Roughriders rout Glendale 13-0 for Opening Day victory

Junior College Baseball

PRESCOTT — Christian Encarnacion-Strand was 2 for 4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs, and Matt Novis pitched five shutout innings in a 13-0 rout for the Yavapai College baseball team over Glendale on Friday afternoon.

It is the eighth-straight Opening Day victory for coach Ryan Cougill and Yavapai, which collected 16 hits and 13 RBIs as a team at Roughrider Park in Prescott.

Encarnacion-Strand’s double in the first put the Roughriders on the board early, but a sacrifice fly by Damone Hale and a bloop-double down the right field line by Amari Bartee made it 4-0 before fans could take their seats.

Yavapai (1-0, 0-0 ACCAC) tacked on two more runs in the third, four more in the fourth and two in the fifth to force a run-rule.

Novis, who threw 77 pitches and allowed only one hit in five innings pitched, struck out seven and walked two to earn the victory.

Novis said it was “really special” to start Opening Day for the Roughriders.

“This team is full of talent … there are so many other good arms we have on our team that are just as qualified to have it,” Novis said. “It was really good to be out here again, but I really have to thank my infield defense, because there was a lot of hard-hit balls they backed me up on.”

His skipper Cougill summed it up by saying, “He did what he does.”

“He comes out and forces people to swing the bat. It was a little chillier day, so the ball wasn’t flying and we played good defense behind him,” Cougill said. “It was a good day.”

As for his catcher Tyler Boggs, who was 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, the right-handed hurler could do no wrong Friday against Glendale.

“He did everything right. He was throwing off-speed pitches for strikes, he was throwing fastballs where hitters couldn’t hit them. He was doing everything,” Boggs said.

Cougill added, “[Tyler] called his own game today. He and Matt worked well together.”

Other standouts offensively for Yavapai included Jack Silverman, who was 3 for 4 with three runs scored while Daniel Martin, Willie Cano and Bartee each had two RBIs.

INJURY UPDATE

Bartee, who fell hard to the ground after rounding third base on a Cano two-RBI double in the third inning, was helped off the field by the training staff on what appeared to be a hamstring issue.

No update was given to the media on Bartee’s condition after the game.

UP NEXT

The Roughriders continue a three-game series Saturday as they host the Gauchos for a doubleheader. First pitch in game one is scheduled for noon at Roughrider Park in Prescott.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. is news/sports editor for The Daily Courier of the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud at @TheEditorDesk. Email him at bbergner@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 1106.