Avery Nielson picked up right where her big sister Riley left off the previous two seasons at Sabino High School by being the ace pitcher in another state-championship run this year.
Avery, a sophomore right-hander, led the Sabercats (30-3) to their fourth consecutive state title and sixth overall with her complete-game win over Empire on May 20.
She allowed five hits with eight strikeouts and five walks in the win, improving her to 19-1.
She finished the season with a 1.23 ERA in 113 2/3 innings. She had 160 strikeouts and 40 walks.
In the month of May, Avery was 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA with 45 strikeouts and seven walks in 24 2/3 innings. Her performance in the month and her victory in the state championship earns her the Jet Sports Training Athlete of the Month for May.
2023 JET SPORTS TRAINING FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE MONTH HONORS
January 2023: Sahuarita soccer player Samantha Wright
February 2023: Salpointe soccer player Rylen Bourguet
March 2023: Sabino distance thrower Emerald Kwinn
April 2023: Salpointe softball player Gianna Mares
May 2023: Sabino softball player Avery Nielson
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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