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TEMPE -- It may be quite a while until the state of Arizona sees a team as resilient as the 2025 Coconino Panthers.

Facing a one-run deficit in extra innings, with the first softball state championship in school history on the line, the Panthers came away with their third walk-off victory in 11 days. Battling to extras against the No. 2-seeded Salpointe Catholic Lancers after seven scoreless innings, four of Coconino's seniors reached base to tie the game before junior Katelynn Yazzie ripped a one-out, game-winning single to right field as the top-seeded Panthers capped off a dominant season with a 2-1 victory in Saturday night’s 4A Conference state tournament championship game at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium.

Salpointe Catholic sent the top of its order to the plate as extra innings began and broke through for the first run of the game three batters into the eighth. A leadoff single by Sarah Camp and a bunt single by Leyani Cuesta put runners on the corners with no outs just seven pitches into the frame. Another bunt brought home Soli Ramos, who ran for Camp, but Coconino recorded two outs in the process as Molli Daley was thrown out at first and Ashlyn Swanson, running for Cuesta, was thrown out advancing to third.

As senior Kaitlyn Tso recorded her 11th strikeout of the game -- the final one of her Coconino career -- the Panthers� own top of the order wasted no time getting to work.

Senior Danica Kern opened the inning with a single to the left side on the first pitch. Senior Sophie Monsman moved Kern into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for a dramatic final four at-bats.

“We were right where we needed to be,� said Panthers manager Kimberly Dennis. “Danny’s up to bat -- how many times has that girl come through in that situation? -- and then Sophie coming through with a bunt. It started right there. And big kudos to Sophie. She struggled earlier in the game to try to get that done, and she got it done when it mattered.�

Stepping to the plate with a team-high 16 doubles and four home runs this season, Destiny Villas made a decision that Dennis credited solely to her senior catcher. Having reached twice on infield singles in the game, and recognizing the defense was still playing back given her season totals, Villas laid down a bunt back to the pitcher and reached first safely to put runners on the corners.

“Personally, I've been struggling with hard base hits,� Villas said. “Obviously they have done their film -- this is a state championship game -- but I think everyone knows that I am a power hitter, so it is very surprising when I do bunt. I saw they were playing me back for a hard ground ball, and I laid it down.�

With Tso proving to be the hero a week prior when she doubled to drive in two runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat Sahuarita, Salpointe Catholic didn’t give the senior a chance to repeat the feat. The Lancers intentionally walked Tso, loading the bases and pushing the game-winning run into scoring position -- which brought senior Aryanna Dominguez to the plate.

“It made me feel good, but also I was like, ‘You’re really going to walk me?’� Tso said, as her final career plate appearance came and went without even seeing a pitch. While the senior said she wanted another chance at a game-winning hit, she felt confident in her supporting cast after every batter in the lineup came up with a hit during Thursday’s semifinal against Poston Butte.

However, instead of a hit, Dominguez wore it for the second time in as many plate appearances. Facing a 1-1 count, the senior took a pitch off her left arm, with Kern stomping and jumping her way down the third-base line to score the tying run.

In the next at-bat, down 1-2 in the count, the right-handed Yazzie fouled a ball toward the opposite field near the first-base line. For Kern, now watching from the dugout, it was a sign of what was about to happen.

“All season she has been really good with RBIs,� Kern said of Yazzie. “Once I saw her foul it off and it was close to the line, I was like, ‘She’s going to do it, she’s going to hit it there again, she’s got it.� I had full confidence in her.�

On the very next pitch, Yazzie sent the ball to right field to score Villas and was swarmed by her teammates along the first-base line.

While the dramatics of Coconino’s victory came at the plate, once again it was Tso’s dominance in the circle that put the Panthers in position for a third walk-off win of the postseason.

Just six Lancers reached base through seven innings, with none advancing past second. Salpointe put two on in the top of the second, both coming with two outs via a walk and a dropped third strike, before Tso recorded another strikeout to end the inning. Camp doubled to left in the third but never advanced any farther as senior Mia Pozar tracked down a fly ball in right and Tso got Daley, a University of Arizona commit, to pop out to second base.

The final threat of regulation came in the fourth inning, with a leadoff single, sacrifice bunt and two-out walk putting two on base. However, Pozar tracked down another fly ball -- this one all the way into foul territory -- to end the inning. In total, Pozar recorded six of Coconino’s 21 outs on fly balls to right field.

“She had a great game, and last year she had an amazing catch in one of our later playoff games,� Dennis said. “She’s just a competitor, and it’s awesome because a couple years ago she wasn’t even an outfielder. She did what the team needed, much respect to her.�

It was Pozar’s catch in the fourth that began a stretch of nine consecutive outs for Tso in the circle, including four strikeouts. While the run ended with a two-out walk in the seventh, Tso ended the inning on a three-pitch strikeout.

In total, Tso struck out 11 batters through her eight innings of work with four hits and three walks issued. Offensively, Villas finished with three of Coconino's eight hits, followed by two for Kern and one apiece for Tso, Dominguez and Yazzie's game-winner.

Though Salpointe Catholic broke through with its two hits in the eighth, Dennis noted how Tso and the rest of the team’s seniors positioned Coconino for the state title in their final year as Panthers.

“She’s our rock, along with those five seniors with her,� Dennis said. “Destiny’s really brought her to a higher level this year as well. Obviously she came in very talented, and it’s been nice to see her mature through the years, really pitching for her teammates and trusting her team.�

'It means a lot'

Now in her 15th year as manager of Coconino’s softball team after joining the school in the fall of 2010, Dennis reached the final four of the 4A Conference during her first season with the school in 2011 before helping lead the Panthers to their first state championship appearance since a runner-up result in 1989.

“It does mean a lot; I coach for the relationships with these girls and it’s not to win,� Dennis said. “Obviously we are competitive and we want to win, but it means so much with this group of girls, the group of coaches and the coaches I have had throughout the years as well.�

Even more impactful for Dennis, the resilience of the team has come as she has been without her assistant coach, and father, Bill Dennis.

“And this year, it means a lot because my dad, who has been one of our assistant coaches, is just fighting for his life right now,� Dennis said. “The girls have known that, it’s been a part of our year. Since April 1st, I’ve been up and down that mountain so many times. It just means a lot right now. He is such a rock of this program, a silent one, and the girls know those words of wisdom from Coach Bill, he gets them in one-on-one talks and helps them.