Superior, Empire take spots at the top
Phalicitee Thomas’ nickname isn’t exactly synonymous with being a power hitter.
But Thomas, affectionately known as “Pinky” to loved ones and friends, showed plenty of pop in her bat when the Superior center fielder slugged a two-run home run over the wall in leftcenter field in the sixth inning, the big hit in Superior’s 3-0 win over San Manuel for the Division IV state softball championship. Thomas broke open a well-pitched game with the home run, then stepped out of the dugout at ASU’s Farrington Stadium to point to her mother, Evelyn, cheering in the stands.
“It felt so good,” Thomas said, the smile never leaving her face. “I never really got nervous even when we stepped on the field. I saw (the) pitch down and outside.”
Superior (18-5) dethroned two-time defending state champion San Manuel, which finished its season 23-7. Superior got a complete game, four-hit shutout from pitcher Ivie Lopez, who ran into her most serious trouble in the bottom of the sixth when San Manuel loaded the bases with two out. Lopez walked two in the inning but got San Manuel’s Nicole Encinas to line out to shortstop to end the threat. Lopez struck out six and walked four.
“Once I saw it (the home run) go over, I knew ‘We got this,’” Lopez said. “We played them before and we knew what they were like.”
Superior scored in its first at-bats, with leadoff batter Jalisa Murray beating out an infield hit, taking second base on a ground out and scoring on Cierra Navarrette’s lined single up the middle.
Division III
Tucson Empire entered as the underdog in Monday’s game against Payson, the top seed in this season’s Division III softball bracket. It left as the champion. Sixth-seeded Empire scored six runs in the third inning and held on to win 6-3, toppling No. 1 Payson at Farrington Stadium in Tempe and winning the Division III state championship for the first softball title in program history.
This was Empire’s first appearance in the championship game after coming up just short several times in recent years.
“There’s always that doubt in your mind of, ‘Are we ever going to get over that hump?’” coach Shannon Woolridge said. “On Saturday, we won that close game against Nogales (a 3-2 victory in the semifinals) and it was like, ‘All right. We can do this.’ It’s just, … wow.”
Empire (30-5) was previously responsible for the only loss suffered this season by Payson (34-2), a 3-1 Empire win on March 7.
Payson starting pitcher Arissa Paulson doubled home a run in the bottom of the first to help her own cause, putting Payson up 1-0. She worked two scoreless innings in the circle but ran into trouble in the top of the third, which started with McKenzie Kirkland reaching first on a strikeout after the pitch got away from the Payson catcher.
The bad breaks continued for Payson two batters later, when a flare down the right-field line went off the glove of a diving Sadie Dunman, allowing Empire to score its first run of the game.
From there, Payson dug its own hole, committing two errors that helped five more Empire runs cross the plate before the inning ended with Empire leading 6-1.