Shadow Hills softball secures back-to-back DEL crowns with tense win at La Quinta

First-year coach Sergio Maduena had a simple message for his Shadow Hills softball team before their crucial road clash with La Quinta on Tuesday night.

"Everyone knows what it takes to win a game like this. Let's be the team that does what it takes," he told them.

Well, coach, they knew and they did.

The Knights played stellar defense, capitalized on their scoring chances, got a great pitching performance from their ace, and some big at-bats from their star, to earn an entertaining 3-1 win over the Blackhawks in front of around 400 fans at La Quinta.

The win clinches a second straight DEL title for the Knights as both teams entered the game with one league loss having split two games against each other. Shadow Hills will clinch an outright title with a win against Rancho Mirage on Wednesday.

"I'm really excited, so hyped right now," said the Knights' senior catcher Nevaeh Walls, who was the hitting hero in this one. "This is my senior year, DEL champs back to back, this team just keeps lifting each other up. This feels a-mazing."

With La Quinta's Abbygail Varela and Shadow Hills' Ava Valenzuela on the mound, it was clear runs would be hard to come by and the game would likely go to the team that took advantage of its chances.

After two and a half scoreless innings, La Quinta had a golden scoring chance in the third. Speedy leadoff hitter Victoria Guzman led off with a single and zipped all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by Makayla Moroles with one out.

With Jenna Bell at the plate, La Quinta tried a suicide squeeze. It's called that for a reason, as Shadow Hills third baseman Jiselle Morales ran in from third and caught a decent bunt attempt by Bell before it hit the ground. All she had to do then was turn and toss it to third for the double play to end the inning and the scoring chance for La Quinta.

That was a pivotal moment in the game, because the Knights rode that momentum, scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Walls led off with a single and was pinch run for. The next batter, Gianna Hernandez hit a swinging bunt and on the play at first, Hernandez, the ball and the first baseman all got there at the same time and the ball bounced away allowing the pinch-runner to get to third. Valeria Balbuena followed with a ground ball up the middle that was collected by the infield for an out at second base, but the runner from third scored the first run of the game.

In the fifth, Annabelle Alvarez ripped a liner down the left-field line and past a diving outfielder for a leadoff triple. With one out. Amariz Rodriguez hit a long sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Alvarez to make it 2-0.

In the sixth inning, it was Walls' moment. You need your best players to rise up and play their best in the biggest games and Walls did that. She launched a 3-2 pitch over the fence to dead center field, much to the delight of her dugout a large contingent of Shadow Hills fans who made the trip.

"That felt incredible to do that in this game against our rival school. We were already hyped and that got us even more hyped," Walls said. "I knew it right when I hit. A great feeling."

The Blackhawks, perennially near the top of the standings didn't go down without a fight. A one-out single by Valeria Balbuena started a rally, and with two outs, Amiah Garcia reached on an errant throw to first base that allowed Balbuena to score from second base. But Valenzuela got out of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Valenzuela induced pop-ups on her first two pitches. Then after a single by Moroles, she got the final batter to hit a foul pop to third base.

When the ball nestled into Jiselle Morales' glove, the Knights stormed out of the dugout for a celebratory jampile of jumps and hugs and high-fives and smiles.

"I'm so excited, I don't how else to explain it, just so much adrenaline," said Valenzuela after getting the complete game win. "Definitely nervous at the end there because it's like your job to shut it down there at the end. My team had my back all night."

Walls was the hitting hero on the night. She had two singles and the home run to lead the Knights, recording three of the team's six hits.

Valenzuela finished with three strikeouts and yielded seven hits, all singles, but always came up with the big pitch when she needed to.

For the Blackhawks, Varela, who shut out the Knights in a 5-0 win in April, pitched well again, striking out six. Guzman had two singles, a walk and a stolen base. Moroles had two singles and a steal.

The Knights had never won a DEL title before last year, and to go back-to-back meant a lot to this team.

"La Qunta is a great team over there, but I'm so proud of this team," Maduena said. "Being able to compose ourselves and stay through the whole game. I mean, we're a great team they're a great team, those little breaks can go either way and today it was our day."

This was the third meeting of the year between the two DEL juggernauts. La Quinta won the first game 5-0 and Shadow Hills won three days later 4-3 to set up Tuesday's de facto title game.

The Knights (13-1 in the DEL) host Rancho Mirage on Wednesday. La Quinta (13-2 in the DEL) will get ready for the playoffs.

Both teams will be in the CIF-SS postseason and they will learn what division they are in and who their first opponent is when the brackets are released Monday.

Shad Powers is a sports columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Shadow Hills softball tops La Quinta for big win, DEL title