When Sedona Red Rock High School’s softball team defeated North Pointe Prep in a dramatic, extra-inning game in the season finale, it ensured that the Scorpions would be at home for their state play-in game against Arizona Lutheran on Tuesday, May 4. The home field advantage, though, was not enough.

The visiting Coyotes led the Scorpions throughout the game. And while the game was far more competitive than the final score would indicate, Sedona found itself on the wrong end of a 14-5 final — ending the season one game short of the state tournament.

“I think we played well at the beginning,” catcher Annalee Dearden said. “We were calm but I think the energy could have been brought up way more. We were treating it like a normal game. And it wasn’t a normal game.”

While the Scorpions weren’t flawless, they were competitive for most of the game, trailing only 6-5 heading into the seventh and final inning. Even with the bottom of the order coming up, maintaining a one-run deficit would have given Sedona a decent chance to tie or even win the game in the bottom of the seventh by keeping the deficit at one run. At that point, things went south.

The Arizona Lutheran players began hitting the ball well. The Scorpions made three errors in the top of the seventh and coach John Parks noted that there were at least two other plays that were ruled as hits but should have been made. By the time pitcher SRRHS Alyla Brooks recorded the third out, the Coyotes had scored eight times in the inning to put the game out of reach.

“I think we just got inside our heads and just lost confidence,” Scorpions sophomore shortstop Annabelle Cook said.

While the Scorpions had their share of struggles in the field throughout the game, there were some notable exceptions.

Some of those came from sophomore left fielder Mayra Parra-Landaverde and freshman second baseman Anna Grace Jennings who had actually switched positions. Parra-Landaverde battled the sun to make a tough, off balance catch to prevent runners from scoring, while Jennings made multiple running catches in shallow right field.

“I think we showcased the skills we’ve been working on all season,” Cook said. “We finally showed why we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

The loss ended an undeniably productive season. In the weeks leading up to the season, there was no guarantee that enough girls would come out to play. Even when that issue was resolved, most of the team had never played softball before. Roughly half of the team — including some of the most experienced players — couldn’t even join the team until less than a week before the first game, as they were still playing on the Sedona girls basketball team.

So, it can be safely said that the Scorpions over achieved this season. Better yet, the Sedona team featured three seniors and one junior. The rest of the roster was nothing but freshman and sophomores.

But while most of the team will return, Parks is well aware that replacing the three seniors — Bella Horton, Jania Jimenez and Lesly Suarez — will not be easy.

“It’s a lot — there’s a lot of experience there,” Parks said. “They’ve worked hard all year, they provided a lot of good leadership. I’ll miss all three of them in a lot of different ways.”

There were some unquestionable bumps in the season. Including the play-in game, the Scorpions finished the year at 6-8. The loss to Arizona Lutheran was also Sedona’s only loss by single digits. So, there’s work to be done.

On the positive side, the Scorpions only losses to 2A Central Region opponents were to region champ and 2A No. 2 seed, Northland Prep Academy. Additionally, during the final regular season game and play-in game, SRRHS found a capable pitcher to replace Horton in Brooks, who’s a freshman.

Finally, at the start of the season, many Sedona starters were relatively new to softball. With so many returning players, the Scorpions should have a much better foundation going forward.

“We’re a young team,” Dearden said. “There’s a lot of improvement that can still be made. Me and Annabelle are both going to get a lot better — everyone on the field is going to get a lot better.”