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COMBS
Baseball – The Coyotes went 2 – 1 last week after suffering their first loss of the season to Apache Junction in the Joe S. Padilla Tournament on Mar. 5. The Yotes started the week with a 10 – 5 loss at Nogales before winning two-straight against Marcos de Niza and Maryvale. In last Friday’s 5 – 2 win over Maryvale, senior Dalton Lupton had two of the Yotes’ seven hits and drove in a run. Junior starting pitcher Tyler Stading notched his second win of the year after allowing two earned runs on three hits with six strikeouts and only one walk in four-and-a-third innings. Sophomore Tommy Garcia, who made his second appearance in as many games, picked up the save after throwing two-and-two-thirds in relief. Garcia was nearly perfect, allowing only one hit and no runs with two strikeouts.
Upcoming schedule: Mar. 17 at Florence (6 p.m.), Mar. 19 at Miami (1 p.m.), and Mar. 23 at Tempe (4 p.m.).
Softball – After a season-opening 11 – 1 victory way back on Feb. 26, the Lady Coyotes were finally back in action last week with three games. The Lady Yotes picked up where they left off despite the long layoff between games, defeating Miami last Wednesday, 18 – 2. They followed the win with two-straight losses against Westview and Campo Verde. Senior Madison Simmons was named Player of the Game after going 2-for-3 with a homerun and three RBI in the win against the Vandals. Simmons was one of several hitting stars for the Lady Yotes. Junior Karlie Foster had three hits and drove in three runs, Jordan Bulloch had a hit with three RBI, freshman Emmalee Larson went 2-for-2 with four RBI, and Izzy Careaga had a hit with three RBI. Careaga was also the winning pitcher, surrendering two runs on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
Upcoming schedule: Mar. 15 vs. Tempe Prep (3:45 p.m.) and Mar. 16 at Florence (6 p.m.).
SAN TAN FOOTHILLS
Baseball – The Sabercats lost both games they played last week, including a 12 – 3 defeat against visiting San Carlos last Tuesday night. The Cats managed only three hits versus the Braves, one of them a two-RBI double off the bat of sophomore Johnathan Singh. Senior Estevan O’Dell had an RBI-single and scored two runs, while junior Norman Touey had his team’s only other hit in the game. The Cats committed five errors, resulting in an unusual pitching line for starter Touey: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 11 R, 3 ER, 8 K, and 5 BB. Singh pitched four-and-a-third innings in relief, allowing only one hit and an unearned run with eight strikeouts and a walk. The Braves fanned 16 times but still scored 12 runs on two hits and six walks.
Upcoming schedule: Mar. 22 vs. Arizona Charter Academy at 4 p.m.
POSTON BUTTE
Softball – The Lady Broncos went 4 – 1 in last week’s Black Hawk Invitational, defeating host Williams Field 10 – 4 in the third-place game last Saturday. The Broncos, now 8 – 4 – 1, started the tournament by splitting games against Coolidge (a 12 – 4 win) and Mesquite last Thursday. They followed with two wins against Skyline and Kellis last Friday before Saturday’s win. After hitting the first two homeruns of her high school career in the 12 – 0 win against Skyline, freshman Lindsay Lopez had three hits, including her third homerun of the season, and drove in two runs in the victory against Williams Field. Lopez, who was named Player of the Game, is hitting .474 with three homeruns, three doubles, and 13 RBI so far. She has a .789 slugging percentage and leads the team with a 1.381 OPS. She is also 4 – 1 with 1.14 ERA in eight appearances so far with 43 strikeouts in 37 IP. Opposing hitters are batting only .183 against her. But Lopez is hardly a one-woman show for the Lady Broncos, who are performing as many predicted they would before the season. Sophomore ace Taylor Strupp picked up her fourth win of the season on Saturday, pitching a complete game and allowing four runs – two earned – on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Junior Megan Clark went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI against the Black Hawks.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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