Les Willsey
Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com
lwillsey@azpreps365.com

Division III softball preview

April 28, 2016 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365

Softball All Schools

Cibola dropped from Division II to Division III this year in softball and has proven during the 2016 regular season it may have too much for the rest of the D-III field.

The Raiders were the No. 8 seed in D-II last season, losing at state after earning a bye into the second round. This year Cibola has beaten five of 11 of the top teams in the power-rankings -- Catalina Foothills, Show Low, Apache Junction (2), Estrella Foothills and Bourgade.

Here's brief glance at a dozen of the top teams from the final power-rankings::

No. 1 Cibola -- The Raiders (29-1) are led by two pitchers -- junior Madison Sierra (17-1) and senior Nadia Hernandez (9-1). Neither are power pitchers but have earned run averages slightly above 1.00.  Leadoff hitter and senior Chandler Arviso she is a threat with her speed and power and is batting .410. Leading the infield at shortstop is Nicole Villa with a .575 average and team-high 40 RBI. Cibola's only loss is to D-II top five Arcadia -- 8-7 back in early March.

No. 2 Poston Butte -- The Broncos (24-4-1) have been solid in every phase. Offensively they are led by junior shortstop Megan Clark and senior second baseman Kaily Candell. Clark is hitting .456, scored 43 runs and knocked in 42 with four home runs. Candell hits leadoff and has scored 39 runs and walked 30 times. In the circle, sophomore Taylor Strupp is 9-3, 1.49 ERA  with 104 Ks in 80 innings. Freshman left-hander Lindsay Lopez is 10-1, 0.84 ERA and has 95 Ks in 67 innings. Lopez has excelled at the plate hitting .506 with 7 HR and 45 RBI. Young players lead the Broncos in a lineup with only three seniors.

No. 3 River Valley -- The Dust Devils (20-8) were eliminated in the second round last year after earning a first-round bye. They are playing well with 12 wins in their last 13 games heading to the final two regular-season contests. River Valley is not an offensive powerhouse. No regular is hitting .400 or better. Leading hitter is freshman Ryann Glenn (.369, 14 RBI) followed by junior Lauryn Nicander (.350, 16 RBI) and freshman Tianna Willams (.302, team-high 18 RBI). If River Valley is to go deepat state it must get pitching it has during the season from junior Regan Glenn. Glenn has 15 wins with a 1.65 ERA. She's tossed four shutouts an fanned 147 in 130 innings.
 
No. 4 Snowflake -- The Lobos (21-5-1) reached the quarterfinals last year as a No. 10 seed and want more this time. They head to state on a roll with a 12-game winning streak. Snowflake has a seasoned lineup that features seven hitters batting in the .400's with a power. The Lobos have hit 22 HRs as a team. Top run-producers among those .400 hitters are Mikayla Hall (31 RBi), Bailey Standerfer (3 HR, 27 RBi), Shaelee Hensley (5 HR, 25 RBI), Tori Flake (22 RBI) and Madi Butler (8 HR, 22 RBI). Flake does the bulk of the pitching and sports a 17-4 record, 1.16 ERA and 130 Ks in 115 innings.
 

No. 5 Payson -- The Longhorns (18-7-2) were D-III runners-up the last two seasons. They have hung in despite the loss of key returning seniors Anilese Hayes and Arissa Paulson. That duo combined to hit better than .450, 19 home runs and 100 RBI last season. Quite a loss. Arissa Paulson won 26 of Payson's 34 games. Picking up the pitching slack are Aubrie Paulson, younger sister of Arissa, and Kalea Smith. Paulson is 8-3 with a 1.33 ERA and Smith is 5-2 with a 3.50. Paulson is a strikeout pitcher with 138 Ks in 84 innings. Both are among Payson's leading hitters (Smith .413 and Paulson .359). Rebecca Bauer leads the team with a .436 average. Smith leads in RBI with 22 and Paulson in runs scored with 26.

