In a Verde Valley Conference baseball season dominated by Camp Verde Middle School, it was West Sedona School that began and ended the drive for the title.

Pitcher Martin Contreras struck out the final two Big Park Community School batters of the game in relief of fellow eighth-grader Michael Ortega, who struck out four other Coyotes and scattered six hits Tuesday, April 29, in winning the second conference tournament title in four years for both he and the Wildcats baseball program, 5-4.

“It was our goal from the beginning,” said WSS head baseball coach and athletic director Pedro Ortega Sr. “It was a team win, and we’re lucky enough to have this commitment to win a championship from these kids.”

It was a commitment sorely tested to the very end of an extended conference tournament at Clarkdale Jerome School, as a late winter storm Saturday, April 26, swamped the field and postponed all play for two days.

For the full story, please see the Friday, May 2, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.