MORENCI — It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. The Morenci varsity softball team understood that from the jump and overcame a slow start to the season en route to a district championship.
The Lady Bulldogs were 6-11 heading into May and could’ve easily tucked their proverbial tails between their legs and limped into the district tournament.
Instead, they went 13-3 over their final 16 contests, including a four game stretch against Waldron and Britton Deerfield where they outscored their opponents by a combined 62-0 run total.
Morenci entered the state tournament on a three-game winning streak. They defeated Pittsford 8-1 in their first game before claiming the district crown with a 10-0 victory over Waldron.
Head coach Kay Johnson knew the toughest part of the season would be the first half. Basketball players had to start the season with only a handful of practices under their belts, multiple players were splitting time between two sports, and senior leader Alyssa Gibbs missed almost all of last season with an injury.
After a couple of close losses to Adrian and Sand Creek early in the season, the girls did battle with league power Whiteford. Even though the Bobcats won both contests 11-0, it felt much closer and Morenci went on to win 15 of 22 after that series.
Gibbs led the Bulldogs in batting (min. 50 AB) with a .412/.531/.559 slash line as well as a team-leading 44 RBIs, and contributed one of the team’s six home runs.
“It was nice to have Alyssa behind the plate after she missed 90% of the season last year,” Johnson said of her senior catcher. “She’s a natural born leader.”
Juniors Evelyn Joughin (.376/.449/.487) and Addyson Valentine (.359/.480/.583) were also major contributors at the plate. Joughin led the team in runs with 50 followed closely by Valentine’s 49. Valentine’s .583 slugging percentage was tops on the team and she added two long balls for good measure.
Powerlifting champion Gracie Snead (.333/.487/.575) blasted a team-leading three home runs while her .575 slugging percentage was the second best.
Senior slugger Zoey Martinez split time between track and softball, which led to fewer at-bats throughout the season. Despite the decreased production, Johnson said, “we’ll miss her bat no matter how she hit this year.” But with the track and field season now over, Martinez will look to help the Bulldogs continue their postseason run.
Valentine (16-10) handled a majority of the work on the mound as she tallied 142 innings pitched and 198 strikeouts. Sophomore Jaelyn Thompson (5-4) contributed 49.2 innings with 29 strikeouts.
“I was pleased with how we did get better and shored up our defense a little bit,” Johnson reflected on the improvement throughout the year. “And Addy is doing some fine pitching and Jaelyn had some good innings too.”
Johnson was also impressed with her young infield, including Callie VanBrandt (first base), Rylee Frederick (second base), and Gracie Snead (third base).
“We ended up with three sophomores around the infield with not a whole lot of experience, and all three of them stepped it up and improved throughout the season,” she said.
Johnson also saw a lot to like about freshman centerfielder Tavin Kruse.
“Tavin as a freshman out in centerfield is faster than fast. She’s learning how to bunt and beat it out,” Johnson explained. “She’s fearless on the basepaths too.”
Senior sisters Abby and Chelsea Pierce continued to lead by example and are “two of the hardest working players,” the coach said.
“Abby doesn’t really have a position. She can come in and play a little second base; we can put her in the outfield and even DH when Zoey isn’t there,” Johnson said of her utility player.
Chelsea holds down left field and “has gotten a lot better defensively in the outfield.”
The Bulldogs seem to be peaking at the right time as they will host the regional tournament and face Manchester on Saturday, June 7, at 10 a.m. Reading and Summerfield will play at noon, with the winners of each game meeting in the regional championship game at 2 p.m.
Manchester took both games during their regular-season doubleheader matchup. But that was over a month ago and now the Bulldogs are focused on one goal.
“Always been my philosophy that we don’t care if we win the first game of the season, we just want to win the last game,” Johnson said.
