After ending a Camp Verde win streak that had reached 14 games, the Cottonwood Giants saw their own 13-game tear end Saturday, June 6, in an 11-5 Tournament of Champions semifinal loss to Prescott.
Starting pitcher Ellian Martinez struck out 15 as the Giants, after ending the Camp Verde Angels’ undefeated bid in their final regular-season game, needed a three-run seventh inning to beat them again, 5-2, at Riverfront Park.
But Prescott, the eventual tournament champion, posted three-run innings in the fifth and sixth after a fourth-inning rally by the Giants had re-taken the lead from the Prescott Dirtbags, 6-5.
“They scored three runs, but we had several errors that cost much more than that,” said Jeff Lynch, Giants head coach. “We made some defensive errors — a couple of on-base errors, missed balls they should’ve had — that really killed us.”
The mistakes spoiled the effort from Lynch’s son, Tanner, who batted three-for-three in his final game for the Giants, only making one out in his two tournament games.
For more photos and the full story, please see the Wednesday, June 10, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
