Tanque Verde 10-0 run rule. 3A state championship pic.twitter.com/ntrfQpV3Dp
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) May 12, 2026
PHOENIX — Tanque Verde softball earned its first state title in school history on Monday night after reaching the state championship game for the first time.
Junior ace Claire Achilles, a UConn commit, pitched a one-hitter while allowing a walk with 13 strikeouts in the 10-0 win by mercy rule for No. 7 Tanque Verde in six innnings over No. 5 Yuma Catholic at Grand Canyon University.
Achilles was named the MVP of the 3A tournament by the AIA.
“I didn’t expect it, to be honest,” she said of the award. “I wasn’t keeping track of anything. I was just trying to play for my teammates and play for how hard I worked and the people behind me.
“I’m pretty happy about it.”
Claire Achilles named 3A championship game MVP pic.twitter.com/ET9dvjWIIw
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) May 12, 2026
The Hawks outscored No. 10 Phoenix Bourgade Catholic, No. 2 Show Low, No. 3 Empire and Yuma Catholic 37-2 in their four-game run through the 3A state tournament.
Those schools combine to have nine state championships.
Tanque Verde finally has its first since the school opened 20 years ago.
“We came out wanting to hit,” said Achilles, who went 2 for 4 with a run and a double. “After the Empire game, I think we were fired up. Our bats were hot. I was hot and we came out here and won.”
Tanque Verde coach Mark Stevens earned his second state title, 10 years after going all the way with Catalina Foothills.
“They’re awesome and they work their butts off,” Stevens said of his team that went 29-5. “They work hard in practice, probably harder than we play in games.
“They had a goal. This was their goal, to win it this year. I lose three seniors this year, but I’ve got a good, solid core. We can bring it back again.”
Mark Stevens won at Catalina Foothills 10 years ago. He led the Tanque Verde Hawks to another tonight. pic.twitter.com/aLvESepq32
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) May 12, 2026
The school now has two state titles after the Hawks’ boys swimming team won the Division III championship in November 2025.
Tanque Verde took control of the game in the fourth inning, taking a 7-0 lead after rallying for six runs off four errors by Yuma Catholic (27-6-1), two hits and a hit batter.
“We fell apart there and panicked,” Yuma Catholic coach Jarred Lackey told AZPreps365. “We lost our composure. We won our last game because of our composure. I didn’t have them ready to play so the composure was not there, and it snowballed. Six runs in an inning – it is hard to bounce back against a pitcher dealing like that.”
Sophomores Mikaela Jackson and Ella Haggard each had an RBI single as part of Tanque Verde’s six-run rally in the fourth inning.
Jackson, who had 22 home runs this season, also had two doubles in the game.
Haggard’s RBI double in the fifth inning increased the lead to 8-0.
A pair of RBI singles by sophomore Remi Johnson and senior Sara Hoagland in the sixth gave the Hawks enough runs for the mercy rule.
Achilles closed the game in the bottom of the sixth with three strikeouts.
“I think coming in today, on the bus ride, we were really focused,” Achilles said. “We watched film. I watched film specifically on the batters. We were prepared and our coaches did that.”
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