Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

More than ever this spring, Willow Canyon senior softball star Mashayla “Mash” Beltran is living up to her nickname.

Her first two seasons typecast Beltran as a solid run producer. However, in her senior season she has been nothing short of a superstar.

Beltran finished the regular season with a .434 batting average, nine home runs, 10 doubles, 43 RBI a .512 on base percentage and .848 slugging percentage

.“The talent’s undeniable, but who would think she was going to hit 9 or 10 home runs. Her swing is so simple that it’s almost slump proof and she repeats it so well. She’s short to the ball and typically line drives the ball. This year she’s elevating it a little bit more. Normally she hit the ball hard enough to hit home runs, but typically that wasn’t her approach,” Willow Canyon coach Donnie Tizzano said.

Beltran was not earmarked as a prodigy early in her Wildcats career, partly because Tizzano was not there. He left following the 2014 season for a junior college coaching job in Minnesota.

When he returned in 2018 the coach said he was told in Beltran’s freshman year, numbers on that team were low so she stayed with the freshman mainly so they could play a season.

“That kind of brought me down a little bit,” Beltran said.

Tizzano actually was back in the Valley by 2017 but at that time, Tara Zimmerman was set to return for her second year as Willow Canyon coach, so Tizzano took the open Millennium job. Then the Wildcats coaching job opened up about two weeks before the start of the 2017 season and Janelle Pritts filled it.

Beltran said there was not much teaching going on in those first two years. Things started to turn when Tizzano returned for the 2017-18 school year.

There was more of an offseason program. Beltran made more of an impression on the new/old coach there than her 20 RBI for varsity in her sophomore year.

“I first met her when she walked in the weight room before her junior year. She was kind of short in stature but well put together, you could tell she worked out and was a strong kid,” Tizzano said.

Willow Canyon had its most successful season and Beltran (.453, 27 RBI, 1.178 OPS) was a big part of it. The Wildcats reached the final eight of 5A — aka playing at Rose Mofford — for the first time.

But Beltran said she could have done better, and upped her offseason preparation, both in the gym and on the field.

“Last year I kind of let myself go a little bit. This year I’ve been working a lot more,” Beltran said.

The team needed it, with six seniors graduating in 2018 and expected top returning hitters Carrigan and Mo Foster moving to Washington.

Beltran and fellow senior Draya Rhinehart needed to step up and lead this year’s kiddie corps, with as many as six freshmen regularly featuring in Willow Canyon’s lineup.

“I know we had a lot of seniors last year, but the players that came back contributed a lot,” Beltran said. “I like mentoring them, even sometimes yelling at them. I like the bond we have together.”

Tizzano said Rhinehart is more vocal and a bigger personality, but Beltran takes an equal role.

The coach said he has let them run with the leadership role, and that the two seniors have taken the reins and made sure everybody is on the same page. Tizzano said Beltran is almost like an older sister to the freshmen.

“I think she really enjoys this group of kids because she’s able to still be young. Her personality comes out with these kids and they really look up to her. They count on her and when she’s up to bat, that’s the kid we want in the box, her or Draya Rhinehart,” Tizzano said. “I think she thrives on that.”

Rhinehart leads the squad in average.But freshmen like Jaeden Murphy (.480, 17 doubles, 40 RBI), Tristen Turlington (.398, 14 doubles, 35 RBI) and Alannah Rogers (.462, 20 steals, 23 RBI) have more than held their own.

“My favorite thing has to be how well we’ve come together on the field, and how loose we play,” Beltran said.

Willow Canyon finished with a 22-8-1 record and 16-3 regular season record and took home its first region title.

The Wildcats earned the No. 9 seed and clobbered No. 24 Kellis 15-5 in the play-in round April 24. Willow Canyon plays at No. 8 Vail Cienega Tuesday.

Despite the stellar freshman class, Tizzano said none of that is possible without Beltran’s huge season.

Beyond the numbers, Tizzano said, her attitude galvanized the team. He said she does not “big time” anybody. She also plays well wherever the team needs her, be it catcher, second base, shortstop or center field.

“She’s one of the better catchers in the state. She's an above average defender at short and second base when we play her there. She’s above average playing in center field. She can hit in any spot in the order. She’s arguably our fastest kid. She can do everything and she’s just a great person. She’s very humble and it comes from her family. They’re very nice people,” Tizzano said.

She also is looking like a major steal for Ottawa Arizona. Spirit coach Lee Dobbins reached out to her at the end of her sophomore year.

Both Rhinehart and Beltran signed to play for Ottawa in the summer of 2017.

“I wanted to stay at home. If I were to leave, I would have been homesick,” Beltran said. “My parents are happy that I’m staying and they get to watch me play for another four years.”

Beltran said she wants to study biology.

“That’s going to be their best signing. I truly believe she will be an All American by the time her career is over at Ottawa,” Tizzano said.

Willow Canyon senior Mashayla Beltran gets a hit during a game earlier this season.