Photo: The Badgers rush the field to celebrate with Cooper Magnett who provided the walk-off winning hit in the bottom of the seventh
The Prescott “never say die” Badgers did just that as they overcame a 7-1 deficit with a seven run rally in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Mingus Marauders 8-7 at Prescott High School. The #9 ranked team in the Division 4A rankings needed to “pull a rabbit out of the hat” so to speak to win this game.
Mingus jumped on top 1-0 in the first when Carter Wacker doubled in Manuel Munoz. The Badgers had runners on base two of the first three innings, but Marauder pitcher Julian Esquier retired the batters when he need to. Mingus took advantage of a pair of Prescott errors to score three runs with two outs to go up 4-0. Munoz singled, Wacker walked, Esquier reached first and when an errant pickoff throw went down the right field line and was followed up with a return throw that went into the Mingus dugout, this allowed both runners to score. Esquier was at third and the umpires got together and awarded Esquier the extra base to score the fourth run.
Photo: Jack Burton slides safely into third and would score the first Prescott run
The Badgers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Jack Burton was hit by a pitch, stole second, then scored when a throw to third after a fly ball to right when the throw went into the Marauder dugout.
Prescott threatened in the fifth when the first two batters singled, but the threat fizzled out.
Adrian Sanderford continued to battle on the hill but the Marauders got to him again in the sixth with two more runs. Esquier grounded out scoring Isaiah Sanchez and Kylen Ballesteros doubled in Kaden Pusi.
The Badgers got a one out double by Brendan Costes but he was stranded there. Matt Hepperle came into the game to pitch the top of the seventh. Mingus managed to get a “gift” run after an error, a walk, and an RBI double by Kaden Pusi. Hepperle shut the door with runners at second and third, which gave a boost to the home team as they came up for the final time.
Photo: Cooper Magnett had both of his hits in the Badgers final at bat
The bottom of the seventh was a season highlight for the Badgers, and a complete nightmare for the Marauders. Cooper Magnett started and finished the inning in what would be a crazy good, ultimate rally, comeback for the home team. The junior came up with the first of his two hits in the game by clubbing a hard single to left. Ivan Schuster smacked a double down the left field line to set runners up at second and third. Nick Martin picked up an RBI as he grounded out. Ryan Elliot hit a sacrifice fly for the second out to center, scoring Schuster and it was 7-3. The bases were now cleared, but the Badgers were not done yet. They would generate the next five runs with two outs. Luke Tobin scampered down to first as he just beat out a ground ball to second baseman for an infield single. Jack Burton was down in the count one and two, but was able to work a walk. Brendan Costes singled to left to load the bases. Colton Champion was hit by a pitch to make it 7-4.
A brief visit to the mound by the Mingus coach didn’t help his starting pitcher. Matt Hepperle, who had just come into the game to pitch the top of the seventh, got the absolute most out of his sixth at bat this season. The sophomore southpaw delivered by beating out a ground ball up the middle, scoring one, and it was 7-5. Batting for the second time in the inning, Magnett crushed a ball to deep left field over the outfielder and into the fence to clear the bases for an amazing and exciting comeback win. The team and coaches rushed out on the field to celebrate the triumph of the tremendous rally.
Magnett said this about his game winning hit, “That was just like an at bat you dream of when you’re kid playing wiffle ball. I couldn’t even think about failure when I went up there. I just had to come through by hitting something good, and coming through for the team. I was not trying to do too much, but the pitch was right there. Our team just had a hell of an inning and it took our entire team to do it. I can’t say enough about the effort and determination by everybody. What a win.”
Hepperle said, “I just knew I had to put the ball in play. I have not gotten a lot of at bats this season, five to be exact. Once I hit it I just hustled down the line as fast as I could.” On what this win means to the team, Happerle added, “Our goal this season was not to lose a region game. Coming back like we did gives us even more confidence.”
“What a finish”, said Prescott Coach Barry Tolli. “First of all hats off to Mingus. They played a really good six innings. They were doing a lot of things right while we struggling to get hits. Adrian (Sanderford) worked his tail off to try and keep us in it. We were getting under the ball too and when we started hitting the ball on the ground things began to happen. That finally changed in the seventh. Mags (Cooper Magnett) came up and not only got things started, but he was the one to finish it too. Can’t say enough about how our guys just kept battling. Great win for us as we head into some tough games with Flagstaff and Bradshaw.”
The Badgers remain on top of the Grand Canyon Region with a perfect (6-0) and improve to (13-3) overall. Mingus has now lost four straight and are (2-4) in the GCR and (9-11) overall. The two teams will meet again on Monday at 3:45pm in Cottonwood.
PRESCOTT BADGERS 8, MINGUS MARAUDERS 7
Innings- 123 456 7 – R H E
Mingus 100 302 1 – 7 8 2
Prescott 000 100 7 – 8 11 3
WP-Hepperle
LP-Esquier
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L Streak
Prescott (9) 6-0 13-3 W6
Flagstaff (4) 5-0 15-4 W6
Bradshaw Mountain (6) 3-0 10-6 W4
Mingus 2-4 9-10 L4
Coconino 1-3 10-7 W2
Lee Williams 0-4 1-15 L14
Mohave 0-6 2-16 L6
(#)-4A Rank in Top 20
SCOREBOARD
Prescott 8, Mingus 7
Arcadia 9, St. Mary’s 5
Ash Fork/Seligman 20-26, Red Mesa 1-9
AZ College Prep 11, Combs 1
Bagdad 16, Mayer 0
Coronado 22, Tempe 6
Flagstaff 16, Greenway 0, 5 innings
Odyssey Institute 9, Chino Valley 7
Peoria 5, Cactus 3
Thunderbird 8, Dysart 7
Varsity Softball
The Badgers improved to (4-2) in the Grand Canyon Region and (13-7) overall with a 13-1 sixth inning win in Cottonwood. RJ Parra allowed only three hits. An unearned run on an error resulted in the only Marauder run. Parra struck out ten and did not allow a walk either.
Parra also helped her cause at the plate, getting three hits, two for doubles and an RBI. Kennedy Carr, Lilly James, and Novellas Paul all had two hits and two RBIs. Heavenly Ballard had a two RBI single.
Prescott, ranked #10 in the 4A poll will host Mingus on Monday.
PRESCOTT BADGERS 13, MINGUS MARAUDERS 1
Innings- 123 456 – R H E
Prescott 110 515 – 13 12 2
Mingus 001 000 – 1 3 1
WP:Parra
LP:N/A
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L Streak
Coconino (3) 5-0 14-5 W7
Bradshaw Mountain(8) 4-1 9-5 W2
Flagstaff (19) 3-1 12-6 W3
Prescott (10) 4-2 13-7 W4
Mingus 2-5 5-10 L4
Mohave 1-6 5-14 L2
Lee Williams 0-4 3-8 L3
(#)-4A Rank in Top 20
SCOREBOARD
Prescott 13, Mingus 1, 6 innings
Ash Fork/Seligman 4-16, Red Mesa 1-8
AZ College Prep 24, Combs 0
Bagdad 19, Mayer 2
Bourgade catholic 15, Camp Verde 0
Chino Valley 13, Odyssey Institute 2
Coconino 23, Moon Valley 0
Mesquite 17, ALA-Gilbert North 2
Salpointe Catholic 17, Sahuaro 0
Tempe 24, Coronado 0
Williams 21-18, St. Michael 0-0
