Walk-off leads to Valley Championship

FRESNO — With one trip around the bases, a run through a stop sign and a headfirst dive into the plate, the Madera Coyotes softball team seized its second straight Div. II Valley Championship with a 4-3, eight-inning win Friday over the Monache-Porterville Marauders.

Madera’s Aaliyah Cuevas lined a ball down the right-field line. The ball ricocheted off the foul pole and the Monache right fielder had trouble picking up the ball cleanly.

Cuevas raced around second and ran though head coach Judy Shaubah’s stop sign around third. When Shaubach whipped her head around, she saw Cuevas sliding head first into home plate to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, igniting a team dogpile at the plate.

“When you win in the bottom of an inning, it’s great,” said Shaubach, who won her third Valley Championship after winning in 1989 and again in 2015. “I can forgive running through a stop sign to win a Valley Championship. She saw something I didn’t see and she had enough speed to catch the defense and avoid the tag.” ...