The Sedona Red Rock High School’s softball team was scheduled to begin the season against the St. John Paul II Lions at home on Feb. 26, followed by a game against the Mayer Wildcats on Feb. 28.
Pitcher Natalie Juan Rodriguez said she was looking forward to the latter match more than any other this year.
“Mayer, that’s one of the teams that we’re planning to beat again,” Rodriguez said.
Last season, the Scorpions defeated the Mayer Wildcats 21-2 in their season opener and repeated the performance on Feb. 29 with an 18-1 victory. The Scorpions finished the season with a 5-8 record, an improvement over 2023’s record of 1-12 with a lone win coming from a forfeit by the Desert Heights Preparatory Academy.
“There’s more girls coming out to play now, especially some of the middle-schoolers,” second baseman Lorena Flores Juarez said. “Which is cool to see, because we would see them practicing last year like the girls are right now. It’s nice to see them, kind of view us as role models, and kind of like guiding them how to play the sport.”
John Parks is taking over as head coach from Athletic Director Pedro Ortega Sr. and is working on hiring an assistant as well as adjusting to this year’s move from 2A Metro to 2A Central.
“We have a lot of girls coming back with little more experience, including sophomore Maya [Esquer- Morales], but [Parks] will still have to work on the principles of the game,” Ortega said.
“I’m really excited for this season and this team is as well,” Parks said. “Currently, we’re looking at fielding a team of 15 girls, which will be our largest roster in at least a decade at Sedona Red Rock High.”
“We’ve got a lot of returning players, but we still wish we had more experience than we have out here right now, but we got a few freshmen out this year,” Parks said. “The middle school program has been getting better over the years. We’ve had a good four-year run of bringing players up to varsity through that program, so we’re starting to see that pay off and we’re hoping that continues.”
Parks added that he saw this year’s schedule as being “a lot tougher” and that he was aiming to improve every player’s individual skill level.
Catcher Brittney Hansbraugh said that she is less afraid of the ball than she was last year and is seeking to improve her hand-eye coordination this Season.
“My goal is to better myself [playing] first base, and then hopefully be able to communicate more and play a lot more and just get my batting in good shape,” Esquer-Morales said. “But we’re in pretty good shape as a team because a lot of the girls came back from last year, and we have a couple new girls, so we’re switching some positions around.”
