Last week was a tough week for Wildcat baseball fans. Joseph City was outscored 49-3 in two home field losses.
Hosting rival Mogollon on Tuesday, the Mustangs brought their talented team, picked by many to win the 1A state title this year, and they completely dominated Joseph City. The first two innings were fairly good. Mogollon led 2-0 after the first, then tacked on 3 more in the second to lead 5-0. In the third and fourth innings, things quickly changed.
The Mustangs scored 13 runs in the third, then nearly equaled that with another 11 runs in the fourth to end the game with a 29-0 outcome.
Joseph City was held to just 4 hits in the loss. Heston Miller went 1 for 2 with a double. Jeffrey Howerton was 1 for 1 with a double. Kayson Miller and Kase Fish had the other two Wildcat hits.
Miller pitched 2.2 innings, giving up 14 runs on 7 hits with 6 walks. Howerton pitched one full inning, allowing 6 runs on 4 hits with a pair of strikeouts and two walks. Kyan Larsen pitched one-third of an inning, allowing 10 runs on 6 hits with a strikeout and walked 6 Mustang batters.
Hosting Kingman Academy on Saturday, the Wildcats trailed 4-1 after the first inning but saw the Tigers score 8 runs in each of the fourth and fifth frames to put the game out of reach. The Cats did score twice in the bottom of the fifth but still took the 20-3 loss.
Justin Gardner was 2 for 3 with a double and stole two bases. Fish was 1 for 3. Miller went 1 for 2 with one stolen base. Kreggar Kinlicheenie went 1 for 2.
Fish pitched 3.2 innings, giving up 12 runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and walked 5 batters. Howerton pitched 1.1 innings, allowing 8 runs on 8 hits with 1 walk.
With the two losses, the Wildcats dropped to 2-6 overall, and they are now 1-3 in regular season contests.
This week, they will play in Holbrook on Thursday, then will host St. Johns next Monday.
