Behind another dominating performance from pitcher Saylor Bures, the Ganado Maidens softball team defeated the Bosqueville Bulldogs 5-2 to win the 2A-D1 softball State Championship.
Thanks to Bulldogs errors, the Maidens took an early lead and held on for the win.
Laci Holt opened the game, smashing the ball to the third baseman, who knocked the ball down, but as the ball rolled away, Holt grabbed the single. With one out, Kayln Benavides hit another ball to the third baseman, who fielded the ball cleanly but rushed the throw and fired it over the first baseman’s head and into foul territory allowing Holt to score and Benavides to move to second. After a groundout moved Benavides to third, Paisley Hajovsky hit a rocket to the left fielder. She barely had to move, but as she stuck her glove up to catch the ball, the ball flew right over her head, allowing Benavides to score.
Bosqueville also had a runner reach base via an error, but three quick outs ended the threat.
In the second, Avery Torres led off the inning with a single, however, the right fielder allowed the ball to go under her glove and Torres ended up at third. A couple of batters later, Holt hit the ball to the left fielder who fired a rocket to home to double off Torres, who was trying to score.
Bures struck out the side in the second, although Bosqueville got their first hit of the game.
Kyla Stancik opened the third by reaching on an error, and Benavides picked up a single. Raelynn Pena followed with a walk to load the bases. Hajovsky again crushed the ball to left field but this time the ball fell in and a run scored. Torres came through with a one out RBI single to plate the fifth Ganado run.
Be it nerves or not, Ganado now held a 5-0 lead, and Bosqueville had committed five errors. “It was a whole lot easier on us having already been here,” Saylor Bures explained. “We kind of knew what to expect.”
The Bulldog fifth inning began with a ground out, but a Maiden error and a single put two Bosqueville runners on. Bures got the second out on a fly out but Desi Torres made hard contact and she ended up at second, knocking in two runs for the Bulldogs. The following batter smashed a line drive, but it was right at Pena who snagged it and Ganado escaped the inning holding a 5-2 lead.
“I really wasn’t worried (when runners were on base) because I trust my teammates behind me,” Bures continued. “Getting those runs on the board early was a great stress relief on me.
Jordyn Bundick crushed a double in the top of the sixth but was left stranded and the Bulldogs went down in order.
Benavides led off the seventh inning getting drilled in the arm by a pitch. After a pop out, Hajovsky singled and the Maidens looked ready for a big inning, but the Bulldogs turned their second double play of the game and the game went to the bottom of the seventh.
After a strikeout and a fly out, Bures ended the game, and secured the MVP when she struck out the final hitter of the game to keep the state crown in Ganado.
Last year, Ganado defeated Riesel 5-4 to win their first softball State championship.
Torres, a senior, joined Hajovsky with two hits in the championship game.
“It is surreal (to get two hits in the State championship),” Torres said. After being a parttime player as a junior, Torres earned a starting role this year. “It feels great to play a bigger part this year. The nerves were definitely higher than they were last year because I got to do more for the team this year, but it was a great experience.”
Ganado finished the year with a 34-2-1 record, setting a school record for wins and fewest losses in a season. Last year the Maidens went 33-5-1.
She was a really good pitcher, but we’ve faced a lot of really good pitching so we were ready for it.
Ganado 5 - Bosqueville 2 Hajovsky 2 hits, 2 RBIs; Torres 2 hits, 1 RBI; Holt 1 hit, 1 steal; Benavides 1 hit; Bundick 1 double; Rhylee Green 1 steal; S. Bures 7 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 earned runs, 11 strikeouts.
