Page sweeps doubleheader behind dominant starts and aggressive bats

By Lee Begaye
Special to the Times

WINDOW ROCK — The Page Sand Devils came out swinging in both games of Monday’s doubleheader, shutting out the Fighting Scouts 10-0 in Game 1 and holding off a late rally to win 10-6 in Game 2, completing a road sweep over Window Rock.

In the first game, senior Mckyle Manygoats sparked the offense with a leadoff single and later stole home to open the scoring. Sophomore Kevin Sam followed with a steal and scored on sophomore Mason Yazzie’s line drive to center. With the help of two walks and a pair of errors, Page surged to a 5-0 lead by the end of the first inning.

That was all Sam needed. The sophomore right-hander struck out six of the first seven batters and finished with nine strikeouts over four shutout innings, mixing heat and finesse to keep the Scouts off balance.

Page’s offense stayed hot. Yazzie scored again in the second on an RBI double by sophomore Cole Tate, and in the third, junior Michael Gonzales doubled and later stole home. Sophomore Caster Whitehair delivered a clutch RBI single, and by the fourth, Page had built a 10-run lead. Gonzales closed the fifth to seal the shutout.

Whitehair finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Yazzie went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and an RBI. Sam also added a hit and a run.

In the second game, Window Rock sent senior Xavier Young to the mound, and the right-hander gave the Scouts a fighting chance through most of the game. But Page’s offense stayed persistent, scoring seven runs over the final three innings to pull away and complete the sweep.

Sam singled and scored on a Tate grounder in the first, and Yazzie crossed home again to give Page an early lead. Manygoats added an RBI single in the second, and Shaine Begay scored in the third on a double by Gonzales to make it 4-0.

Young helped his own cause after getting hit by a pitch, stealing two bases, and scoring on a single by sophomore Logan Perry. But Sam escaped the inning with a big double play.

Page responded in the fifth. Sam reached on an error and scored on a Tate sacrifice fly. Begay tripled and came home on Gonzales’ single, extending the lead to 6-1.

Window Rock’s biggest rally came in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Teyan Owens singled in a run, sophomore Adriano Westbrook added an RBI double, and senior Derek Martinez cut the lead to 6-3. But Yazzie halted the rally with a heads-up tag at home on an attempted steal.

Page piled it on in the seventh. Sam drove in another run with an RBI double and later scored on a Kellen Cummings steal of home. Gonzales, Whitehair, and Sam all had multi-hit games once again.

Window Rock kept battling, loading the bases in the seventh and scoring three more runs. Freshman Ladell Shorty singled to center but was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit, ending the game.

Sam earned his second win of the day, throwing a combined eight innings across both games. Gonzales and senior Jaren Scott pitched in relief during Game 2 to close out the win.

Page totaled 26 hits across both games, with standout performances from Gonzales, Whitehair, Yazzie, and Sam.

“First game, a lot of errors got to us. We also couldn’t get the bats going compared to the second game,” Window Rock head coach Jonathan Keown said. “Second game, we were close, but having bases loaded and coming away with nothing got to our team late in the game. Xavier Young pitched one of his best games this season. He pitched well enough for us to win. They just hit it where we weren’t, and we hit to where they were.”

Page head coach Jordan Halvorsen credited his team’s strong start.

“We got off to a good start. When your pitcher is rolling like Kevin did, we can keep the bats going,” he said. “Kevin had nine strikeouts and gave up just one hit through four-plus innings. We knew Xavier Young was one of the best pitchers in the 3A North, so we expected a challenge in Game 2.”

The sweep improves the Sand Devils to 11-9 and 7-1 in the 3A North while Window Rock, despite a gritty effort in Game 2, drops to 5-11 overall and 1-6 in the 3A North region.

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