It’s been 26 years since the Warriors came out to play. Led by head coach Lisa Pina, Pueblo went 25-2 in 1990 to capture the 4A state championship. Then, nothing.  Frustration started to take over.

First-year head coach Curtis Ruiz inherited a team with only six wins and a whole lot of heartache but all that ended Monday night when Pueblo (26-6) defeated Camp Verde 5-0 to win the Division IV state championship held at Farrington Stadium on the ASU campus.

Camp Verde (30-6) came in with two state titles (1981 and 2009) and eight runner-up finishes to its name. Second year coach Henry Smith inherited a machine but 30 wins is an incredible accomplishment no matter what the circumstances.

“This has been a great year and my daughter Taya (Smith) has been wanting to win a state championship since she was eight or nine years old,” Smith said. “Hats off to Pueblo’s pitcher and whoever was calling the pitches. She was hitting her spots and it’s all about location, location, location,” he added.

The Warriors struck early with Ariana Ruiz leading the game off with a single that was misplayed, placing the sophomore outfielder at second base. Nickole Robles followed with an infield hit to move Ruiz to third but Smith (18-6) induced two infield flies to temporarily stall the Warriors.

But, with two outs, Robles took off for second and the throw to second allowed Ruiz to steal home.

Smith held Pueblo in check in the second inning and Robles (12-2) held the Cowboys to the minimum despite giving up a hit to Kayla Hackett in the bottom of the first and a walk to Paige Church in the second. Hackett was thrown out trying to extend her single into a double and Paige was doubled up on a bunt caught by Maritza Rubio,

Rubio led off the top of the third with an infield hit and Ruiz sacrificed her over to second. Robles had another infield hit to move Rubio to third where Sierra Gaskill brought her home on a ground-out RBI to give Pueblo a 2-0 lead.

Smith doubled to lead off the bottom of the third and Miranda Sharp was issued a walk but Robles got out of the jam with no runs.

Gastelum reached on a one-out single in the top of the fourth and she scored after Brianna Gamez put down a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away to give Pueblo a 3-0 lead. Vanessa Molina followed that with a towering double to center to score Gamez. The Warriors left two on but took a 4-0 lead on the Cowboys.

Gaskill led off the top of the fifth with a single then Alizea Corday hit the left field wall to score Gaskill and Pueblo took a 5-0 lead

Meanwhile, Robles shutdown twelve batters in a row and 14 of the last 15 to step up to the plate. The Cowboys came in to the game with 27 home runs and a collective .442 batting average but they were limited to two hits against Robles.

“I was getting stronger because I knew my teammates had my back,” Robles explained. “They have been there for me so I knew I could pitch my game. This is incredible because we weren’t very good when I was a freshman. Now look at us.”

Ruiz told his team before the game that they had to believe they belonged here. They believed. It may take another 26 years for this to happen again but it happened. As for Camp Verde, the Cowboys will be back.

 

Game photos available at MaxPreps.com