The Lady Wildcats entered the 1A state playoff as the No. 3 overall seed and through the first two rounds of state, they have proved worthy of that high seed. They opened the playoffs on Tuesday with a 14-0 first-round home-field win over Red Mesa.
Hosting as the higher-seeded team, the Wildcats left little doubt from the start as to who the better team was, scoring five runs in the first inning then adding eight more in the second and one final run in the third to advance to round two with the 14-0 win.
The Wildcats pounded out 16 total hits with seven of those for extra bases. Staisha Murdock went 3 for 3 with a home run. Kassidy Juarez was 2 for 3 with a home run. Kayle James went 2 for 4 with a triple. Kadence Armstrong was 2 for 3 with a triple. Gabby Jesmer went 2 for 2 with a triple and a double. April Neill was 2 for 3 with a double. Kate Edwards went 1 for 2, Maddy Powers 1 for 3, and Brookly Petersen was 1 for 2.
James pitched three innings of no-hit ball with one walk and five strikeouts. Neill worked in the circle for two innings also not giving up a hit with one walk and three strikeouts.
With that first-round win, they moved into the quarterfinal round on Friday where they defeated No. 6 seed San Manuel 7-4. Hosting the second-round game, they fell behind early when the Miners scored two in the top of the first inning. Joseph City cut the lead in half with one in the second then took the lead for good with two in the third. They tacked on four more in the fourth and led 7-2 until San Manuel tightened the game up with two runs in the sixth inning. The Wildcats closed the door in the top of the seventh to advance to the semi-final round with the three-run win.
Powers went 2 for 4 with a home run. Jesmer was 2 for 3 with two doubles. Armstrong went 1 for 2 with a double. James was 2 for 4 with a double. Edwards went 1 for 3,
James pitched all seven innings allowing 4 runs on 4 hits with five walks and she tallied nine strikeouts.
Joseph City will now face No. 2 Bagdad at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Quail Run Park. Bagdad defeated Ash Fork 19-4 in round one and took care of Superior 9-6 in their quarterfinal matchup. Joseph City faced Bagdad back on April 4 and lost 8-6. This rematch should be close, with the winner advancing to the 1A state championship game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Farrington Softball Stadium.
The top four seeds in 1A are in the semi-finals. In the top of the bracket, No. 1 Williams will face No. 4 St. David.
