Published: March 20, 2008 10:50 pm      

Huskies fall at Best of the West Tourney

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Edmond North baseball team has seen its fair share of quality squads the past two days in the Best of the West Tournament.

On Wednesday it faced Arizona’s top large-school squad in Sunrise Mountain, and on Thursday it faced the Arizona’s top-rated school in 4A, in Sabino, falling 9-6.

“This was one of our better games defensively, we didn’t have any errors,” North head coach Rick Nordyke said.

The Huskies (5-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and led 4-2 heading into the fourth, when Sabino scored five runs to take the lead. North trimmed it to 7-5 in the fifth, and added another run in the seventh, but it was too late.

“Colton Byford pitched really well for three innings, and then just kind of fell apart,” Nordyke said.

The Huskies got a home run from senior Hunter Pierce, while Brad Beeston added a hit and three stolen bases, which pushes his total to 20 on the year, through just eight games.

North finished the game with eight stolen bases.

The Huskies will play two games today as it faces Churchill County (Nev.) at 8 a.m. (MST) and then will take on Goldwater (Ariz.) at 10:30 a.m.