The Denair High baseball team dropped a home game against league rival Mariposa, 10-3. The Coyotes lost their eighth-straight contest after starting the year strong, going 2-2 in the preseason. They are 0-8 in league play and will look to bounce back against Waterford next week.

“We haven’t quite put together a whole game from offense, pitching and defense,” said head coach Craig Hunnel. “But we remain optimistic. The coaches talk to our players often about playing with a sense of pride and dignity.”

The Coyotes managed 6 of 29 (.206 average), and some untimely walks and hit batsman (HBP), giving Mariposa the early lead. They were never able to quite get back into the game and didn’t score runs until the last couple of innings.

After both teams were shut out in the first inning, Mariposa County was able to score four runs in the second. They added two more in the third and three more in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead. The Coyotes were able to get on the board with their first run in the sixth inning courtesy of an RBI by freshman Jackson Hart. Senior Cooper Feldman added two more RBIs in the seventh right before the match was called.

Feldman, along with seniors Connar Leonard and Nick Collins, all had .500 batting averages. Feldman and Collins both scored runs, along with senior Preston Roe. Freshman Jaden Souza also contributed with a .333 batting average. Freshman pitcher Kaden Prine took the loss with a 16.33 ERA.

Hunnel said this is an inexperienced team and as the season progresses, hopefully the team will come together.
“We are a very young team with many inexperienced players,” he said. “We have had to work through many adversities from the beginning. There are growing pains with coming together as a team when you have young and inexperienced players.”