No. 6 Catalina Foothills -- The Falcons (21-10) are glad to be away from D-II which is dominated by their Tucson brethern. CFH top player is sophomore pitcher Nic Conway, who has won 15 games with an ERA of 1.50. Conway has fanned 190 batters in 106 innings. She leads the team with a .461 average. Senior Marisa Garcia is another strong hitter (.402) and outstanding defender. They lead the Falcons with 22 and 21 RBI, respectively. CFH has played a brutal schedule, including 9 of the top 25 teams in Division III, 6 of the top 25 in D-II,  the top team in D-IV and the No. 6 team in division  The team has not lost consecutive games all season.

No. 7 Apache Junction -- The Prospectors (24-7) are having their best season since 2006. AJ was fourth in the Dobson/Westwood tournament and second to Cibola in the Gracie/Haught Payson Tournament. AJ's main strength has been the 1-2 combo of pitchers -- senior Kayla Pettis-Miller 13-4 (1.69 ERA, 148 Ks) and  sophomore Mikayla Gilgert (9-3, 1.85 ERA, 99 Ks). The Prospectors are aggressive at the plate and sport a number of good averages --  junior Alyx Ayers (.429, 4 HR, 34 RBI, 15 SB; senior Kendra Pettis-Miller (.490, 33 RBI); soph McKinley Kelley (.538,  20 SB); soph Denae Prehus (.337, 28 RBI); junior Breanna Conklin ( .402, 26 RBI) and Alyssa Padilla (.333, 20 RBI. Padilla missed last year with a torn ACL.

No. 8 Show Low -- The Cougars (15-8-1) have to prove they can beat high-ranked teams, something they haven't been able to do in the regular season. Show Low has losses to Snowflake (2), Cibola, Payson, River Valley, Winslow, Benson and Rio Rico. The first four are top contenders for the D-III title.
Top players are Tia Clark and Payge Kerr.

No. 9 Estrella Foothills --  The Wolves (17-13-1) advanced to the sweet 16 last year. Most of its losses this season have come against highly-ranked opponents in D-II and D-III. They defeated Payson early and dropped games to Cibola, River Valley, Snowflake and Apache Junction. Still, Estrella Foothills won its section. EFH has a young lineup, with only one senior seeing regular time. That's pitcher Megan Jesionowski, who sees nearly all the action in the circle and is batting .467 with 20 RBI. Other solid hitters in the Wolves' lineup are sophomore leadoff hitter Sonia Solis (.500), junior shortstop Briana Wilbur (.478, 18 RBI) and freshman catcher Khylee Ensley (.415, 12 RBI and an outstanding defender.  

No. 10 Douglas -- The Bulldogs (19-6) won a couple games the final week to continue their momentum into postseason. Douglas relies on pitcher Yessika Galaz and has been a very good hitting team with the likes of Yvette Soto, Crytal Munoz, Jasmin Murquia, Jenessa Salazar taking turns offensively on a given day.

No. 11 Bourgade Catholic -- The Eagles (20-8-1) last made a ruckus in 2012 when they won the D-III state title. Top players for coach JinHee Huff are senior Marisa Heinley, the best No. 9 hitter Huff has coached at the school. Heinley is batting .540 with 30 runs scored, 12 RBI and 12 extra-base hits. When Heinley gets on it brings up leadoff hitter Rachel Hammons (.690 avg) with 58 hits,47 RS and 19 RBI. Driving in runs are sophomore  Emme Macial  (.593 avg., 37 RBI), junior Crystal Stokes (.368 avg., 3 HR and 30 RBI and junior Briana Soltero (.411 avg., 37 RS and 26 RBI). Sophomore Mallory McDowell does the bulk of the pitching and has pitched better than her 4.45 ERA suggests.

No. 12 Mohave -- The Thunderbirds won 12 of their first 16 power-ranking games and the four losses were by a total of 8 runs to River Valley (2) and Show Low (1). Speed is the team's greatest asset on the bases and in the field. The offense is powered by Lillie Mueller (.537 avg, 6 HR, 28 RBI and 12 SB.) Also supplying average and speed is senior shortstop Maricella Gonzales (.437 avg., 38 RS and 26 SB). Sophomore outfielder Jordan Lakes has 5 HR and 27 RBI. Mohave has relied on two pitchers -- Kalani Reehill, who has thrown three shutouts and freshman Dae'zha Goodloe (3.47 ERA, two shutouts and a no-hitter). Goodloe has helped offensively with a .419 average and 20 RBI.