For Red Mountain to repeat as 5A-I softball champs Friday, coach Rich Hamilton needed a strong performance from freshman pitcher Breanna Macha and better-than-normal defense.

He got both plus a big night from junior Siera Phillips with the bat.

With offense supplying enough punch and those other facets in tow, Red Mountain made it back-to-back titles with a 5-4 victory over Basha at the Rose Mofford Softball Complex.

Red Mountan's offense is comprised of Rabbits and Rhinos and on this night it was a tweener that made the difference.

Phillips drove in four runs with a bases-loaded triple and and a ground out in the fifth inning that proved to be the winning run. Phillips categorized herself after the game and spoke about her triple.

"I'm both," Phillips said of her Rabbit-Rhino designation. "I was looking for an inside pitch (fourth inning) and wanted to hit it hard. I expected that pitch."

Hamilton also chimed in on Phillips and the type hitter she is.

"She's a rabbit with a little bit of power," Hamiton said with a smile. "That was a huge hit."

Phillips big hit erased a 3-0 lead Basha fashioned in the top of the second in the only inning it really solved Red Mountain freshman Breanna Macha. In the top of the second Basha collected five of its nine hits and all of them were blistered. The key hit of the inning was a two-run homer by Brittany Medina.

After Phillips triple tied the game, Bri Gonzalez knocked in Phillips with a ground out to second. That put Red Mountain ahead to stay, 4-3

Red Mountain, which usually leaves double-digit runners on base in a game, left just four on the bases Friday.

"That had to be a season low," Hamilton said. "When we had chances to score tonight we did. What I really liked was our defense. We made two errors, but they didn't hurt us. Against a good hitting team like Basha, I'll take two errors. Ashley Sunderhaus made some great plays at third and so did Marisa (Mayes) at second. Breanna settled down  after that one inning and pitched great."

Basha tried to come back in its final at-bat, trailing 5-3. A two-out double by Kylie Shull pulled the Bears withing 5-4. That brought up Medina, who worked the count to 2-2 and fouled off a couple of two-strike pitches. Macha struck her out swinging to end the game.

"We didn't hit enough, stopped hitting,"  Basha coach Scott Hoffmeyer said. "We thought seven runs was going to have to be scored to win. I think we got happy when it was 3-0.  We thought the game was over.

"We made a nice run (after a 7-10 start). It just wasn't quite good enough."

The title was the third overall for Red Mountain (31-8) with the first of the trio coming in 2006. Basha (24-13) was denied its third title after winning championships in its first two appearances in 2008 and 2009. Red Mountain and Basha have won five of the last six 5A-I titles.