A 12-9 home loss Saturday, March 26, to Horizon Honors High School means Sedona Red Rock High School head coach Mike Keider has his work cut out for him heading into play in a tough Section I of Division IV.
“Actually, I’m pretty sure they’re probably going to be more focused — if we can hold the errors down,” he said. “It’s taking two innings to get going.”
But errors have been the bane of Keider’s three-year tenure at SRRHS, and three in the seventh inning — to the tune of four Eagles runs — spelled doom again for the Scorpions.
“That’s what cost us the game,” Keider said. “We had five errors in the first three innings, so I was upset.”
Freshman Kamila Doran did atone for her mistake with an RBI single. However, only Monge’s little sister, Hailey, and freshman catcher Desiray Davis were completely immune from eight SRRHS fielding errors.
Even sophomore infielder Ally Alver, who leads the section with a .955 fielding percentage, muffed a play, as did six other Scorpions.
“Ally’s hitting .750,” Keider said. “She’s, like, No. 2 in the division.
“I just want her to keep doing what she’s doing. She’s pounding the ball.”
Alver’s four-for-four day, including three runs batted in and a double, led a 16-hit barrage for the Scorpions [3-4] that should have been enough to stay above .500.
Against both senior ace Emma Keider and sophomore relief pitcher Natalie Monge, it figured to be after SRRHS rallied from eight runs down to take a 9-8 lead into the top of the seventh inning, even though the Eagles matched the Scorpions, hit for hit.
“Of course, I had my strikeouts in the seven, eight and nine [hitters],” Mike Keider said. “The difference is, they don’t get discouraged. They don’t give up.”
Monge, who is second in the section in both sluggling and on-base percentages, added an RBI triple, also hitting a double on a two-for-four afternoon.
Senior Karen Giorgianni and junior Courtney Howard combined for another four RBIs as part of a five-run sixth inning to complete the SRRHS rally.
“Emma’s hitting .600, Natalie’s hitting in the high .5[00]s [and] Natalie’s sister’s hitting .500,” Keider said. “So we hit the ball really well.
“But the problem was, they didn’t start doing that until the third inning. It took them a little bit to get going.”
The Scorpions are 30th in the initial Arizona Interscholastic Association power rankings. In less than a month, they need to move up at least six more seeds, and against five teams ahead of them in the sectional standings — including two games against second-ranked rival Camp Verde High School — to make the state playoffs.
That starts Wednesday, April 5, with a home game against Monument Valley High School before back-to-back road trips to Chinle and Paradise Honors high schools Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9.
“I know I’ve got three games next week,” Keider said. “Chinle, they were right with us last year. We’ve only got a month, so every game, every play, is going to count.”
For more photos, please see the Friday, April 1, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.
