The Cowboys hosted rival Mingus Union High School in their home opener Thursday, March 1, but with starting pitcher Gavin Collins’ early struggles to find the strike zone, the Marauders came out on top, 6-2.
“The Mingus pitcher threw well. He shut us down for most of the game. Mingus is a tough team. This game showed us where we need to get to in order to compete with these teams [bigger schools],” Camp Verde High School baseball Head Coach Steve Hicks said.
Mingus’ Tyler Herndon pitched a complete game, going seven innings while allowing only four hits and two runs, and striking out 12 and walking only two in the victory.
Collins managed to go five innings, allowing only two hits, but he walked eight Marauders batters. He gave up six runs, two of which were earned, and struck out eight in the 6-2 loss.
Mingus jumped out on top 2-0 in the top of the first inning and scored three more in the top of the second to go up 5-0. Camp Verde tallied its two runs in the fifth to make it 6-2, which was the final.
At the plate for Camp Verde, the Cowboys collected only four hits and two walks while striking out 11 times.
Catcher Andy Minner was 1-3 while center fielder Kody Rayburn was 1-4 with an RBI. Michael Casillas was 1-3 with an RBI as well. Doug Ashley got the only other hit for Camp Verde and was 1-3. Kyle Lobaugh and Billy Wilson each scored a run while Josh Benson walked twice.
For Mingus, Herndon was 2-4 with a run scored while Evan McFarland was 1-4 with an RBI. Luke Simmons was 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Andrew Garcia was 1-2 with a run scored.
The Marauders improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season with the 6-2 win over rival Camp Verde while the Cowboys dropped to 3-2 overall.
“Our kids never gave up. Each at bat was a quality at bat, and in the later innings we started to make some noise. A hit here or there, and it’s a tight game. Gavin [Collins] started out wild for the first three innings, but then when he settled down he was very effective. Hopefully this game showed us the work we have to do. This is a good group of boys with good senior leadership. If we can keep battling like we did this game good things will happen,” Hicks said.
Camp Verde was in action again Tuesday, March 6, when it played host to Northland Preparatory Academy. Results were unavailable at press time.
Next up, the Cowboys travel to Bullhead City to participate in the Route 66 Classic on Thursday, March 8. The tournament is scheduled to run through Saturday, March 10.
