The two preeminent teams in the Sedona Parks and Recreation Department’s Summer Softball League may have emerged early Thursday, June 12, at Posse Grounds Park.

While Red Rock Rotary scored five late runs to stay undefeated after three games with a 12-0 shutout of the Mighty Ducks of L’Auberge de Sedona, A Day in the West posted back-to-back double-digit victories, as pitcher Jesse Stewart allowed only one run and nine hits over 10 innings of work to match Rotary’s record and move into a tie for first.

“Rotary is going to be a good test this season,” said Day in the West head coach Pedro Ortega Sr. “From what I hear, they’re going to be a pretty deep team. But expectations are kind of high for every team until you’ve seen them once.”

In two generations, expectations of where A Day in the West will wind up in the league have never dropped from first — and Ortega’s teams have, for the most part, never disappointed, winning the last 10 league championships and 13 of the past 14 in the quarter-century owner John Bradshaw’s Jeep company has been playing in the league.

“Once you’ve seen each team once, you kind of know who are going to be the contenders,” he said, “But everybody grows over the season. It’s about how you work over the season to get better that’s the challenge. Every season we do it all over again.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, June 18, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.