Pima Community College sports

Pima softball wins third consecutive Region I, Championship behind Adriana Machado’s complete shutout game

Posted on
Share
Pima softball after their 1-0 victory over South Mountain to earn the Region l, Division ll Championship (Lori Burkhart/AllSportsTucson.com)

After Isabel Mendoza’s RBI single to walk-off South Mountain in the 9th inning on Friday night, Pima went into Championship Saturday needing just one win over a familiar opponent, South Mountain, to secure the Region l, Division ll Championship.

South Mountain, who beat Phoenix College on Friday night to advance, needed two wins over Pima to secure a championship.

In the first game, South Mountain not only accepted the challenge, they executed the plan beating Pima 9-1 and handing the Aztecs their first mercy rule loss of the season setting up a winner-take-all game two for the title.

After losing by mercy rule, the Aztecs(47-8) could have hung their heads and let the outcome of the first game affect the moral in the second game.

That isn’t the way this Pima team is built. Instead, the Aztecs came out with renewed determination.

Pima coach Rebekah Quiroz on what she said to her team after their game one mercy rule loss, “I don’t say much to this team because they are very resilient and very self sufficient so our talks are very small.”

“We have such good leadership in this sophomore class that I really don’t have to say much.”

In the second game, South Mountain’s Sadie Su’a and Pima’s Adriana Machado had a true pitchers duel going until the bottom of the sixth inning when freshman Izabel Rodriguez hit an RBI single to right field that scored fellow freshman Soleil Ponce.

Freshman ace Machado, out of Canyon del Oro High School, shut down the Cougars in the seventh to give Pima the 1-0 win and the championship.

“I definitely had the chills for those last three outs but I knew my team was going to make ’em for me and it’s basically just a team effort at this point.” Machado said.

Freshman pitcher Adriana Machado with laser focus during the Pima Aztecs’ 1-0 win over South Mountain to take the Region l, Division ll Championship (Stephanie van Latum/AllSportsTucson.com)

Machado pitched seven innings, struck out three, had one walk and five hits on 88 pitches. It was her second complete shutout game in the Region l Playoffs earning her the Region l, Division ll Tournament Most Valuable Player award.

“Sometimes those losses you take big punches and those are good for us, right. I’m just so proud of this team they are so resilient.” Quiroz said.

On earning the Most Valuable Player award Machado reflected, “That’s an amazing opportunity to get as a freshman. I didn’t think I was gonna get this much pitching time and being able to pitch in this championship game.”

This is the third consecutive time the Aztecs have won the Region l Championship, the first in 2024 when the Aztecs were in Division l and the last two years after they moved up to Division ll.

Next up:

Pima is headed to Spartanburg, SC for the NJCAA Division II National Tournament that begins on May 19.

Southern Arizona talent shines at Pima

Coach Quiroz played high school softball at Flowing Wells and played one year at Pima before transferring to the University of Arizona. As the head coach of the Aztecs she successfully puts together winning teams year after year by recruiting local talent.

18 out of 21 players on the Pima softball roster are from Southern Arizona.

Canyon del Oro

  • Freshman outfielder, Kayla Hendrix
  • Freshman right-hand pitcher/infielder, Adriana Machado
  • Freshman right-hand pitcher/outfielder, Brooklyn Machado

Empire

  • Freshman outfielder, Emylie Alkire
  • Freshman catcher/outfielder, Angelina Dehler

Sabino

  • Freshman outfielder, Alyssa Aguirre
  • Sophomore right-hand pitcher, Sariah Ferrentino

Tucson Magnet

  • Sophomore outfielder, Julissa Lopez
  • Sophomore infielder, Jiselle Nunez

Sunnyside

  • Freshman catcher/outfielder, Sweet Urrutia
  • Freshman infielder, Soleil Ponce
  • Sophomore catcher, Amerika Lopez-Bedoy
  • Freshman infielder, Mia Lopez-Vasquez

Mountain View

  • Sophomore infielder, Clarissa Figueroa
  • Freshman catcher/outfielder, Aaliyah Pereda

Cienega

Freshman outfielder/infielder, Isabel Mendoza

Sahuarita

Freshman outfielder, Izabel Rodriguez

Pueblo

Sophomore right-hand pitcher, Belen Camacho

Freshman infielders Tayah Lyons and Kalia De Mello are from Hawaii.

Sophomore infielder J’Kaia Graves is from Shadow Ridge High School in Surprise.

Social Media Roundup

print
Related Items:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Recommended for you

Comments
To Top