Facing the toughest stretch of its regular season schedule, Camp Verde High School head softball coach Henry Smith wanted his players to gain the mentality necessary to succeed at the state tournament.
It jumped the first hurdle by beating Sedona Red Rock High School 11-1 on April 18 before taking on 3A Payson High School on Thursday, April 20 and region foe Paradise Honors High School, which handed them their only region loss of the year, on Friday, April 21.
“We let them know this is a perfect opportunity to mentally prepare for the state playoffs because its going to be very similar to this,” Smith said.
Camp Verde handed Payson an 8-5 loss before putting in a 17-2 thrashing of Paradise Honors.
Against the Scorpions, the Cowboys [15-2, 8-1 Central] jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the second inning.
Freshman Jacy Finley hit a two-run home run in the first inning. In the second, senior Tiauna Day reached on a single and stole second. Consecutive Red Rock errors helped Day home plus another run before a triple by senior Kayla Hackett plated the final score.
The Scorpion defense resisted giving up a huge inning to Camp Verde, No. 5 in 2A, but the Cowboys did chip away.
Finley bunted home another run in the fourth to make it 6-1 before a streak of hits in the fifth and sixth gave them the 10-run advantage needed for the run-rule win.
“I feel like it was a good game,” Finley said. “I’ve been hitting better and the whole team has and we hit really good this game.”
On April 20, the Longhorns tied the game at five in the top of the seventh inning. Cowboy senior Madison Johnson hit a walk off three-run home run to secure the victory. Finley pitched all seven innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.
The five-inning victory against the Panthers on April 21 created a tie at the top of the Central Region standings between the two teams, with Camp Verde taking the top spot due to a better record in Conference 2A.
Five runs in each of the first two frames gave the Cowboys a stranglehold on the game from the start. Finley gave up just two hits while striking out 11 Panther batters and giving up four walks. She struck out the side in the second inning, and the entire Camp Verde defense never allowed more than three baserunners in one inning.
Senior Amber Dodge went four for five including a solo home run in the second inning. Dodge also led the game off with a single, and a series of hits and errors helped open a 5-0 lead. Paradise Honors committed five errors in total.
The team hosted Northland Preparatory Academy on Tuesday, April 25, in which a win would give the team the Central Region title. A story from that game can be found online at journalaz.com/sports on Thursday, April 27.
