Walk-off HR sends Palo Verde softball to 5A state tournament

Palo Verde softball catcher Halle Law took a swing on an 0-and-2 pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning in a tied Class 5A Southern Region winners bracket final against Arbor View.

The ball was just out of play in foul ground, giving Law another chance. The sophomore didn’t miss on the next pitch.

Law crushed the ball to left field, where it just cleared the fence for a walk-off home run.

“I was super stoked, super pumped,” Law said. “I wasn’t really expecting it to go out, but it did, so that was awesome.”

That gave the top-seeded Panthers a 5-4 win over No. 2 seed Arbor View on Wednesday at Durango.

With the win, Palo Verde (20-1), the defending 5A Southern Region and state champion, qualified for the state tournament, which begins May 14 at Faith Lutheran.

“It feels good,” Panthers coach Angel Council said. “As my first year as the head coach, they make it easy. It feels great to be in the same spot as we were last year and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Palo Verde (20-1) also advanced to the 5A Southern Region title game at 2 p.m. Friday at Durango. The Panthers have played all of their postseason home games at Durango because of renovations to its home field.

“It’s such a great feeling, and this team has worked so hard this season,” Law said. “I couldn’t be more glad to be apart of it. … It was a great team win. I wouldn’t have been in that moment if it wasn’t for my team, and I’m really grateful for them.”

The Aggies (25-8) fell to the losers bracket and will play either Shadow Ridge or Coronado at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in a losers bracket final at Arbor View to determine Palo Verde’s opponent Friday and the South’s second spot in the state tournament.

Shadow Ridge and Coronado will play at 2 p.m. Thursday in an earlier elimination game at Arbor View to determine the Aggies’ opponent.

On Wednesday, Arbor View’s Ava Henderson came into relief of Audrey Melton in the third after Palo Verde had scored three runs to go up 4-1.

Henderson ended the Panthers’ rally in the third by striking out the next three batters. She then retired the nine straight batters and did not allow a base runner until Law stepped to the plate in the seventh.

“I was looking for something on the outer half (of the plate), and I was just thinking I just need a base hit, get something started for my team so we can score a couple runs,” Law said. “But it worked in my favor. (The pitch) was on the outer half, and I felt it connect to my bat, which was a great feeling.”

Palo Verde got a gutsy performance from pitcher Ava Koenig, who has been dealing with a lingering injury for over the past month. The Boston University commit earned the win in three innings of relief and kept Arbor View quiet the final two innings.

Koenig came into relief in the fifth with the Panthers leading 4-2. She gave up five straight singles to lead off the inning, with RBIs from Peyton Williams and Madilyn Lowy, before retiring the bottom three batters of the Aggies’ lineup, keeping the game tied.

Koenig worked out of another jam in the sixth. With two runners on, she got Melton to ground out and struck out Williams to end the inning.

“She’s tough,” Council said of Koenig. “The other thing is we have other pitchers that can help her out, and I think that’s help her for the end of the game so she can come in and finish it out for us.”

Koenig had a two-run single in the third to highlight a three-run inning for Palo Verde to put the Panthers ahead 4-2, which brought Henderson into the game.

Alexis Kearnes and Kayleen Enriquez each had an RBI for the Panthers.

Lowy finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Malaya Tellis and Maliah Harrell each recorded RBI singles in the second inning to give Arbor View a 2-1 lead.