It was a night of redemption for Bourgade Catholic and Winslow on Friday night at the Division III state softball tournament.

No. 5 Bourgade, ousted last year in the semifinals of the 2A tournament,  made a reservation for the title game this time with a 7-2 victory over top-seed Payson. No. 3 seed Winslow, beaten in last year's 3A championship game by Estrella Foothills, took out frustration from that loss by blanking the unbeaten and No. 2 seeded Wolves, 11-0, in a game shortened to five innings by the 10-run rule. Both games were played at Rose Mofford Softball Complex in Phoenix.

Bourgade (31-3-1) faces Winslow (26-5) Saturday at 7:30 p.m at Rose Mofford for the D-III championship. Payson fnished its season 28-4; Estrella Foothills a lofty 33-1. 

Bourgade again rode the left arm of senior pitcher Jackie Aguilar, who yielded three hits, struck out 14 and did not walk a batter for her third tournament victory. Aguilar, who celebrated her 18th birthday and was serenaded by Bourgade students with  Happy Birthday after the game, has fanned 46 batters in her three state games this year. Aguilar, as she often does, added some offense with a two-run single in a four-run, third-inning that put Payson in a hole it couldn't overcome. Not with the likes of Aguilar in the circle.

"She said she wanted a win and her (driver's) license today," Bourgade coach Jinhee Huff said of her birthday girl. "The whole team wanted it bad after last year."

Bourgade got plenty of help from Payson, a team that reached the semis with a near-miracle, seven-run rally  last weekend against Mingus in the quarterfinals. Bourgade managed just four hits off Payson pitcher Arianna Paulson, but the three walks Paulson issued and seven errors committed by the Longhorns spelled defeat.

An errant pickoff attempt of a runner at second  and the ball skipping past the center fielder in the first inning gave Bourgade a quick 1-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Victoria Ortiz had reached on a walk and stole second before the two errors.

Ortiz was shaken up in the fifth when she collided with left fielder Cadie Weisheit trying to flag down a pop-up. Weisheit made the catch, but Ortiz suffered a bruised right jaw and had to leave the game.

"The first thing she said when we got out there was did (Cadie) make the catch," Huff said. "The next thing was are you going to take me out?".

Aguilar's two-run single in the third followed a bases-loaded walk to Katie Minker. On Aguilar's hit the ball again got past the centerfielder allowing the runner on first to score as well to build the lead to 5-0.

Three more errors and another single by Aguilar in the sixth got  two runs back  that Bourgade surrendered in the bottom of the fifth. Payson's Payton Petersen drove in the only run of the inning and the other scored on an error.

As for Winslow's night of redemption, it came primarily from its offense. The Bulldogs battered Estrella Foothills ace Kasia Smith for 14 hits and all 11 runs. Designated player Jamie Bollin led the attack with four hits and five RBIs. Pitcher Kelley Pugh, getting her first work in the state tournament in the circle after Halle Hayes pitched the first two games, tossed five innings and allowed two hits, two walks and fanned four.

Winslow broke the game open in the third with three runs on four hits to improve its lead to 4-0. Jitter Hayes, Taylor Baca and Jamie Bollin had RBIs in the inning. The Bulldogs sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth and added six more runs on five hits. They got  RBI triples from Halle Hayes and Renee Bollin, a two-run double from Jamie Bollin and an RBI single from Megan Lymer. Besides Jamie Bollin's four hits, Halle Hayes had three hits and Baca finished with two.