The Wildcats dropped their only regular season game of the week at St. Johns on Monday, then went 1-1 through the first two days of the Epic Tourney over the weekend.
Monday’s game vs St. Johns looked good for Joseph City through the first inning and a half. After giving up 1 run in the bottom of the first, they scored 4 in the top of the second to briefly hold a 4-1 lead.
St. Johns however, had other thoughts. The Redskins scored 6 runs in both the second and third innings, then held the Wildcats without a run the rest of the way in a 13-4 Wildcat loss.
Joseph City finished with just four hits. Colton Larson went 1 for 2. Kase Fish was 1 for 3, JJ Sander 1 for 2 and Cort Miller went 1 for 3.
Cort Miller pitched 3.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts and walked one batter. Kyan Larsen allowed 9 runs on 8 hits in 2.1 innings of work with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Their first tournament game on Thursday at the Epic Tourney was a 12-0 shutout win over Ganado. The Wildcats scored 1 in the first, added 3 runs in the third, then put the game away with 8 runs in the fourth frame.
At the plate Christian Delgado went 1 for 1, Larsen 1 for 3, Fish 1 for 3, Heston Miller 1 for 2, Justin Gardner 1 for 1 and King Robinson was 1 for 2.
Fish worked all five innings on the hill. He gave up just 1 hit with 11 strikeouts and no walks in an impressive performance.
Friday, the team met up with Window Rock and found themselves on the other side of a shutout. Window Rock won the competitive game 5-0, holding Joseph City to just 1 hit.
This week the Wildcats return to regular season play where they have six games remaining until the postseason. Joseph City enters this week ranked 15th in the 1A rankings and will need to remain inside the top 16 in the rankings in order to qualify for the state tournament.
Joseph City will play at Red Mesa on Tuesday, then host Bagdad on Friday. Next week they wrap up the regular season with a double header vs Greyhills on Monday, followed by a home game with Williams on Wednesday and their final home game vs Ash Fork on Saturday.
Joseph City enters this week with a 5-6 regular season record, and they are 8-8-1 overall.
