Camp Verde High School defended its home field last weekend as the Cowboys baseball team defeated Williams High School 11-6 on Saturday, March 16.
It was the Cowboys’ first home match since their 13-3 loss to Chino Valley High School on Monday, April 4, 2018.
With the win, Camp Verde improves to 7-5-1 this season.
“I would say pitching was very critical to our win over Williams,” Camp Verde coach Will Davis said. “All three pitchers we used did a solid job and I also felt like we hit the ball pretty well.”
Dominiq Bruno earned the win and struck out four batters in 3.1 innings.
“On Saturday, I felt like Bruno got in a good rhythm and stayed in the zone and it showed,” Davis said. “I think Bruno was trying to do too much on the mound earlier this year instead of working within the zone.”
The Cowboys are currently fourth in the 2A Central region, trailing Northland, North Pointe and Scottsdale preparatory academies.
Davis said he believes the Cowboys must improve their defense to finish the regular season on a high note.
“We have the offense and the pitching but we must stop throwing the ball around on defense,” Davis said.
The Cowboys also defeated Williams 6-0 on Saturday, March 9.
Though the Cowboys earned the victory, Davis said he believes Camp Verde could improve its focus moving forward.
“I feel like we have not been as zoned in lately as we need to be,” Davis said. “We beat Williams earlier this season pretty easily so I do not think they were prepared to play as hard as they had.”
Camp Verde’s offense is averaging 6.5 runs per game and a .459 on-base percentage.
“The offense has been good this year, we are seeing pitches well and making solid contact on the ball,” Davis said. “We have been getting on base through walks as well, so overall I am comfortable with how our offense is performing.”
Plate discipline has been one of the biggest contributing factors to the Cowboys’ offensive potency.
“They have had a great approach at the plate and been swinging at good pitches,” Davis said.
“Once we get on base, we definitely know how to advance and put ourselves in ideal situations,” Davis said. “We have a very experienced team that executes well on the base paths once we get there.”
Bruno is off to a hot start for the Cowboys as he currently leads the 2A Central in home runs, with two, and runs, with 13.
Bruno is also second in the region in runs batted in [11], trailing only teammate Dawson McCune’s 12.
“I think we are right on course with what I expected,” Davis said. “We have beaten some good teams and we may not have always won but we have competed with teams from bigger conferences.”
Cowboys ace Dakota Battise has been a force on the mound so far, leading the region with 24 strikeouts
and accumulating a 2-0 record.
“Dakota has done really well for us on the mound, so far he has been our best pitcher,” Davis said. “I have asked a lot of his arm and he has played very well so far.”
“Bruno has pitched our two toughest games this season against two great hitting teams in Payson and Chino Valley,” Davis said. “We did not play great defense behind Bruno and that did not help.”
The Cowboys returned to the field on Tuesday, March 19, to host Valley Lutheran.
“I do not think we are hitting our stride but we have to soon because regional play begins on Tuesday,” Davis said. “We will be fine if we can come together and keep our errors to a minimum.”
Tuesday’s match was the first of four games in six days for the Cowboys.
“It is not an ideal schedule but we just played five games in three days at the Route 66 Tournament last week,” Davis said. “It is a grind but we are mentally tough enough to overcome it, so we will be fine.”
