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PHOENIX — Kate Wilczynski picked a heck of a way to break Canyon del Oro's record for hits in a season.

The senior belted a home run over the portable fence in center field with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving CDO a 1-0 victory over Scottsdale Chaparral and the Class 4A-I state championship Saturday night at Rose Mofford Softball Complex.

"When I hit it, I was just like, 'Go baby, go,'" said Wilczynski, whose 46 hits eclipsed the school record held by Sarah Beeson. "I saw the height (of the hit) and thought, 'Just run, you never know.' I've never run that fast in my life."

The homer was the classic ending to a pitching duel between two of the state's premier pitchers, sophomores Kenzie Fowler of top-seeded CDO (33-3) and Mackenzie Popescue of No. 2 Chaparral (29-8). The duo combined to allow six hits and strike out 26.

"We're both power pitchers, and when a girl gets a hold of one it's definitely going to go out," said Fowler, who struck out 12 and tossed a two-hitter to finish the year 28-1 and improve her career record to 56-5. "My heart goes out to Mackenzie; she definitely pitched her heart out."

Dorados coach Amy Swiderski said her team had a game plan for how to approach Popescue, but "we knew her by the book … but we still struggled with her."

Other than Wilczynski's homer, CDO's only legitimate scoring chance came in the seventh, when Megan Franklin led off with a single and Brittany Tucker reached on a throwing error. But Popescue got a fly out and two strikeouts.

The championship was the fourth in school history for CDO, which won Class 5A titles in 1992, 2001 and 2005. The Dorados were making their third consecutive trip to a state final, having lost 1-0 to Glendale Cactus last year.

"Our No. 1 priority all year was to make up for last year," said Wilczynski, who has signed to play at Ball State next season. "We accomplished all of the goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year."

A CDO graduate in 2000, Swiderski became the first softball coach at the big-school level to lead her alma mater to the state title.