Before its baseball and softball teams part divisional ways, Mingus Union High School will have one more spring to prove it belongs with the big boys — and girls — on the diamond.
This season will be the last head coach Bob Young’s baseball team plays the same level of teams before the Arizona Interscholastic Association sends the Marauders down a division for the next three seasons, leaving head coach John Brown’s softball team to battle larger high schools in Division II, like Prescott and Flagstaff.
“We had a great year, just to get boatraced at home in the playoffs — we’re not used to that,” said Young, looking to erase the sting of his last loss, 15-1 at home in the first round to lower seeded Gila Ridge High School. “We’re the smallest school in Division II.”
“Last year was a heartbreak for me,” said Brown, whose team did not even qualify for the postseason last spring. “As a coach, I’ve never not made the show.”
Although Young’s team will open Friday, Feb. 27, on the road against Kingman High School, softball will get the first chance to strike in Anthem, playing four tournament games over three days beginning Thursday, Feb. 26.
For more photos and the full story, please see the Wednesday, Feb. 25, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
