Faith Lutheran blasts Green Valley, wins 5A Southern Region softball title

Faith Lutheran players celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran players celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Green Valley’s Aspyn Beattie (9) is safe at first base as Faith Lutheran’s Ava Mariani (18) looks to catch the throw in the 2nd inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran McKenna Young (19) throws a ball in from the fence against Green Valley in the 2nd inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran outfielder Sydney Schafer (9) fields a hit in the 2nd inning in a Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game against Green Valley at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran outfielder Sydney Schafer (9) fields a hit in the 2nd inning in a Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game against Green Valley at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran pitcher Ava Walker (2) throws against Green Valley in the first inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran Ava Walker (2) throws to home for an out against Green Valley in the 2nd inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Green Valley’s Gabrielle Machida (1) slides safely into second base as Faith Lutheran’s Shaylee Ghadery (16) and Savannah Moore (15) field the throw in the 2nd inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Green Valley pitcher Avari Morris (11) throws against Faith Lutheran in the fifth inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran’s Savannah Moore (15) and Emily Sholeff (6) celebrate a run in the 1st inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game against Green Valley at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran’s Shaylee Ghadery (16) fields a ground ball in the 3rd inning of a Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game against Green Valley at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Green Valley's Brianna Guerrero (2) connects in the 3rd inning in a Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game against Faith Lutheran at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran players watch a Green Valley fly ball fall into the gap that scored a run for the win in the 6th inning of their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran pitcher Ava Walker (2) throws against Green Valley in the 5th inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran’s Averi O (14) scores against Green Valley in the 4 inning in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran players, including Ava Walker (2), right and McKenna Young (19), celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran players celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran players celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Parents and friends of Faith Lutheran players take photos after their team beat Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Faith Lutheran pitcher Ava Walker, left, and catcher Jill Molnar, celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Green Valley players, including Faith Lutheran Ava Walker (2), left, and Emily Sholeff, celebrate beating Green Valley in their Class 5A Southern Region softball tournament championship game at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas Friday, May 13, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Getting production from the bottom of the lineup is seen as a bonus for many softball teams.
The way Faith Lutheran’s No. 9 hitter McKenna Young swung the bat in the Class 5A Southern Region tournament, it was only a surprise when she didn’t get a hit.
Young finished her tear through the tournament by going 3-for-3 with two doubles and six RBIs. The last of those came on a sacrifice fly that put the final run on the board in a 16-6 run-rule win over Green Valley in five innings that clinched the tournament championship Friday at Faith Lutheran.
”We consider our nine and one to both be leadoffs,” Faith Lutheran coach John Chilman said. “She was leadoff for the first month of the season, but it’s huge having her at the bottom of the lineup. In the tournament she’s hitting over .700, so she’s just seeing the ball so well.”
Young finished the tournament’s four games 10-for-12 with three doubles, a home run and 13 RBIs.
Both teams will play in next week’s state tournament, but Chilman said it was important for his team to beat the Gators.
Green Valley won both regular-season meetings to earn the Desert League championship, while Faith Lutheran finished second. But it was Faith Lutheran’s tournament, as it ran through with a 4-0 record.
“I think we were very confident from the beginning,” Young said. “And we just proved it as we made our way through the tournament.”
Green Valley fell into the loser’s bracket after dropping a 7-4 decision to Centennial on Wednesday in a game it led 4-0 entering the seventh inning. That forced the Gators to win two games Thursday to reach the championship round.
“It was big time for our girls (to win Thursday’s games), and to see that heart and fight out of them was incredible,” Green Valley coach Kathlyn Doiron said. “I wasn’t surprised by the fight they had, but it was really great to see.”
Shaylee Ghadery was 4-for-4 with a double and RBI and scored four times, and Averi O and Emily Sholeff had three hits and three RBIs apiece for the Crusaders, who pounded out 18 hits.
Young had a two-run double in the second inning that made it a 6-2 Faith Lutheran lead. After the Gators rallied with four runs in the top of the third to tie the game, Young put the Crusaders back on top for good with an RBI single.
She added a two-run double in the fourth before putting the finishing touch on the win. Hannah Watson was 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, while Aspyn Beattie was 2-for-3 and drove in two for Green Valley.
Ava Walker earned the win in the circle with a complete game. She allowed two earned runs on nine hits and struck out two.
Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.