Joseph City’s final game played before the governor’s school closure announcement on Sunday was a 16-4 road loss at St. Johns. The Redskins scored three in the bottom of the first but the Wildcats answered with three in the top of the second, briefly tying the game. St. Johns moved ahead by one run with a pair in the second.
The third inning spelled the difference. After Joseph City scored a single run St. Johns opened the game up with eight runs in the bottom of the third. They added three more in the fourth closing out the Wildcats under the 10-run rule.
Joseph City collected six hits in the loss. Jay Edwards went two for three and scored once. Brody Penrod was one for one, with a RBI double and also scored once. Latrell Kinlicheenie went one for three and scored once. Avery Buckley was one for two and Bannon Johnstun was one for two, with a RBI.
Buckley worked 2.1 innings, giving up nine runs on eight hits, with a walk and four strikeouts. Johnstun pitched one inning allowing just one hit. Jacob Halbison worked .2 innings giving up seven runs on six hits with a walk.
With the loss the Wildcats fell to 0-3 in regular season contests. They are 1-5-1 overall on the season.
When they will next play is up in the air. With all Arizona schools being closed for at least the next two weeks, that means the Cats won’t be in action at all for a while. The AIA was scheduled to meet on Monday, March 16, to determine a course of action for the remainder of the spring sports season. The results of that meeting will determine when the Wildcats will next see the diamond.
