Andrew Smith is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Dobson High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX - Allie Hanson led Dobson to a five-inning, 11-0 shutout victory on the mound Monday night in Phoenix.

First baseman Emrey Walker stepped up to the plate in the top of the first inning for Dobson with runners on second and third.

With a base hit ground ball to the Bruin baseman Khloe Peralta, Walker plated two with an RBI and another runner scoring on an error. 

Walker finished the night going 2 for 2 with a triple,well as two walks and two RBIs.

The Mustangs kept the scoring going throughout the game with only the second inning being the inning where they didn’t score a run. 

In the third, Nikole Tores scored the first run of the inning with a ground ball to the third baseman. 

Tores finished the game going 2 or 3 with a walk and three RBIs to lead the Mustangs.

Walker later scored in the inning off of a wild pitch from Browne pitcher Natalie Hurtado.

In the top of the fourth, Kiley Beard scored off of another wild pitch and was later followed up by catcher Lilly Flick.

Flick scored off of a Torres base hit to shortstop Mia Palacios Ortiz.

Flick went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored four times. 

Pitcher Allie Hanson had the other RBI in the inning with a ground ball back to the pitcher.

At the plate, Hanson went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs. She also walked once.

Hanson went five innings while striking out 10 Bruins. She also only allowed one hit with no runs given up.

Hanson outdueled her opposing pitcher in Hurtado.

Hurtado ended the night with five innings pitched, seven hits allowed, 12 runs given up with only five of them being earned. She also had six strikeouts and nine walks allowed. 

The Mustangs put the game in mercy territory with the top of the fifth with a four-run inning capped off with a Walker two-run triple, scoring Flick and Torres.

Browne tried to get the energy going by ending the top of the fifth with  double play where Tunisia Rios threw the ball home to Angelique Valenzuela, who tagged out the Dobson runner Hanson trying to extend the lead at home.

The Bruins didn’t end up scoring and the season ended on a pop out to Torres at third.

Dobson head coach Leticia Silvain said that she has seen the team improve most in execution.

“I really pushed bunting and being patient in the batter’s box,” Silvain said. “I think towards the end (of the season) we started doing a lot more of that.

Silvain also said her biggest reminder of the year for the ladies was to trust the process and they did.

“We started off strong and then it went away a little bit,” Silvain said. “In the end, we trusted what we learned in practicing and the girls came through.”

Browne head coach Stacey Flores said that even though it was a down year for the program, she saw a lot of growth from her sophomore heavy group.

“We only had two of nine returning starters and I lost one of them within the first week,” Flores said. 

Browne also had their own run injuries struggles,losing three girls due to injury. “The difference is the energy,” Rios said.

She said that they started off the year nervous but had growth and improvement throughout the entire season.

Valenzuela is already looking forward to next year and wants to push the girls day in and day out.

“I’m going to have higher expectations, no doubt, because I know these girls have played varsity ball and it’s just a matter of improving,” Valenuzuela said. “You can never beat experience.”