Joseph City entered the Division IV state tournament as the 10th overall seed and had to face seventh seeded Hayden in the opening round on Friday afternoon.
Playing at the Goodyear baseball complex, the Wildcats came up short in their upset bid falling to the Lobos by a final of 7-2.
The Wildcats scored their two runs on six hits and made just one error. Hayden countered scoring their seven runs on nine hits and played error free.
At the plate, Cameron Baldwin went 2 for 3 with a double and a triple; KJ Kinlicheenie was 1 for 4; Rhett Beard, 1 for 3; Jesse Hulsey, 1 for 3; and Jay Edwards also went 1 for 3 with a double.
Joseph City utilized four pitchers in the game with Hulsey getting the bulk of the action with four and half innings of work. Avery Buckley pitched one inning. Rance Haddox and Kaden Moss each pitched one-third of an inning.
Joseph City puts a wrap on their 2018 season with an overall record of 10-15. They were 8-10 in 1A power point contests. With just four seniors on the roster the Wildcats will have plenty of experience returning for next year’s team.
Hayden was soundly beaten in the second round getting shut out by second seeded Ray 11-0.
