Thunderbirds Split Saturday Series At Yavapai

Saturday, March 26, 2022 - 9:30 pm | Derek Diesner

Prescott, AZ - The Mesa Thunderbirds hit the road Saturday for a tough conference test at Yavapai College. The T-Birds split the series on Saturday, picking up the 10-7 win in seven innings in game one, before dropping game two 14-4 in a seven-inning run-rule loss.

With the split, Mesa moves to 19-15 overall and 8-12 in ACCAC action. Yavapai moves to 22-11-1 overall and 12-8 in ACCAC play following Saturday's split with the T-Birds.

Game 1:

Game one was a low-scoring affair for the first half of the game before both offenses came to life in the final three frames. After the first four innings, Yavapai held a slim 3-2 lead over the Thunderbirds. In the top of the fifth inning, Mesa struck for a pair of runs on a double and a sac fly to hold a one-run lead. Yavapai would quickly respond with four more runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning, to claim a 7-4 lead.

The Thunderbirds then shut down both the Yavapai offense and defense in the final two frames. Offensively Mesa scored six runs while shutting the Roughrider offense down and not allowing them to score a single run in the final two innings. The Thunderbirds roared back for the 10-7 comeback win.

In the win, both Thomas Schreffler and Cade Malone finished with three hits each and accounted for seven of the ten Mesa runs. Colton Vercoe (1-3) picked up the win in relief of starter Mitchell Torres. Vercoe tossed two scoreless frames while allowing one hit and striking out three.

Game 2:

The Mesa Thunderbirds struck for two early runs in game two of Saturday's doubleheader at Yavapai to take an early 2-0 lead after ½ an inning of play, before the Roughriders came to life. Yavapai would respond by doubling up Mesa in the bottom half of the inning to take the 4-2 lead.

After two scoreless innings, Yavapai would plate a run in the fourth and fifth innings, while Mesa also scored two more runs in the top half of the fifth inning. It was all Roughriders after that. Yavapai scored four runs in the sixth inning and another four runs in the seventh inning for the 14-4 run-rule victory in seven innings.

Dawson Baracani (3-for-4) and Chase Burke (2-for-3) were the lone two T-Birds to record multiple hits in the game.

The Thunderbirds return to the diamond this Tuesday when they welcome the 8th ranked Arizona Western College Matadors (33-5 overall, 17-3 ACCAC) to town for an ACCAC doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 12 Noon and can be seen live here: https://mesatbirdsports.com/live.

Don't forget to check out the MCC Team Shop, as well as our Booster Club.