2026 High School Softball

Salpointe beats Mica Mountain to earn ninth state championship

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Salpointe earned its seventh state title in the last nine years with its 4-2 win over Mica Mountain in the 4A championship game (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Mica Mountain’s nemesis Salpointe did it again to the Thunderbolts, this time in the 4A state title game.

The Lancers defeated Mica Mountain 4-2 on Monday night in the championship game at Hillenbrand Stadium for their seventh title in the last nine years, and ninth overall.

Salpointe (27-4) eliminated Mica Mountain the two previous seasons in the 4A semifinals.

Mica Mountain (29-5) was making its first appearance in a state championship game in its fifth year as a varsity program.

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Salpointe (27-4) has won nine state championships in 12 appearances.

The Lancers are moving to 5A next year, which is both good and bad news for Mica Mountain — the path to a 4A championship loses a major obstacle, but the Thunderbolts’ strength of schedule will not be the same without former 4A counterparts CDO and Salpointe.

The Lancers returned to being a champion after a run of six straight titles was snapped last year when Flagstaff Coconino pulled off the upset at Tempe.

Salpointe coach Tricia Sztan and her staff ordered shirts with the slogan #TakeItBack2026 on the back.

“From the beginning, the leadership on this team, they wanted to take it back,” said Sztan, who has led the Salpointe to four titles in her five years as head coach. “One step at a time, one team at a time, one breath at a time … they wanted everything back and they did it.”

Mica Mountain and first-year head coach Jim Martinez, a veteran club coach with the background of coaching in the prestigious Arizona Strom organization, can make something of the experience as a championship-contender newcomer in the fifth year of its varsity experience.

The Thunderbolts lose four-year starting pitcher Ace Heston, but a majority of their top players return. Of the 20 players on the roster, 16 are underclassmen.

“The girls back in November, when I got hired, getting my feet wet with them, and I tried to implement my club philosophies here,” Martinez said. “We did a lot of throwing. We did a lot of pushups. We did a lot of ab work and a lot of burpees. They bought in to it, very tough, competitive kids. They set a wonderful foundation.

“That was the talk after game, ‘It hurts really, really bad, but you use that hurt to make you better. Next year, when you come back to the game, you’re leaving with a trophy.'”

The Lancers’ three-run fifth inning, highlighted by an RBI single by Sarah Camp and RBI double by CC Moraga with two outs, put the Lancers ahead 4-2.

Alyssa Montano led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice but by Soli Ramos.

Catherine “Peaches” Sztan, daughter of the head coach, then hit an RBI single to center field that scored Montano and tied the game at 2.

An out later, Camp hit her single and Moraga the double to put Salpointe ahead 4-2.

“It was really like adrenaline, how I was felling, because I’ve never done something that cool in a state championship,” said Moraga, who is the daughter of former Arizona baseball player Omar Moraga and Pima softball player Selina Encinas.

“I was really excited. I was really hyped on the base.”

CC Moraga is headed to where her mom played, Pima, next season along with Camp and Ramos.

Texas State-bound Salpointe ace Macee Jackson (16-2) earned the win, allowing two hits and an earned run in seven innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.

Jackson earned the game’s MVP honors. She concluded her career 35-9 with a 0.81 ERA and 482 strikeouts with only 26 walks in 302 innings.

“This is awesome; this is my favorite stadium to play in because we always win. It’s such a great vibe here,” said Jackson, referencing Salpointe beating Phoenix Greenway when she was a freshman in 2023 and then CDO in 2024 at Hillenbrand.

“This team has worked incredibly hard … we always come together. It’s been amazing.”

Heston took the loss, striking out six without a walk in six innings. She allowed nine hits and three earned runs.

She was 23-5 this year, with three of the losses against Salpointe. She also came up short when Mica Mountain lost the 4A semifinal games against the Lancers in 2024 and 2025.

“They are a competitive team, a very old team,” Martinez said of Salpointe, where his daughter Krista won three state titles. “I believe they have nine seniors and we have nine freshmen. Our youth showed in a couple of plays in the game.

“But I do love the competitiveness, especially after the first time we played them (9-0 loss on April 14), and then back-to-back competitive games with them (2-0 loss in nine innings on April 16 and Monday’s loss). Always hurts when you lose the last one but hopefully it’s a building block going forward.”

Mica Mountain took a 2-0 lead after an RBI single by Heston in the second inning, and an RBI double by Peyton Knight in the third.

Salpointe cut the lead to 2-1 in the third following a three-base error after Ramos hit a single.

Jackson took over from there and Salpointe put together the game-turning three-run rally in the fifth with two of the runs crossing with two outs.

“I feel like because we start early in the year (in the weight room) with (strength coach) Carla Garrett (legendary Arizona Olympic distance thrower) — shout out to Carla Garrett, you’re the bomb — the culture in the weight room, it started then, where everybody felt like they were a piece of the team,” Tricia Sztan said.

“Everyone felt like they were a part immediately, so really it was the culture that was set. There was something special about them throughout the season, and it just kept growing.”

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