When the Verde Valley Conference baseball tournament comes to Camp Verde Middle School in three weeks, new head coach Bobby Justice hopes his host Cowboys will be in the strongest position to win it.
Their counterparts on the softball diamond, in a preview of conference finals Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, are closing in on that goal after a 6-4 win Thursday, March 24, at Oak Creek School in Cornville.
Head coach Steve Stone’s Cowboys, after opening the season with two losses, have won seven straight games.
But after both teams face off Tuesday, March 29, against conference challenger Clarkdale-Jerome School, Justice’s predominantly eighth-grade team has some work to do in its final five games to rise above a 3-3 mark against conference opponents.
Softball
If the Cowboys can get seventh-grader Amanda Lozania back this week, their roll can continue with a full roster.
It did not slow March 24 against the Roadrunners as they gained vengeance for a 5-1 home loss to Oak Creek in their season opener.
“We’ll probably see them somewhere in the playoffs,” Stone said. “They’re usually in the mix at the end.”
Jordyn Cowsert is the nominal starter for CVMS, throwing to fellow eighth-grader Bennett Holm at catcher. But Cassie Casillas has been a capable second pitcher this spring as well.
“Jojo’s usually our starter, but Cassie, she’s right there,” Stone said. “Cassie can hit, too, really well.
“We’ve got two pretty solid pitchers — pretty fast, pretty consistent.”
Even eighth-grader Hailey Moore got in on the pitching March 3, closing out West Sedona School, 24-1 in her first mound appearance.
The roll continued March 22 with another 24-1 rout, this time of Mayer Elementary School. The highlight came in the fourth and final inning when seventh-grader Jenna Huey, a fourth-inning substitute for Casillas, hit a line-drive shot 210 feet over the right-field fence.
“It was low and outside: She had to go get it,” Stone recalled. “It wasn’t even down the pipe.”
It was the first homer in Stone’s tenure as Cowboys softball coach.
“I told her, before we got off the bus, ‘Jenna, you’re hitting it over the fence,’” Stone recalled. “She said, ‘OK, coach.’”
Baseball
At 4 p.m. Thursday, March 31, CVMS has a chance to avenge a 14-9 loss at Rim Country Middle School.
The more pivotal games, however, are the final four leading up to the conference tournament Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, at CVMS.
“Against the better teams, we haven’t brought it to the field yet, which comes from playing together,” Justice said of his 15 predominantly eighth-graders. “This is the first year most of them have met me.”
Assistant coaches Austin Bower, Brian Rayburn and Colby Cook help out Justice, who returns to the team for the first year as head coach since 2011.
But Rayburn’s son Mason couldn’t even get that full year in as starting pitcher, giving way to fellow eighth-grader Joseph Roy after hurting his arm three weeks ago.
“The biggest negative is losing Mason,” Justice said. “Joseph’s our leadoff hitter and shortstop when he’s not pitching.
“He’s improving, week by week. I think we’ll have some competitive pitchers, no matter what. It’ll come.”
Third baseman Arron Martinez and second baseman Wyle Howe have also had stints on the mound this spring, along with seventh-grader Peyton Kelly.
“He used to be one of our outfielders,” Justice said. “He’s 12 years old and our third catcher, but we’re trying to get him in because we’re hurting [for] pitchers.”
Eighth-grader Kelton O’Grady, a catcher since Little League, has been their main target behind the plate.
When Kelly is not part of the Cowboys’ battery, he guards the foul line in left field, with seventh-grader Eric Lyles down the line in right.
Howe, who leads the Cowboys with an on-base percentage of .800, and center fielder Rusty Helgerson provide the biggest punch for CVMS as well as the defense down the middle.
“He’s been hit a few times,” Justice said of Howe. “He’s a pretty smart batter.”
Helgerson is the team’s power hitter, Justice added, hitting close to .500 for the season.
Eighth-grader Cale Cook backs up Martinez in the infield, while eighth-grader Dillan Tressler comes in for Kelly in left field.
“What I coach is, it isn’t the way you start: It’s the way you finish,” said Justice, who also has a 10-2, seven-inning win over Clarkdale to his credit this season. “As long we improve every week, I think we’ll have a strong finish and a great chance.”
