It’s been an up and down season so far for the Sedona Red Rock High School softball team but their 10-2 victory over visiting Chino Valley High School on Friday, April 2, may signal a winning streak.
“If we play like we did Friday, it’s possible we could run the table in our remaining games this season,” second-year Sedona Head Coach John Brown said.
With the victory Friday, Sedona improved its record to 9-8-1 overall on the season and is currently No. 16 in the Arizona Interscholastic Association power point polls, which were released Tuesday, April 6.
The offense came to play Friday as most of the Scorpion girls put aside pre-prom thoughts and were able to go out and perform well against a team that handed them a 6-2 loss March 23.
“It was probably the worst we’ve played since I’ve been here when we lost at Chino Valley so it was good to see our girls come out and play like they can the second time around,” Brown said.
Freshman Shelby Cordova toed the mound Friday, keeping the Cougar bats at bay with seven innings pitched, allowing only two runs, which were unearned, on five hits while striking out eight batters.
According to Brown, Cordova’s most impressive stat, however, was her ability to conjure up 12 ground ball outs and only two fly balls the entire game.
Players like sophomore third baseman Whitney Cooper, senior shortstop Jenna Diaz and freshman second baseman Hayley Davis were able to field the ball cleanly for most of the day while junior Paige Brackin had no problems at first base.
With the defense intact, the Scorpions were able to score three runs in the first and second innings to take a 6-0 lead out of the gates.
Chino Valley had a hard time getting a rally going and were only able to scratch across two runs in the top of the fourth.
Sedona added four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, which ended up being the score, 10-2.
Standouts for Sedona included sophomore catcher and leadoff batter Maria Micheli who was 3-4 with a stolen base, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Sophomore center fielder Ashley Haas was 3-3 with a double and two runs scored while Davis was 2-4 with three RBIs and a stolen base.
“I thought Hayley [Davis] had a great game Friday. She really played well,” Brown said.
Cooper wasn’t too bad herself, hitting a triple that just missed an opposite field home run by two feet to begin her day, then finished 2-3 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Cooper seems to be settling in at third base quite nicely with Cordova taking over the pitching duties for the most part.
Brown said Cooper will still get her chances to pitch this season but with the emergence of Cordova on the mound, Sedona is actually better with Cooper at third base despite her gaudy numbers during her freshman campaign.
Remaining Schedule
The remaining regular season schedule for the Scorpions includes the road trip to North Pointe Preparatory on Tuesday, April 6. Results were unavailable at press time.
Also included are two games against Williams High School, and one against Valley Christian Academy, Wickenburg High School, Northwest Christian Academy and Greyhills Academy.
The 3A-West regional tournament begins Tuesday, April 27, where Sedona may receive the No. 2 or No. 3 seed overall if they can win out like Brown suggests.
The 3A state tournament is scheduled to begin Friday, May 7.
