Aztecs Softball falls to St. Johns River State College as 2026 season comes to a close

The Pima Community College softball team (48-10) played its final games of the 2026 season on Thursday at the NJCAA Division II World Series in Spartanburg, SC.
The Aztecs survived to play another game after beating Northwest Mississippi Community College in the morning game but fell to St. Johns River State (FL) in the evening matchup.

• Game 2: (6) St. Johns River State College Vikings 12, (8) Pima CC Aztecs 11: St Johns player Jenelle Cruz hit a walk-off RBI double to left field that got over freshman Kayla Hendrix (Canyon del Oro HS) and scored Gemma Fusco, who drew a lead-off walk in the previous at-bat. This is the second straight year the Vikings have eliminated the Aztecs from the World Series.
  The Aztecs trailed 11-4 but rallied in the 6^th and 7^th innings. Hendrix hit an RBI single to score freshman Isabel Mendoza (Cienega HS) as they took advantage of three errors by the Vikings to put the score at 11-9. Sophomore Amerika Lopez-Bedoy (Sunnyside HS), freshman Izabel Rodriguez (Sahuarita HS), sophomore Clarissa Figueroa (Mountain View HS) and pinch runner Aaliyah Pereda (Mountain View HS) all scored runs in the inning.
  Mendoza led off the 7^th inning with a walk. She scored when the short stop committed an error on the throw to first base. Lopez-Bedoy moved to third base on Hendrix's sacrifice bunt. Rodriguez tied the game at 11-11 with an RBI single to left field, driving in Lopez-Bedoy.
  The Vikings scored three runs in the 1^st inning, but the Aztecs countered with two in the top of the 2^nd. Freshman Angelina Dehler (Empire HS) hit a lead-off triple and freshman Soleil Ponce (Sunnyside HS) brought her in with an RBI single. Two batters later, Lopez-Bedoy hit a sacrifice-fly RBI to bring in Ponce to make it 3-2.
  The Aztecs rallied off a couple of runs in the 5^th inning when sophomore Jiselle Nunez (Tucson Magnet HS) hit her 15^th home run of the season, sending it over the left field fence and scoring Rodriguez. That put the score at 9-4.
  Nunez finished 1-for-5 with three RBIs and a run. Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs while Ponce and Dehler each finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Lopez-Bedoy was 1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs and Mendoza went 1-for-2 with two runs.
  Cruz finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored for St. Johns River.
  Sophomore Belen Camacho (Pueblo HS) took the loss as she pitched the final two innings, giving up three runs (three earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks on 50 pitches.
  "I'm so proud of this team. We showed a lot of grit this tournament, just like we've done throughout the year," Pima softball coach Rebekah Quiroz said. "We have numerous come-from-behind wins this year and I think we just ran out of luck. A lot of this level is having all that extra luck and we just ran out. We deserved to be here more than anybody."

PCC   0 2 0 0 2 5 2   11   10   3
SJR    3 2 3 1 2 0 1   12   14   5

L – Camacho (17-4). 2B: Lopez-Bedoy. 3B: Dehler. HR: Nunez.
 
Game 1: (8) Pima CC Aztecs 9, Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers 7 (Elimination Game): The Aztecs rallied from a 6-0 deficit to prolong their season in the first game of the day. It was the second straight year the Aztecs eliminated the Rangers from the World Series.
The Rangers scored three runs in each the 1^st and 2^nd innings to take an early advantage.
The Aztecs loaded the bases with one out after Lopez-Bedoy drew a walk in the 4^th inning. Hendrix hit a sacrifice-fly RBI to center field to score Dehler to put Pima on the scoreboard. Freshman Tayah Lyons came in as a pinch hitter and came through on a hit to center field to drive in Ponce and Lopez-Bedoy. Two batters later, Nunez drove a shot to left field to bring in Rodriguez as the Aztecs cut the deficit to 6-4.
The momentum continued in the 5^th inning. Mendoza hit a triple with one out and scored on Lopez-Bedoy's RBI single in the next at-bat. The Aztecs loaded the bases again as Nunez hit an opposite field RBI single to bring around Lopez-Bedoy and Rodriguez as Pima took the lead at 7-6. Lopez and Dehler followed with back-to-back RBI singles scoring Figueroa and Nunez respectively.
The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs in the 5^th inning, but Figueroa caught a liner and threw to first base to Ponce to get a double play. The next Ranger batter grounded out to end the inning.
Nunez finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run while Lopez-Bedoy was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. Lyons went 1-for-1 with two RBIs and Rodriguez closed out the game 1-for-4 with two runs. Dehler finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Mendoza went 2-for-3 with a run and Ponce was 2-for-4 with a run. Lopez finished 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Camacho got two strikeouts in the 7^th inning as she picked up the win in relief, pitching three innings, giving up one run (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts on 46 pitches. Sophomore Sariah Ferrentino (Sabino HS) was the first reliever out of the bullpen as she pitched two and one-third innings, giving up two hits with four strikeouts and two walks on 55 pitches.

NWMCC   3 3 0 0 0 1 0   7   11   2
PCC         0 0 0 4 5 0 x   9   12   0

W – Camacho (17-3). 3B: Mendoza.

The Aztecs claimed their third straight Region I Championship and also won the ACCAC Conference regular season title. They finished 48-10 overall (second highest win total in a season under Rebekah Quiroz) and 36-6 (most wins in ACCAC conference since 2017). The sophomore group of Julissa Lopez, Belen Camacho, Clarissa Figueroa, Sariah Ferrentino, Jiselle Nunez and Amerika Lopez-Bedoy closed out their Pima careers with an overall record of 101-19.