Goodwin’s dominant effort leads Desert Mountain to second straight 5A softball title

Scottsdale Desert Mountain sophomore Lilly Goodwin is regarded as one of the best softball players in Arizona, if not the outright best, and one of the sport’s rising prospects. So it was no surprise when she turned in a dominant performance on Monday evening at ASU's Farrington Stadium in the AIA 5A state championship game to help secure the school’s second straight title.

Goodwin was dominant on the mound and at the plate as she pitched a complete game, striking out 10, while also driving in two key RBIs on a two-out double in the bottom of the 5th inning to lead Desert Mountain to a 3-1 win over Waddell Canyon View.

But while Goodwin will go down with the win and runs batted in on the statistics sheet, it was savvy base running from junior Cyan De Luigi that first broke this game open.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, with the game in a deadlock as Goodwin was in the zone and Canyon View junior pitcher Emily Davis was mowing down opposing hitters, senior Bella Eynon hit a ground ball to third base and beat the throw to first. As that was happening, De Luigi seized the opportunity to head for home plate safely and give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.

It was reminiscent of what she did against Surprise Willow Canyon in 2023.

“It was huge,” Desert Mountain coach Chris Fredericks said. “She did that last year in the championship game too, she scored a big run like that. She’s a great base runner. Heads-up play. We always talk to our kids about seeing where the ball is, watching it, looking for bases ahead. We preach that stuff over and over.”

“Cyan’s a key base runner. Having her get on base, get in scoring position, and just be heads-up on Bella’s play, it was one of the smartest plays of the game,” Goodwin added.

The run sent a jolt into the Desert Mountain crowd, electrifying the stands as the stalemate was finally broken.

After a stand-up double from Canyon View senior Sadie Kirk drove in junior Brooklyn Theiler to tie the game in the next inning, Goodwin had her shining moment.

Goodwin is known for her prowess as a pitcher — she came into Monday with a 0.51 ERA and a 15-1 record — but recently Fredericks said she has been focusing on becoming a better hitter. That focus paid off when Goodwin came up with a huge double with two outs in the bottom of 5th, bringing in two runs to jump to a 3-1 lead. The Wolves never looked back from there.

With a raucous Canyon View crowd doing their best to rile up Goodwin, the 15-year-old remained calm and delivered when the pressure was built up the most.

“Lilly just does that — she’s built like that,” Fredericks said. “She comes out there and she’s the ultimate gamer. She gave up some hits — that team hit her really well. But our kids put a stop to it, she put a stop to it right away. Didn’t let them get two, three hits in a row where they were scoring runs. That was the biggest thing. She has prided herself on her hitting. Her batting average went up over .200 points this year. She loves to do that. She wants to prove people wrong.”

Is it too early to talk about a three-peat?

Fredericks doesn’t think so.

“I guarantee you that’s on their mind,” Fredericks said. “Our team is going to be really strong. This year, it was weird. There was pressure, but we didn’t talk, ‘Hey, we got to win a state championship again.’ We just talk about the process we take. And if we follow the process, being at practice, being good people, being great students of the game, then the process takes care of that. It paid off again this year. Last year our thing was “May 15th.” That was the day of the state championship game. That’s all we kept saying. And going through that process, then we reap the rewards.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Goodwin’s dominant effort propels Desert Mountain to second 5A title