-for-4 with two runs and Nunez went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Camacho made her second relief appearance of the day and got the win, pitching four innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks on 68 pitches.
The No. 1 seeded Aztecs will be the second game on Thursday as they play No. 4 Scottsdale Community College at 2:00 p.m. The first game will be No. 2 South Mountain Community College vs. No. 3 Phoenix College at 11:00 a.m. All Region I, Division II Tournament games, in the double elimination tournament, will be played at the West Campus Aztec Field.
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