SAN MANUEL DEFIES LOGIC, WINS TITLE

It doesn’t make any sense, San Manuel winning the Division IV state softball championship Saturday. Sure, San Manuel was the No. 2 seed, so it wasn’t as if a long postseason run was entirely a surprise . Still, the Miners had one senior and five freshmen among the 12 players on their roster. San Manuel’s starting pitcher, Lyana Waddell, is a freshman. Its best hitter, Felicia Medina, is a sophomore. Then there’s the fact San Manuel, a public school from a small town located about 45 miles northeast of Tucson, was facing No. 1 seed Phoenix Northwest Christian, a private school with resources San Manuel can only dream of.

But just past 7 p.m, when the unexpected looked like it might give way to reason, Waddell picked up a ground ball, fumbled it but collected herself long enough to throw it to first for the third out and a 5-4 victory, giving San Manuel its first softball state title since 1994.

“It’s been a long time,” said coach Deanne Brewer. Brewer didn’t expect the drought to end this season. Not with five freshmen putting on the uniform.

“When we started off, I thought we had such a young team it was going to be a rebuilding year,” she said. “But you can’t beat heart with talent.”

San Manuel certainly was the underdog — despite its No. 2 seed — in the title game. Waddell had 19 wins but a 5.10 ERA. Northwest Christian ace Elizabeth Bostwick, conversely, was 26-4 with a 2.51 ERA. And when Northwest Christian scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead — after Waddell got the first two outs of the inning on two pitches — it looked like San Manuel’s season would end in disappointment.

Brewer turned the bill of her cap up — her version of the rally cap — and told her team they had done it once, they could do it again.

Two walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs. Sophomore Alyssa Cuellar was up. While Northwest Christian coach Fred Haeger went out to the mound to talk to Bostwick, Brewer and Cuellar met along the third base line.

“She’s had a rough go of it the last couple of days (hitting),” Brewer said. “I told her to be disciplined and look for her pitch. Don’t swing at anything that’s not that pitch.”

Cuellar did exactly that. Despite a pounding heart —“I was really nervous. I was scared,” — she coaxed the game-tying walk from Bostwick. Then, the game really got crazy. Felicia Medina followed with a two-run double to make it 4-2. MacKenzie Vindiola singled, and it was 5-2.

A three-run lead in softball heading into the bottom of the seventh? Call it a night. Except … Northwest Christian scored two runs, and with two outs there stood Waddell, braces covering her teeth, a freshman somehow trying to end the biggest game of her life.

“She might get ruffled for a second, but she keeps her composure,” Brewer said.

The ground ball came. Waddell didn’t field it cleanly but had time to throw out the runner.