Windsor beats Holy Family to win Class 4A softball title

AURORA. It’s a tale as old as softball: When a pitcher records the final out of a championship game, she runs into the arms of her catcher. Jenna McGinnis fanned her 13th batter of the afternoon Saturday to secure the Wizards’ 6-2 win over Holy Family in the Class 4A championship game at Aurora Sports Park, then raced to join the celebration. For the program’s first state title in 20 years, she saved the longest embrace for the person she says has caught her throughout her softball journey, her mom. Tracy McGinnis held a cutout of her daughter as a 4-year-old, along with one of Jenna’s old mitts. She passed them off only when Jenna gave her the trophy to hold. ‘This is just the headline of, finally,’ Tracy said of her daughter, who’s been playing softball since she was 8. ‘It’s been a long time coming. She deserves this. She earned it every single pitch and earned every single bit of it.’

Jenna had come close to a title in each of the past two seasons with the Wizards, but she was in the circle both times they fell short in the 4A championship game. In last year’s championship, Holy Family flamethrower Emmaline Humphreysoutdueled her in a 7-4 loss. ‘She was not going to let anybody beat her today,’ her mom said. ‘It just wasn’t going to happen.’ In cold, dreary conditions, the Idaho State commit delivered another gem in a season full of them. McGinnis hadn’t allowed a run in her previous six October appearances and hadn’t surrendered a hit through three innings of the championship game. In the fourth, Bella Soto’s RBI flyout for the Tigers ended McGinnis’ scoreless streak at 24 innings, tying the game at 1-1.

She allowed one more run in the seventh before closing out the Wizards’ perfect season at 29-0. It was the first time a Class 4A or 5A softball team had gone undefeated since Legacy went 25-0 and won its fourth straight 5A title in 2010. ‘It just feels like a weight has been lifted,’ McGinnis said. ‘And it also just feels amazing. Every single person on the roster has put their best effort to get here.’

The Wizards took a two-run lead in the fourth and kept it. Elena Sagebiel drove in the go-ahead run with a single, and a few pitches later, Gabriella Wagner scored on a wild pitch. They added three more runs in the sixth to provide more than enough cushion. Wagner hit her third home run of the season, and Shannon Nielsen drove in a run with a double. ‘What separates this group from the past two seasons is just the mentality,’ Windsor head coach Haley Hanson said. ‘We’ve had incredible teams with great talent. But this year we just found all the pieces.’

The difference Saturday, as it had been all season, was in the circle. McGinnis was the ace of the state’s best one-two pitching punch in 2026. She finished 14-0 with a 0.81 ERA, while Nielsen finished 9-0 with a 0.56 ERA. ‘We have had tough seasons and tough losses since I’ve been here,’ McGinnis said. ‘But we learned how to deal with pressure situations by being in big games. We worked so hard. We just had to prove it today.’