Sameer Malla is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Canyon High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – Two teams that have averaged double-digit runs this season had the fireworks on display at Agua Fria Field on Thursday night. North Canyon won its third straight game, 21-16.

This game between 5A region opponents featured 37 combined runs, 40 total hits and over 350 pitches thrown overall.

North Canyon senior Derek Milligan was one of those pitchers. He threw two innings in relief but gave up eight runs on nine hits and struck out only one batter. What was a 13-5 North Canyon advantage quickly evaporated with Milligan on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Milligan channeled his frustration into the batter’s box in the top of the seventh inning, with his Rattlers holding onto a slim 19-16 lead. On the first pitch of the at-bat, he launched a double that uplifted the North Canyon dugout – one that was eerily quiet after Agua Fria had scored those eight runs.

“I was mad after pitching,” Milligan said. “I hit this ball and that's what happened. I put it in play. It's all I need to get done.”

In the top of the seventh inning, a towering two-run insurance home run by North Canyon sophomore first baseman Omar Martinez turned what was a narrow 19-16 lead into a definite 21-16 final margin. The lone home run of the night from either team put a capper on this high-scoring affair.

“I was so proud of Omar,” North Canyon head coach Jeff Fierro said. “He came in and just really slammed the door on Agua Fria with that big home run.”

Martinez finished the night three-for-five with two walks, a double, the two-run home run and four RBI.

North Canyon's Emilio Figueroa (5) welcomes teammate Omar Martinez (14) as the team scores their 18th run of the game and the team's fourth run in the fourth inning (photo by Sameer Malla/AZPreps365)

Fierro was proud of his team’s win. “We've preached this whole 'So what?' mentality,” Fierro said. “Control what we can control. And they did that tonight. We were up big, and a team can kind of get lazy a little bit. Some things did not go our way, or our way some time, and we were still able to deal with it and figure it out.”

Fierro had his gripes, however, that were mainly directed at the home plate umpire.

“I never like to criticize what was behind the plate, but it seemed like the strike zone was very, very inconsistent tonight,” Fierro said. “I felt that my boys pitched really, really well. And we weren't getting the payoff pitch a lot.”

North Canyon was aided by a plethora of fielding errors by Agua Fria – nine in total. In many of the cases, the fielders rushed their throws that careened into either the outfield or into foul territory.

None of those mistakes stood out more than the first inning parade of gaffes that turned a routine single from North Canyon freshman Emilio Figueroa into a Little League inside-the-park home run for the Rattlers’ first run of the game.

“I think the effort and the way we fought back was good,” Agua Fria coach Don Spaniak said. “But we made way too many errors. We have to go back and really focus on cleaning that up. We're still a work in progress.”

The North Canyon Rattlers (3-1) will have a week-long spring break before hitting the road again. They will face the Carl Hayden Falcons (0-0) on Tuesday, March 22 at 3:45 p.m.

The Agua Fria Owls (1-3) have a quicker turnaround, as they will go on the road and face the Ironwood Eagles (1-4) on Friday at 6:00 p.m.