(Spartanburg, SC) 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. 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.
L – Camacho (17-4). 2B: Lopez-Bedoy. 3B: Dehler. HR: Nunez.
Game 2: (6) St. Johns River State College Vikings 12, (8) Pima 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 6th and 7th 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 7th 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 1st inning, but the Aztecs countered with two in the top of the 2nd. 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 5th inning when sophomore Jiselle Nunez (Tucson Magnet HS) hit her 15th 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.”
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.
