Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Arizona players Kiki Escobar, left, and Regan Shockey celebrate after both scored on the same play during a 4-3 win over Central Florida on Thursday, May 8 in Oklahoma City. (Courtesy Arizona Wildcats Athletics)
Posted
Independent Newsmedia
Three Arizona schools start their journey to lift the 2025 Women’s College World Series trophy on Friday.
Arizona State, Arizona and Grand Canyon each play their first games in the NCAA softball tournament on Friday.
Arizona, ranked 13th in the nation, and GCU are in the same four-team, double-elimination regional bracket. The Wildcats will have home-field advantage in the regional, as it is hosted by Arizona’s Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson.
Arizona starts by playing Santa Clara (California) while GCU plays Mississippi. The winners of the two games will face each other on Saturday. The Friday losers will also play on Saturday, facing elimination from the tournament.
ASU will play in Los Angeles Friday, in a regional hosted at UCLA’s home stadium. The Sun Devils face Sand Diego State on Friday with UC Santa Barbara and UCLA, ranked ninth in the nation, also in the bracket.
The 64-team tournament field will be whittled down to after the regionals. The 16 regional winners will be matched up one-on-one in a best-of-three series in the Super Regionals round. The eight winners there will advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City where the tournament transitions back into four-team double-elimination tournaments. The winners of those two tournaments advance to the finals, where they play a best-of-three series.
