The Camp Verde High School softball team’s season came to an end Saturday, May 7, as No. 3 Bourgade Catholic High School defeated the Cowboys, 14-5.
“We had a good run,” longtime Camp Verde Head Coach Debbie Miller said. “I’m proud of our girls and what they accomplished this season.”
At No. 14, the Cowboys were paired with No. 19 Tombstone High School in round one of the 2A conference state tournament Friday, May 6.
Camp Verde easily disposed of Tombstone to move on to the round of 16, 8-0.
On Saturday, things seemed to be going in Camp Verde’s favor from the get-go. The Cowboys tallied a first inning run against the Golden Eagles to take a 1-0 lead, but surrendered the lead in the bottom half of the first as Bourgade Catholic tied it, 1-1.
It was the top of the second, however, that gave the Cowboys the advantage, as they scored four runs to take a commanding 5-1 lead.
Senior Roque Parker had the big blow in the inning, lacing a 1-1 pitch for a double to score Jasmine Fullbright and Megan Teague to make it 5-1.
“We came out strong early but they started chipping away at us inning by inning,” Miller said.
Trailing 5-1, the Golden Eagles brought in ace pitcher Jacqueline Aguilar who shut down the Camp Verde attack almost immediately.
Aguilar was obviously being saved by the Bourgade Catholic coaching staff for the next round. Aguilar faced 17 Camp Verde total batters Saturday, striking out 13.
With the Camp Verde offense held in check by Aguilar, the Golden Eagles were able to tally two runs in the third, four in the fourth, and three in each of the fifth and sixth innings to take a 15-4 lead, which was the final.
Parker did what she could to keep her Cowboys in it, but in the end, it just wasn’t enough for the senior.
“Roque [Parker] battled all night long for us. That’s all I ask of her,” Miller said.
Parker went six innings, allowed 14 runs, 10 earned, on 15 hits while walking one and striking out two.
At the plate, Parker was 1-3 with the two-RBI double, while Fullbright was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Danielle Hunt was 1-3 with an RBI while Amy Allen was 1-2 with an RBI as well.
With the loss, Camp Verde wraps up the 2011 season with a 16-13 overall record and a top 15 finish [42 teams] in the Arizona Interscholastic Association power point polls.
Camp Verde graduates only five seniors this May with Parker easily being the biggest loss for the Cowboys heading into 2011-2012.
“We’ve got a few girls graduating, but we’ve got a few girls coming up that will fill in nicely. It will be fun to see how things go next season,” Miller said.
Both Marissa Simmons and Madison Garcia are candidates to replace Parker in the circle next spring for the Cowboys, with the remainder of the team still intact.
Camp Verde will be in a whole new ball game next spring, as the AIA transitions its schools to the new alignment plan for team sports, which begins in August for the 2011-2012 school year.
The Cowboys will be in Division III [Section III] next season.
