Humbled - and no-hit - Tuesday night in the 2016 American Amateur Baseball Congress Connie Mack World Series' third round, there was still hope for 3A Bayfield High graduate Kelton McCoy and the Farmington-based Strike Zone to reach tonight's grand finale at Ricketts Park.
That hope ended Wednesday night, however, after an 18-7 loss to the D-BAT Elite team.
"Our mentality is.to be warriors," McCoy said Wednesday afternoon after Strike Zone lost 9-0 to the Dallas Tigers.
"Be the underdog. Warriors don't pout and cry after they lose; they take their lumps and come back stronger than ever."
Although the team was disappointed with the two losses, McCoy and teammates were undeniably proud of winning the opening two games in the elite world series.
"I think that's probably the best team in this tournament - if it's not us," McCoy said of the Tigers.
"A couple things didn't go our way, and you give a team like that one error, they're going to capitalize and hurt you."
Strike Zone had started well against SoCal of Huntington Beach, Calif. They upset the West Regional rulers 2-1 on Day 1 last Friday, then clipped Seattle-based EnFuego Elite 5-3 in Round 2 on Monday before struggling against the Tigers' pitching trio of Russell Smith, Daniel Martinez and Spencer Hynes.
Definitely one of the tallest hurlers (a reported 6'9") ever to visit San Juan County, Smith (4 IP, BB, 5 K) earned the win for Dallas, while 4A Durango talent Lawrence Mayberry (6+ IP, 9 H, BB, 2 K, 5 ER) took the loss.
McCoy served as catcher during both of the Strike Zone wins.
"The guys can hit their spots, work their off-speed stuff well," he said of the Strike Zone pitchers.
"It just makes it that much more fun to be a catcher, you know, because those kind of guys appreciate a good catcher and a good catcher appreciates good pitchers. It's just fun when guys are .shutting down good hitters."
Strike Zone, which also includes DHS' Kyle Duran and 4A Montezuma-Cortez's Andrew Laymon, went 5-1 to capture the Farmington City Tournament and initially reserve its Series spot.
"This is what we've worked for all summer, you know. We grind, like, a 50-game schedule, so it's nice to play in front of 5,000 fans, and get pampered and treated like a big-leaguer. It's been a blast!"
A few other Pine River Valley preps were in Connie Mack action this summer, including 2A Ignacio graduate Anthony Manzanares.
He suited up for the PumpJacks (part of the Strike Zone organization) with players from Cortez, Bloomfield, Farmington and Shiprock for boss Nick Clayton.
But a 3-2 loss to the Halos left the 'Jacks 0-2 in the City Tournament, and stopped short of earning CMWS hosting duties.
Graduated Bobcat teammate D.T. Meshew (a former Bayfield Wolverine) played with the Durango-centered, mostly-underclassmen Demons for Coach Eric Baker, and BHS grad Taed Heydinger was in uniform for Brycen Campbell's 4-Corners ClubSox - the 2015 City League kings.
One of Heydinger's teammates on the 14'ers last year in Mack play, Zane Phelps, is already in Arizona and ready to start his collegiate student-athlete career at Scottsdale Community College.
Phelps played this summer in the Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat League.
According to statistics reported on the ACWBL website, he hit .324 (12-for-37) with six runs scored and 13 RBI in 12 games played for Nutty Buddy Red.
Included in his stickwork were a homer and two triples, leading to a slugging percentage of .514 as his squad finished in seventh place (out of 12) for the regular season.
Nutty Buddy Black would ultimately top the ACWBL table, while the Colton, Calif., Nighthawks conquered the Arizona National CMWS Qualifier and earned the trip to Farmington.
