Canyon View’s final home game of the 2024 season ended with a 7-3 victory, keeping the 26-3 Jaguars trending upward.

But the beginning of Tuesday’s game probably had their fans a little nervous. The lively bats they regularly see weren’t connecting at first.

Blame Campo Verde pitcher Addison Gavigan partly for that.

Campo Verde pitcher Addison GaviganIn the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings is when Canyon View’s lineup, which averages 12 runs a game, finally went to work. While its batters were figuring out Gavigan, Emily Davis, Canyon View’s second-year starting pitcher, kept Campo Verde’s bats in check, retiring 11 consecutive batters during an early stretch.

“I am able to handle the pressure better now,” Davis said.

Canyon View pitcher Emily DavisA Campo Verde (17-12) fifth inning blast by cleanup hitter Tamryn Tucker may have awaken Canyon View’s bats in a gamed knotted at one apiece.

Aided by a ball that went off the top of an outfielder’s glove while running, Canyon View immediately answered with four runs. Mariana Garcia and Ruby Laws-Albano hit back-to-back two out RBI doubles in the fifth.

In the sixth, leadoff hitter Rylen Buchberger and Meghan Sidell hit the rewind button, barreling two-out RBI doubles of their own to increase Canyon View’s lead, 7-1.

“I just realized I had to relax, let loose and rely on everything I have been working up to this moment and deliver,” said Sidell, the starting catcher.

Buchberger reached bases four times.

Just like Tucker, Campo Verde’s Kelsey Barlet made Davis pay for not hitting her spot, depositing a two-run homer over the left field fence in the seventh.

But just like after the fifth inning homer, Davis (15-1) immediately responded in the seventh, getting the final out to get her program one step closer to its fourth consecutive semifinal.

“We’ve raised a culture here of, I’m hoping, hard work,” Canyon View’s coach John Jacobs said. “We try not to get emotional about the game. We have emotions but don’t get emotional. We understand what the game is trying to give us and try to make adjustments based on that.”

Under the watchful eye of coach John Jacobs, Canyon View grew into a softball force. (Jose Garcia/azpreps365)

On Saturday, Canyon View, winner of its past 12 games, will play a team it lost to to open its 2024 season, Chaparral, with a semifinal berth at stake. 

Despite the loss, Campo Verde’s season remains alive in the double elimination portion of the tournament. It’ll host Marana Mountain View on Thursday.