Coming off of consecutive lopsided losses, Sedona Red Rock High School’s baseball team needed a good game against Desert Heights Prep Academy on Tuesday, April 13 to break its funk. The SRRHS team got the necessary result.

The Scorpions struggled at times but when it was over, they were on the right side of an 11-8 final.  

“This is one of the first games where we went seven innings,” SRRHS coach Pedro Ortega Sr. said. “It was a little different.”

Ortega also noted the differences between Tuesday’s game and the season’s first meeting between the two teams, which Sedona won 20-2. 

“I keep explaining to these kids, teams are going to get better,” the coach said. “They probably had a bad game and you scored a lot. Teams are going to get better and give you a different game. If you win by one, five or 10, it’s still a win.”

While it didn’t end up being another 20-2 win, it looked like it might be early on. Sedona scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Yote responded, though, scoring six in the top of the second. 

Senior Joey Johnson started the game at pitcher for the Scorpions. It was his first start on the mound in roughly two years, as he underwent Tommy John Surgery as a sophomore. Johnson was solid in the first, striking out the side. But he began to have control issues in the second. Ortega acknowledged that with the big lead, he used the game as essentially a bullpen session for Johnson before Johnson finally gestured toward the SRRHS dugout that he was ready to be pulled. 

“The first inning was good,” Johnson said of his performance. “I kind of lost it in the second but it was good to be out there again.”

The Scorpions scored two in the bottom of the second while the Yote answered with two of their own in the top of the third. But after the two teams combined for 18 runs in the first two-and-a-half innings, the pitchers began to settle in. 

Senior Dakota Farrar immediately relieved Johnson on the mound. He went 3.1 innings while allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six. Senior Jamie Alagna finished the game with two shutout innings. He allowed no hits and two walks while striking out one. But the Yote pitchers were almost just as stingy.

The only run scored after the top of the third came in the bottom of the fifth when Sedona senior catcher, Matt Capozzi, hit an inside-the-park home run. That play ended with a collision that was both violent and unavoidable. When Desert Heights freshman catcher Landyn Miller attempted to field the throw, he inadvertently blocked the plate and Capozzi’s running lane. Without any room to maneuver, the Scorpions senior had no option but to run into and through his catching counterpart.

Overall, the Sedona offense clicked well in the win. The Scorpions pounded out 14 hits, six of which were extra-base hits. In addition to Capozzi’s home run, Sedona hit three triples and two doubles. Capozzi, Farrar and Alagna all had two hits, as did fellow seniors Nate Ross, Caleb Jennings and Jaiah Grondin. The Scorpions also stole 14 bases, with Farrar and freshman Leo Wesley stealing three each and Grondin and Jennings each adding a pair.

“We played good,” Jennings said. “We hit the ball hard. Sometimes the ball lands, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve got to do better situational hitting. A win is a win. We need it going forward to get the momentum going and keep on going.”

The win moved the SRRHS record to 4-3. The Scorpions are 4-2 in both the 2A Conference and the 2A Central Region. Sedona is seeded No. 18 in 2A. That is a decent position to solidify a spot in the Top 24 at season’s end, which would be necessary to earn a spot in a play-in game. But if the Scorpions are going to earn a spot in the Top 8 — which will be needed to go straight to the state playoffs, they’ll need to play well over the season’s final seven games. 

Next up for SRRHS is a big game against Scottsdale Prep, one of the two teams in the 2A Central Region ahead of Sedona. The Scorpions will be home for that game, which is at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, April 16. They’ll be home on Saturday, April 17, as well, with a Freedom game against 3A Chino Valley. That game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.