The Coconino Panthers will look to defend their home field on Monday against the Flagstaff Eagles at 4:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty run totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Coconino came up short against Mingus and fell 20-15. Coconino has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Coconino got a good showing from Frankie Avila, who tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits.
At the plate, Hayden Mickelson stepped up to lead a balanced group of hitters: he fired off two home runs, three runs, and four RBI while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Ryker Patten, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles.
Even though they lost, Coconino lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Flagstaff put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Saturday. They blew past Cactus 11-1. The win was familiar territory for Flagstaff who now have three in a row.
Jace Adams looked comfortable as he tossed four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
On the hitting side, Flagstaff let Luke Hewes and Will Carpenter loose on the outfield. Hewes went 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Carpenter scored two runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Carpenter, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3.
Coconino's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-9. As for Flagstaff, they pushed their record up to 21-5 with that victory, which was their eighth straight at home.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Coconino has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Flagstaff struggles in that department as they've been averaging 5. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Coconino came up short against Flagstaff in their previous meeting on Thursday, falling 5-2. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Flagstaff's Connor Iniguez, who didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over 6.2 innings pitched. Now that Coconino knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
