Canby junior pitcher Allison Hayzlett led her team to a 1-0 win over Wilsonville at Canby High School on Thursday, May 22. (Miles Vance)

The Cougars got it done.

The Canby softball team split its regular-season ending series with Wilsonville on Thursday and Friday, May 22-23, and in the process, won its first league championship in 14 years.

The fifth-ranked Cougars edged the Wildcats 1-0 on Thursday at Canby High School to wrap up the 2025 Northwest Oregon Conference championship.

“I think they’re realizing how good they really are,” Canby coach Emily Conklin said earlier this season. “I see the confidence. But to me, they’re still very humble. Our big thing is not taking anything for granted. We don’t come into anything expecting to win. We expect to work hard for it.”

Canby did just that in its win over Wilsonville, riding a no-hitter from junior Allison Hayzlett and pushing across one run in the bottom of the sixth to win 1-0.

Conklin said that her players’ deliberate approach to hitting paid big dividends this year.

“We do extra hitting on game days and I think that’s super helpful,” she said. “They’re more selective in their hitting. Their swings look really good this year.”

With Hayzlett keeping the Wildcats at bay all day – she gave up zero runs on zero hits and zero walks while striking out 16 – Canby’s offense finally came through in the sixth.

There, senior Madison Bigej and sophomore Taylor Saucedo both walked, advanced on a passed ball and a bunt by junior Lauren Toma, and Bigej scored on senior Natalie Kern’s groundout for the eventual 1-0 margin.

Hayzlett’s brilliance came as no surprise to Conklin.

“Her mental game is nothing like I’ve ever seen in a pitcher before,” Conklin said. “Nothing gets to her at all.”

While Wilsonville came back to post a 1-0 win of its own on Friday at Wilsonville, the Cougars walked off as NWOC champions and ready for the Class 5A state playoffs; Canby (14-2 in NWOC play, 19-7 overall) will host a playoff game on Tuesday, May 27.