The Sand Devils baseball team lost to the Show Low Cougars last Friday in Show Low during the 3A play-in tournament where they were trying to gain a spot in Conference playoffs for the state championship.
By the end of the third inning the Cougars led 3-0.
During the bottom of the fourth inning Trevor Mallavia relieved Colin Whitehorse on the pitcher’s mound.
The change in pitchers did little to stop the Cougars offense and they put seven more runs on the board in the fourth inning.
The Sand Devils started a comeback in the fifth inning when their lead-off batter, Jakob Crank, hit a triple. The second batter, Whitehorse, scrambled to first base after the catcher dropped the ball on the third strike.  The catcher tried to throw to first but left the home plate wide open for Crank to beat the throw with a slide. Whitehorse stole second base during the commotion.

The Sand Devils stayed in the game getting their first run of the game.
Donovan Buckley went to first base after the Cougars pitcher was called for a balk.
Whitehorse added another run to the Sand Devils’ scoreboard when he stole home from third base.
Later in the inning Ezra Larson, who had replaced Buckley at first base, was allowed to advance to second base after the Cougar’s first baseman was called for an illegal foot obstruction when Larson was trying to steal second.
The Cougar’s head coach did not like the call and he stormed out of the dugout and gave the umpire an earful. The Cougar’s assistant coach escorted him back to their dugout. The dramatic inning ended with the Cougars leading 10-2.
The Show Low crowd began to get overzealous and soon the umpire was handing out written warnings to the coaches then to the crowd, threatening to toss everybody in the stands from the game on both sides. The Sand Devils team, however, were given kudos on their sportsmanlike conduct and manners during the game.
The score was still 10-2 in the seventh inning when Colin Whitehorse, first up to bat, knocked one over the high walls of the Show Low baseball field for the final home run of the afternoon. The Cougars defense shut down the Sand Devils’ offense ending the Sand Devils’ season.
The final score was Cougars ten, Sand Devils three. The Sand Devils were 6-4 in their region, 8-21 overall.