West Sedona School baseball head coach Pedro Ortega Sr. and his team knew from the get-go that the match-up between themselves and Cottonwood Middle School on Tuesday, March 25, was not a conference game but they still went out to compete and lost to the high-powered, offensive-minded Lobos, 10-2. By Brian Bergner Jr.
Larson Newspapers
West Sedona School baseball head coach Pedro Ortega Sr. and his team knew from the get-go that the match-up between themselves and Cottonwood Middle School on Tuesday, March 25, was not a conference game but they still went out to compete and lost to the high-powered, offensive-minded Lobos, 10-2.
“It wasn’t a conference game so I wanted to get more guys playing time at different positions and get my No. 3 starter some work on the mound,” Ortega said.
That goal was certainly accomplished by the Wildcats and Ortega said he is pleased with what he saw despite the 10-2 drubbing.
Eighth-grader Jose Saucedo took the ball for the Wildcats and looked great in his three innings of work.
As the No. 3 starter, Saucedo shut down the high-powered Lobos attack with pin-point fastball control and a dipping breaking ball that makes other players wish they had bigger bats.
In three innings, Saucedo allowed only one run on two hits while walking only one batter and striking out five.
“We got out of him what we wanted. Jose [Saucedo] was focused and threw well,” Ortega said.
Saucedo’s confidence was sky high before he even took the mound as his Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Eighth-graders Javier Fimbres and J.R. Henry had a single each and teammate Arley Leyva knocked them in with a big two out hit.
Unfortunately, that would be the end of the scoring for the Wildcats as Cottonwood hurler Luke Sanders shut them down the rest of the way.
Sanders pitched a great game going all six innings, allowing only two runs on six hits while striking out five Wildcats batters.
“He was really on his game,” Ortega said.
Things began to fall apart for the Wildcats in the bottom of the fourth inning as Fimbres came in to pitch to get some work in and ended up going only 1 2/3 innings giving up nine runs on three hits and six walks.
Cottonwood managed three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead but put the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning scoring six runs to take a commanding 10-2 lead.
“You just can’t walk them, they will make you pay,” Ortega said.
Cottonwood managed only five hits on the day, three of them came from standout shortstop Carlos Abrigo who was 3-3 on the day with three runs scored and a stolen base.
“Despite the loss, I’m pleased with our performance against Cottonwood. We got some work in for a few guys which sets us up for the remainder of our schedule,” Ortega said.
With the loss, West Sedona drops its record to 2-2 overall on the season.
Next up, the Wildcats will travel on Wednesday, April 2, to play Beaver Creek School.
First pitch is scheduled for
4 p.m.

Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 131, or e-mail to bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com