Matadors drop heartbreaker in extra innings to open series at Cochise

The Arizona Western Matadors dropped the opener of the best-of-three Region I semi-final series to Cochise 11-7 in extra innings on Thursday afternoon.

After the Matadors went down in order in the top of the first inning, Cochise loaded the bases with two outs before Matadors’ starter Joseph Taveras recorded a strikeout to get out of the jam and keep the game scoreless.

The Matadors would threaten in the second inning, putting runners at the corners with two outs before being turned away.

After Cochise scored a pair of runs in the second inning, the Matadors would tie the game with a pair of runs in the fourth inning thanks to Max Weller who was able to ground a ball into left field and a wild pitch, tying the game at 2-2.

Cochise would go on to open up a 7-2 lead before the Matadors crawled back to within a pair thanks to a dropped pop-up that scored three runs, cutting the Apaches’ lead to 7-5 in the sixth inning.

Samuel Fabian made it a one-run game with an RBI single in the eighth before Noah Roberts worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game 7-7.

Dylan Edmands gave the Matadors the lead in the 10th inning, going opposite field for a solo home run, putting the Matadors in front 8-7.

Cochise ended the game in the bottom of the frame with a walk-off grand slam, beating the Matadors 11-8.

The Matadors will look to force a decisive game three as they take on Cochise in game two Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm.