By Brian Bergner Jr.
Larson Newspapers
The Sedona Red Rock High softball team improved their win streak to four games on Monday, April 20, as they traveled to Chino Valley High and got back on the bus with an 11-7 victory.
“We made a few mistakes but came away with the victory and that’s what matters,” first year Sedona head coach John Brown said.
With the win Sedona improves its overall record to 15-4 on the season and is now 8-2 in the 3A-West region.
The Scorpions have also won nine of their last 10 games, showing utter dominance at times over many of their regional foes.
Monday, however, was a different story as the Cougars from Chino Valley gave Sedona’s Scorpions all they could handle and more.
In the top of the first inning, Sedona started off strong, plating three runs.
Junior shortstop Ashley Lo Duca started things off with a single, while first baseman Kaylor Tiffany followed up with another single to put runners on for team captain and senior Hayley McCord.
McCord picked out a good pitch to hit and singled, scoring both Lo Duca and Tiffany to give Sedona a 2-0 lead.
Later in the inning, freshman Sarah O’Neil got a base hit to score McCord and Sedona jumped out on top, 3-0.
The Cougars were not going to lie down on their own home field, however, as they scored a run to make it a 3-1 game off a Scorpion error.
“That error set the tone for how the game went. Each team scored a run in every inning, making it a great game to watch for people in the stands,” Brown said.
It was not fun to watch for Sedona players however as they committed three errors on the day, allowing several unearned runs to score.
Freshman standout Whitney Cooper returned to the mound on Monday for the Scorpions after sitting a game with a severely bruised left ankle after fouling a pitch off of it in the previous game.
“Oh, I’m going to play. I’ll be fine,” Cooper said before boarding the bus to Chino Valley on Monday.
Cooper managed to keep her team in it, going seven innings. She allowed seven runs to score, five of which were unearned runs, on nine hits, while recording 14 strikeouts and four walks on 144 pitches.
Chino Valley managed to make it a 3-2 game after scoring another run in the bottom of the second inning but after a Cooper double in the top of the third which scored O’Neil, Sedona got that run back, 4-2.
Cooper was 4-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and two runs batted in on the day.
Sedona found its way to the plate six more times in the next two innings as the Scorpions took a 10-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Chino Valley squeaked across a few more runs but in the end Sedona came out on top, 11-7.
Other standouts for Sedona included Jenna Diaz who was 2-3 with two runs scored, Ashley Haas was 2-5 with a triple, and O’Neil was 2-3 with a run scored and a run batted in.
Next up the Scorpions will play host to Parker High on Wednesday, April 22.
First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
If the Scorpions can get past Parker, they will only have Wickenburg High left on Wednesday, April 29, in the season finale before heading to the state playoffs.
Sedona beat Parker on March 28, 2-0.
The Scorpions are also ranked No. 5 in the state according to the Arizona Interscholastic Association power point standings which were released on Tuesday, April 21.
Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com
