After losing its first game July 6 in the District 10 Arizona Little League All-Stars Tournament, the Camp Verde Majors All-Stars baseball team [ages 11 to 12] has won three straight to inch closer to its hopes of a title.
Camp Verde struggled against the Prescott Valley All-Stars on July 6 in round one of the district tournament, losing 17-4.
Since then, however, Camp Verde made quick work of the Dewey-Humboldt All-Stars on Thursday, July 7, defeating them 10-0.
Camp Verde beat rival Sedona All-Stars in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday, July 10, 10-0, then turned around and beat the Prescott North All-Stars in game two, 8-5.
The boys in blue had to wait a few days for the weather to cooperate at Mountain Valley Park in Prescott Valley, which is why they played two Sunday.
“There’s no doubt we played well,” Camp Verde Head Coach Craig Reddell said Sunday after the doubleheader when asked how his team played. “In today’s last game, we had one bad inning, but we did fine after that.”
Against Prescott North, Camp Verde starting pitcher Ezekial Casillas toed the mound, going four innings while allowing five runs.
Casillas struck out six and walked a pair in his four innings, throwing 84 pitches before being removed by Reddell.
Camp Verde scored two runs in each of the first and second innings to lead it 4-0 but the five-run bottom of the fourth for Prescott North chased Casillas from the game.
Beau Bullard took over and threw 19 pitches as the Camp Verde coaching staff looked to save him for their next game, going 1? innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.
Down 5-4, Camp Verde tallied one run in the top of the sixth to tie it 5-5, and the teams needed extra innings to decide things Sunday.
According to Reddell, relief pitcher Patrick Hood could receive player of the game honors, going the final 3? innings on the mound while allowing four hits and no walks while throwing only 26 pitches.
“Patrick [Hood] put a stop to it all and kept us in it. He did a great job,” Reddell said.
Hood’s efforts on the mound allowed Camp Verde to scored three runs in the top of the ninth to take an 8-5 lead, which would be the final.
With the win, Camp Verde improves to 3-1 in the District 10 tournament. Camp Verde continued tournament play Monday, July 11, but results were unavailable at press time.
