(Sahuarita)

Sahuarita softball started clicking on April 14.

That’s when the players settled into their roles and coach Chris Fanning tabbed Gracie Mejia as his ace among his six pitchers. Mejia got her team to the 3A championship game, and reliever Paityn Arrington and the best lineup Fanning’s coached in 23 seasons took care of the rest Tuesday.

Sahuarita’s six-run sixth inning sparked the team to a 10-4 victory over Winslow at Arizona State’s Farrington Stadium. Arrington moved from right field to the circle in the fifth inning with two on and two outs and the game knotted 4-4 but immediately induced a ground out to get out of the inning.

The junior hadn’t pitched in a game in more than a month but didn’t show any rust. Arrington used her curveball to keep Winslow’s bats quiet, retiring nine of the 10 batters she faced.

Winslow, the No. 5 seed, finished the season with a 23-13 record. Winslow’s Maycee Ray Cunningham and starting pitcher Justine Butterfield went a combined 4 for 7.

“My team needed me,” Arrington said. “I knew it was just my time. Gracie got us here, and it was our time to have her back.”

After Arrington came in, Sahaurita’s bats went to work.

Sophomore Claudia Martinez, senior Yaseli Mariscal and Arrington, the bottom of the order, got on base to start the sixth inning, when six of 10 Sahuarita batters tallied hits.

Three of those hits were bloop singles, including an RBI hit by Hailey Tanori. The junior went 4 for 5 with three RBI’s and was a homer short of completing the cycle.

“My dad (Leonard) has always told me if I stay aggressive good things are going to come my way,” said Tanori, who entered the 3A final totting a .616 batting average.

(Paityn Arrington, left, and Hailey Tanori)

Sahuarita (30-9) won the tournament as the 11th seed and also had to win a play-in game to reach the tournament.

Fanning is in his 26th year at Sahaurita, his alma mater.

He took a three year break from coaching but returned during the current senior class’ freshmen season. On Tuesday, Fanning guided his program to its third title in its ninth championship appearance.

The first head coach in Sahuarita’s softball history has only missed the playoffs twice in 23 seasons and won his 500th game this season. Fanning’s brother, Steve, and Doyle Fleck have been his assistants for 20-plus seasons.

Seniors Aviana Alvarez, Cheyenne Fox, Areli Jones, Mariscal (2 for 4), and Liah Garcia played their final softball game for Fanning Tuesday.

“I can’t say enough about our seniors,” the coach said. “It’s been a joy to coach them and to see their growth and development. To culminate in a night like this is just incredible. We were a good team two, three and four years ago, but we put it all together this year. As you can see we finished it.”