Both Skyline and Mesa held a 5-12 record coming into the game on Wednesday and both teams hoped to bolster their record to make a playoff push. 

Hayden Rasmussen made another solid start for the Coyotes, giving up only one run until the sixth when he gave up two runs to make the game 3-2, where it would stay after Skyline was not able to put any runs up in the top of the seventh.

The noise that came from the Mesa dugout and stands for the last half of the game was almost oppressive. According to Rasmussen, the noise was not the tipping point in his pitching performance though.

“It really didn’t get to me. I think it’s more my body being worn down. The issue was in me and not what’s going on around me,” said Rasmussen. 

Unfortunately, the Coyotes defense did not make it easier for Rasmussen to stay as fresh as possible throughout the whole game, making avoidable fielding and throwing errors.

Skyline fell to 5-13 after Wednesday, begging the question, what’s the outlook for the rest of the season? Coach Brian Gregory is still hopeful and still looking to make the playoffs.

“As of right now we’re still gonna try to make the playoffs. We’ve got nine games left, it’s going to be very difficult. We have to definitely turn things around starting tomorrow against these guys again,” Gregory said. “Until that’s out of reach, then we’ll kind of look at the next phase of things, but right now we’re playing a good Mesa team at home, but we’re going to keep doing the same thing. We got another game tomorrow.”

Before the season started, the Coyotes had 11 players on the roster, two of which had varsity experience prior to this season. As the season has progressed there have been younger players that have been able to come up and help take some pressure off the team. 

“When you look at all the guys coming back next year who are really contributing this year it makes me excited for the future. They’re getting put in high leverage situations which is only going to benefit them and help them out,” said Gregory. “I like the way they’ve responded, but for us every game is a learning experience and getting put in situations.”

Catcher Ryan Mioni has been a rock in Skyline’s roster this year, striking out only a handful of times. He has really seen the team progress under new leadership and is excited for what it will look like at the end of the year. 

“Yeah we’re definitely getting better and I’m excited to see us at the end of the season. I definitely feel like we can make the playoffs,” said Mioni.