The dominant teams in big-school softball over the last five seasons met again Monday night  and a fast start paid dividends for the winner.

Red Mountain jumped out early offensively, played error-less defense and  got a well-pitched game from sophomore Bre Macha to win its third straight big-school title with a 5-2 victory over  Basha in the Division I final at ASU's Farrington Stadium.

The title was the fourth overall in softball for Red Mountain (35-3). Basha, which won back-to-back in 2008 and 2009, settled for second again with a final mark of 33-6.

A four-run outburst in the top of the first by Red Mountain was the difference. That lead was fashioned by the first four battersof the game and served as a relaxer for Macha, who for the second year in a row pitched the Mountain Lions' title clincher.

"That was the Red Mountain way," Red Mountain coach Rich Hamilton said. "We get the fast start with Haley (Culley) and Payton (Kornfeind) getting on in front of Siera (Phillips) and Jordan (Beck). Siera and Jordan came through with the big hits."

Phillips, who drove in four runs in last year's title-game win over Basha, delivered the first two off Basha ace Kailey Regester with a double that scored Culley and Kornfeind. Beck followed that with her team-leading 11th homer of the year.

From there, Regester was staunch. She allowed just two hits over the next six innings with the Mountain Lions scratching out their final run on Beck's third RBI on a groundout to first to plate Culley in the fifth. Regester walked one and fanned three in going the distance.

The downfall for Basha was the lack of key hits and two great defensive plays by Red Mountain freshman left fielder Alyssa Fernandez. Macha (and Regester) battled a tough strike zone all game and Macha had to dodge trouble in every inning but one. Basha left 11 runners on base and the only 1-2--3 inning for Macha was the second. Macha managed to lmit Basha to two runs despite six walks, six hits and a hit batter.

"Bre pitched a great game under tough conditions," Hamilton said. "That's all I'll say."

Fernandez saved two runs and perhaps three with two fine catches. The first came in the fourth wtih two out and runners on second and third. She dove to nab a low-liner off the bat of Courtney Hiruko to take away two runs. Earlier in the inning Basha's Teresa Asta had homered for Basha's first run.

Then in the fifth with a runner at first and no outs, she robbed Regester of extra bases catching a drive as she banged into the left field wall. Macha pitched out of the inning getting a fly out and strikeout to escape.

Macha's last jam came with a 5-1 lead in the seventh. A double, walk and hit batter loaded the bases with one out and brough the tying run to the plate in Hailee Siroky. Siroky looped  a ball to short right center that dropped,  but Phillips picked it up quickly and threw the runner out at second who had to hold up to see if the ball was caught. It was a big second out and the Mountain Lions gladly gave up a run on the result. Macha got the final out on a fly out to Phillips by Nicole Matta.

"I went out there loose, no nerves," Macha said. "Pitching in the game last year helped. Getting those runs early was big. It is for any pitcher."

Hailey Maher led Basha with three of its six hits. Phillips had the only mutliple-hit game for Red Mountain (2-for-4).

Red Mountain and Basha both scratched out tight victories in their previous two tournament wins to reach Monday's championship -- Red Mountain 2-1 over Horizon and 4-3 over Mountain Ridge and Basha 5-3 over Horizon and 7-6 over Mountain Ridge. They'd met only once this season prior to Monday, a meaningless consolation game that closed out the Desert Mountain Invitational in late March after they both lost semifinal games in the prestigious tourney.