In the final game of the regular season, Camp Verde High School’s baseball team found itself in the same situation as it had a year prior: Playing for the Central Region title.
The Cowboys were up against the Northland Preparatory Academy Spartans with a berth to the Conference 2A state tournament on the line. Last year the senior-laden Camp Verde team won 6-5 at home.
This year the senior-less Cowboys [10-8, 5-3 Central] lost 5-3 on the road, ending their season on April 24.
“We just had an early misstep in the first couple innings and let them tack on a couple runs, and they hit the ball where we weren’t,” Cowboys junior shortstop Dominiq Bruno said. “I was really happy. I thought we accomplished way more than I thought we would, and I was pretty happy with my team. I know we’re going to come out next year and do really good.”
Camp Verde started five underclassmen in the game, and only one player, who is the lone returning starter. Junior Dakota Battise, who saw playing time last year, was ruled out for the remainder of the season after aggravating an injury against Sedona Red Rock High School on April 17.
Nonetheless, the young Cowboys did enough to win the game. They outhit Northland Prep [13-5, 5-3 Central] 12 to six. The problem was they hit right at the Spartans; Camp Verde did not get a runner in scoring position until the fourth inning, and had just six total. It stranded seven runners on base.
“We hit a lot of balls harder than they did, they were just at people, and the first couple innings they had some bloops and dinks that got down that weren’t even hit hard,” Cowboys head coach Will Davis said. “All the luck went their way, that’s baseball.”
Trailing 5-0 in the sixth inning, Camp Verde rallied. It had gained momentum after turning a double play to end the fifth inning, with freshman third baseman Peyton Kelley nabbing a hard-hit line drive and easily doubling off the runner at first.
Bruno singled to lead off the sixth and stole second base. Camp Verde sophomore second baseman Coke Bast was hit by a pitch, and two batters later freshman pitcher Mason Rayburn singled Bruno home. Needing to take a risk, Bast was thrown out trying to reach third.
Kelley doubled Rayburn in to make it 5-2. Camp Verde turned another double play in the bottom of the sixth and did not give up a run.
One play turned the top of the seventh inning on its head.
Northland Prep junior Sawyer Messick came on in relief of senior starting pitcher Bennett Wojcik and walked Cowboys junior Shawn Daniels, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Camp Verde sophomore catcher Kelton O’Grady struck out looking.
Then came a controversial call that resulted in a couple of Camp Verde’s assistant coaches exchanging heated words with the umpires after the game.
Cowboys junior center fielder Dawson McCune singled through the left side, and Daniels was ruled to have interfered with Wojcik’s ability to field the ball at shortstop as it leaked into the outfield. Suddenly Camp Verde only had a runner at first with two outs.
Bruno singled, and McCune scored on Bast’s single, but the rally, game and season ended on junior right fielder Kolby Hedges’ pop out to Spartans junior catcher Jacob Marquez.
“It was terrible. That was the worst I’ve seen it all year. Every bad call they could make they made, and then stood up for their bad calls,” said Davis of the umpiring. “They wouldn’t bring out the rule book, wouldn’t even give us an opportunity to appeal the bad call.”
Rayburn, who had most of his innings at the junior varsity level, improved as the game went on. He gave up five earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and five walks.
“We knew what we had with him, he’ll throw a lot of strikes and keep you in the game as long as you make plays behind him,” Davis said. “The first couple innings we didn’t make a lot of plays and they got the breaks.”
| Central Region Standings | ||
|
Team Northland Prep Paradise Honors Camp Verde Sedona Red Rock Glendale Prep |
Region 5-3 5-3 5-3 4-4 1-7 |
Overall 13-5 11-7 10-8 9-9 4-14 |
Camp Verde was caught stealing in each of the first two innings — Davis said he felt the second baseman, freshman Caden Cribbs, should have been called for obstructing a clear path to the bag. Meanwhile, Northland Prep scored two runs in both innings.
Coming into the season, Davis said he would have been happy to have a team that competed hard and improved game to game. Leading the team to having a chance at winning the title were Bruno and Battise. They were the team’s two reliable arms on the mound, while Bruno hit .582 and Battise .437.
They had the top two totals in hits, runs scored and stolen bases, as well. Another part of the success comes with wearing the Camp Verde jersey, being part of a program that has long been successful.
“This is a program that’s used to winning,” Davis said. “They’re used to winning. They come up from middle school expecting to do well in high school, so yeah, I think that has something to do with it.
“[Battise] has got the dugout moving and he’s been the guy all year, and then of course, on the field it’s been Dominiq. Those two guys have really carried this team.”
