Baseball: Skyline win away from section crown

April 22, 2016 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Skyline didn't start the 2016 season on a roll, but the Coyotes are certainly on one as the regular season draws to a close.

Boyd Vanderkooi threw six solid innings and the No. 12 Skyline tallied five of its six runs in the first two innings in a 6-2 win over No. 10 Red Mountain in a Division I Section III baseball game Friday night at HoHoKam Park.

Vanderkooi, a junior, allowed three hits, three walks and fanned six in his latest stint to improve to 7-2 for the year. He led off the game with a long double to initiate a three-run, first-inning rally that put Red Mountain in a hole it couldn't overcome. Vanderkooi has a sub-2.00 earned run average and has teamed with sophomore Bobby Meza and junior Jacob Stark for 16 of the team's 17 wins. Skyline improved to 17-10-1 overall and 11-6 in power-ranking games. Skyline was 7-7-1 after playing a few power-ranking games and its two invitationals through mid-March. The Coyotes are 10-3 since (all power-ranking games).

The Coyotes (7-1 in section games) have a one-game lead over second-place Mountain View (6-2 section). Mountain View topped Gilbert, 3-1, in 9 innings on Friday to stay in the section race. The teams meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at HoHoKam with the section title in the balance. Skyline will qualify for the playoff win or lose. Mountain View, if it wins, can earn an automatic state berth by virtue of winning the section. Otherwise the Toros are likely to sweat out the AIA's bracket show at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon (April 28). the top 24 teams qualify and Mountain View was No. 25 prior to Friday's games.

Vanderkooi had two hits and his spot in the lineup scored twice. Skyline scored on an error, ground out and sacrifice fly in the first off Red Mountain starter Marcus Christy. Bodey Delmar and Meza drove in runs in the first. Ian Raidy knocked in two runs with a single in the second inning. That rally produced both runs with two outs and noone on. Vanderkooi started the second-inning rally with a two-out, two-strike single. Skyline's final run came off reliever Kai Murphy in the sixth on a balk.

Red Mountain (19-10, 10-7 prg) was down 5-1 in the bottom of the third and had a good chance to get back in the game against Vanderkooi. Vanderkooi gave up two walks and single to load the bases with noone out and the Mountain Lions' 3-4-5 hitters coming up. He gave up a run on a ground out to Jacob Stobart, but induced a comebacker and a strikeout to extinguish the threat.

Jan Rollen and Raidy joined Vanderkooi with two hits for Skyline while Red Mountain leadoff hitter Josh White  had three of the Mountain Lions four hits.