Photo: 20 Adrian Sanderford delivers in the third inning
The Bradshaw Mountain Bears used a five run sixth inning to beat the Prescott Badgers 6-2 in the first of two games this week in the Grand Canyon Region rivalry. It was a costly loss in regards to Badgers, eliminating them in the GCR title hunt, and in regards to the playoff picture.
Both pitchers, Adrian Sanderford of Prescott, and Vinny Magdaleno of Bradshaw Mountain battled it out as the hurlers kept the game scoreless through three innings.
Sanderford pitched six innings, allowing just one run and two hits. That run came across in the fourth, but it could have been much worse. Sam Strasser saved the day for the starter on a diving catch out in centerfield with the bases loaded full of Bears in the fourth, to keep the deficit at 1-0
Photo: 1 Sam Strasser connects on a Vinny Magdaleno pitch
The Badgers had their chances against Magdaleno, but finally broke through in the sixth. Prescott took a 2-1 lead when Sanderford hit into a potential ground ball double play to short, scoring Luke Carmick, but the relay throw to first got away from the first baseman, scoring Jack Burton for the lead.
Prescott needed just three outs to pick up the win, but those hopes came crashing down as Bradshaw Mountain used a combination of hits, walks, an error, including a mental error, to capitalize off reliever Parker Reed. When the dust settled the Bears were up 6-2.
Photo: 25 Lukas Barrett fields a high hopper to close out the inning, with 30 Cooper Magnett
Prescott was down to their final out when Sam Strasser took a pitch to the face, dropping the Badger centerfielder to the ground in a scary moment for everyone. Strasser was able to get up and was helped off the field. The final out came and the focus was not so much the loss, but the condition of the star senior.
Magdaleno picked up the complete game win allowing just one earned run on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Josh Khazzel had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Shane Lievsay also had a pair of RBIs.
Coach Barry Tolli said, “Sammy is such a competitor. You hate to see anything like that. Thankful he was able to walk off the field, but we will have to wait and see how his condition plays out. We all wish him the best.” As for the game, Tolli said, “Hats off to Bradshaw. They did what they needed to do and came through it. Sanderford pitched a really good game for us. He kept us in the game, and that is what you want out of your starter. We didn’t execute and get the hits when we had runners on base, and you can’t do that when you are playing a very good team. We also had a couple mental errors that cost us as well. We will learn from this, and focus on the next one.”
The Badgers will get another shot at the Bears, tonight in a 7 pm game at their Prescott Valley campus.
BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN BEARS 6, PRESCOTT BADGERS 2
Innings- 123 456 7 – R H E
Bradshaw Mountain 000 100 5 – 6 7 4
Prescott 000 002 0 – 2 3 1
WP:Magdaleno
LP:Reed
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L
Bradshaw Mountain 10-1 21-4
Flagstaff 8-2 18-7
PRESCOTT 8-3 13-8
Coconino 6-4 12-11
Mingus 3-7 6-16
Lee Williams 0-8 6-12
Mohave 0-11 3-20
Varsity Softball
Kennedy Carr hit a three run blast to give the Prescott Badgers a 5-3 come from behind victory over the Bears, at Bradshaw Mountain High School.
Prescott struggled to even get the bat on the ball against Yasmine Bernal, who got 19 of the 21 outs in the game by strikeout.
Gracie Pereira singled in a pair in the top of the first to give Prescott a 2-0 lead. The Bears came back with three unearned runs in the third to take a 3-2. The game stayed that way till the exciting seventh.
RJ Parra went the distance in a battle, picking up the win. Parra did not give up any earned runs, allowing five hits, five strikeouts and five walks. Bernal suffered the loss allowing four earned runs, four walks, and with the impressive 19 strikeouts.
The teams will meet again today at Prescott High School at 4 pm.
PRESCOTT BADGERS 5, BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN BEARS 3
Innings- 123 456 7 – R H E
Prescott 200 000 3 – 5 3 2
Bradshaw Mountain 003 000 0 – 3 5 1
WP:Parra
LP:Bernal
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L
Flagstaff 9-1 21-6
Coconino 8-1 17-5
Bradshaw Mountain 8-2 11-5
PRESCOTT 7-4 9-10
Mohave 1-9 3-17
Mingus 1-9 2-14
Lee Williams 0-8 6-15
SCOREBOARD
PRESCOTT 5, Bradshaw Mountain 3
Coconino 17, Mohave 1
