The Lady Bulldogs are on their way to the state championship following a busy week of softball. The Lady Bulldogs started their run at home on Tuesday, May 3, by hosting the Safford Lady Bulldogs. The game was packed with fans on a very windy afternoon with many foul balls at every at bat.
In the bottom of the first inning, Winslow would put up the first score of the game with bases loaded a pitch would hit the batter to walk in the first run. In the bottom of the third inning Winslow’s Brinleigh Arredondo on a double would score two RBI’s. This would be followed by a single by Alexis Smith with an RBI to give Winslow a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Andrea Guzman would hit a double and two RBI’s, giving Winslow 6-0 lead. In the top of the seventh with bases loaded and no outs Safford would score their only run making the final Winslow, 6 Safford, 1.
On Friday, May 6, the Lady Bulldogs faced the Bourgade Catholic Lady Golden Eagles in the quarterfinals at the Rose Mofford Complex in Phoenix. In top of the first inning, Lady Eagle Raina Navarro single would score a run. In the top of the second, the Lady Eagles with aggressive base running and singles with RBIs by Samantha Santillan, Olivia Durazo, Denise Martinez, and Alyssa Diaz would score five more runs giving the Eagles a 0-6 lead.
In the bottom of the third the Lady Bulldogs battled back starting with singles with RBIs by Brynlee Barris, Arredondo, Guzman and Sasha Medina, also Jaylynn Sharp who would score on an error to tie the ballgame at 6-6.
In the top of the fourth inning Eagle Navarro’s double would score an RBI then in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Lady Bulldog Kristara Tso’s double would tie the game and a single by Mykenzie Flores would bring in the winning run to give Winslow the 8 to 7 win over Bourgade Catholic.
On Saturday, May 7, the Lady Bulldogs faced the Lady Crusaders of Northwest Christian in the semifinals at the Rose Mofford Complex. In the bottom of the first inning, Lady Bulldog Brynlee Barris would hit a three-run homerun to give Winslow a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Lady Bulldog Mykenzie Flores would hit a single homerun to extend the lead to 4-0. Then the bottom of the third inning with two out, Lady Bulldog Guzman’s single would score two RBIs followed by a Smith single with an RBI. Then the top of the fourth inning, Lady Crusader Marcie Thomas would hit a single homerun. But then Lady Bulldogs held them in check when in the bottom of the fourth inning Lady Bulldog Mikell Branson’s double with an RBI to extend the lead to 8-1.
In the top of the fifth inning, Lady Crusader Sadie Wolfe’s single would score an RBI followed by a ground rule double by Thomas scoring two RBI’s, making the score Winslow, 8 Northwest Christian, 4. In the top of the seventh inning the Lady Crusaders would make a late run with an RBI single by Wolfe followed then by singles with RBI’s Thomas and Katherine Poe each. But it wasn’t enough to stop the Bulldogs, who took the 8-7 victory.
At 3 p.m. on Friday, May 13, the Winslow Lady Bulldogs will take on the No. 1 seed, Sabino Lady Sabercats at Farrington Softball Field at ASU in Tempe with the winner will be crowned the 3A State Champion.
