Ava Koenig’s pitching performance Saturday was no illusion, but the Palo Verde junior did have to do a little escape work in the seventh inning.
Koenig worked around an error and stranded the potential tying run at second to complete a three-hitter as the Panthers edged visiting Centennial 1-0 for the Class 5A Southern Region softball title.
“She’s like a magician sometimes with some of the things that we get put in and the way she works out of them,” Palo Verde coach Kelly Glass said. “It’s fun and it’s magic, and she deserves it.”
Both teams advance to next week’s state tournament at UNR. Centennial (18-13), the No. 2 seed from the Mountain League, will face Northern champion Spanish Springs at 1 p.m. Thursday, and Mountain champion Palo Verde (22-0) will follow against Reed at 3:30 p.m.
Koenig, making her fourth appearance of the region tournament, walked two and struck out nine.
“It’s amazing,” Koenig said. “The team worked really hard to get that run across. A really good game. Centennial played really well. So it feels amazing, and we’re super excited to go compete at state.”
Palo Verde finally scratched across a run in the bottom of the sixth, but without the benefit of a big hit. In fact, it was a pair of great reads by freshman pinch runner Keileanna Johnson that led to the score.
Alexis Kearnes walked to lead off the inning. Paige Brandes tried to sacrifice her to second, but Centennial first baseman Hailey Smith charged hard and snagged the bunt in the air. She tried to double Kearnes off first, but her throw was high, allowing Kearnes to advance to second.
Johnson came in to run for Kearnes, and Koenig reached on a bizarre infield single when her pop-up fell between the pitcher and shortstop to put runners at first and second.
Johnson got a great jump when Centennial catcher Amanda Campos-Colon dropped a pitch, advancing to third with one out. Johnson got another good jump on a pitch in the dirt that scooted to the backstop, and her headfirst slide beat the throw to the plate for the game’s only run.
“It’s something we talk about in practice and try to incorporate as much as we can when we do live situations during practice,” Glass said of getting those reads on pitches in the dirt. “It’s something we’re constantly wanting them to do, and Kiki is one of the best at it, so there’s a good person to put in that situation.”
Bulldogs pitcher Sloane Merrell struck out Makayla Enriquez to end the inning and stand two runners in scoring position.
“It was really awesome,” Koenig said of Johnson’s run. “The energy was so high that it just really carried into the next inning.”
Centennial’s Madden Turner lined a single to left to start the seventh, and she was forced at second on Campos-Colon’s grounder to third. After Sydnee Smith reached on an error, Koenig struck out Leeah Ibarra and got Valeria Lopez to ground out to third to end the game.
“It’s pretty hot out here,” Koenig said. “I was running out of gas a little bit, but the adrenaline was pumping.”
Palo Verde’s best scoring opportunity came in the second when the Panthers loaded the bases with no outs. But Merrell induced a ground ball to second from Ava Cruz, and the Bulldogs got the force out at the plate for the first out. Makayla Enriquez then popped up to Merrell for the second out, and Kayleen Enriquez struck out looking to end the inning.
Merrell went the distance, allowing just three hits. She struck out seven, but struggled with her control, walking six.
Now Palo Verde will try to finish off an undefeated season with a state championship.
“They worked very hard all season every moment, every practice, every team meeting we have, every ground ball they take, every pop fly,” Glass said. “And they’ve worked so hard as a team. This is such a good capital ‘T’ team, and one of the most fun that I’ve ever been able to step on the field with.”
