Ariana Sanchez pitching

Photo Courtesy of Shannon Aragon

Softball season ended this past weekend without a championship for Las Vegas, despite the best efforts of West Las Vegas and Robertson in the Class 3A state tournament. Both teams were eliminated from the double-elimination style tournament before reaching the final game, as they ran into the best the state has to offer. 

West Las Vegas, the Class 3A defending champions, were seen as one of the favorites to repeat this year. But last Thursday and Friday, their potent offense was unable to keep pace with the top two seeds in this year’s tournament, Dexter and Cobre. 

The Lady Dons and Lady Cardinals were two of the final four teams in the championship bracket heading into the first day of play at neutral site competition. But by the end of the day, both teams found themselves in the consolation bracket, forced to battle their way through several games to earn a spot in the championship game. 

WLV 7

Photo Courtesy of Shannon Aragon

Thursday morning, the teams were successful in their first consolation matchups, with West Las Vegas defeating St. Michael’s 9-3, and Robertson defeating Santa Fe Indian School 8-4. 

Those wins set up a matchup between the two crosstown rivals, for a spot in the final consolation matchup. 

Robertson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but they never crossed home plate again, as West Las Vegas freshman Malie Satete shut them down the rest of the way. And while Satete dominated inside the pitcher’s circle, she was even more impressive at the plate. 

She hit a pair of home runs, driving in six runs, and also walking in two other trips to the plate. But she was not alone in her offensive domination, as the team collected 12 hits and 13 runs altogether to eliminate the Lady Cardinals. 

The Lady Dons led 2-1 after the first inning and 9-1 after the second inning. They put the game away after five innings thanks to the mercy rule, advancing themselves to the final consolation game, with a spot in the championship on the line. 

In that game, West Las Vegas faced off against Dexter, and the fatigue of playing three games in one day became apparent, particularly with their pitching, as Satete had pitched every inning of the first two games. 

Against a highly talented offense in Dexter, Satete lacked her typically dominant arsenal of pitches, as she gave up nine hits and six runs across 4 ⅓ innings. Her dominance had masked a lack of reliable pitching depth on the Lady Dons for much of the year, but it was unable to be masked in the unrelenting format of the state tournament. 

West Las Vegas fell 10-3 against Dexter, finishing the season in third place in Class 3A. 

In the championship game, Cobre defeated Dexter 5-4 to earn the state championship.