After suffering their first loss of the District 10 Little League All-Star Tournament on Friday, July 2, the Camp Verde All-Stars [ages 10 to 11] took care of business Saturday, July 3, defeating the Verde Valley All-Stars in game two of the championship series, 19-5.

Heading into the tournament championship with a 4-0 record, Verde Valley found a way to get to Camp Verde and beat them 11-4 in front of a good home crowd at Butler Park in Camp Verde.

Camp Verde wouldn’t go quietly, however, in the tournament’s final day.

“This is what you play for, one game for it all,” Camp Verde skipper Nate Jackson said.

Saturday’s starting pitcher Ezequiel Casillas was above average, pitching four innings while allowing five runs on eight hits, walking only one and striking out four.

If his 76 pitches weren’t nerve-racking enough, the offense for Camp Verde certainly was as the boys collected only seven hits but worked 11 walks.

“The kid just couldn’t find the strike zone and our boys were patient enough to get the job done,” Jackson said.
Coming up big for Camp Verde was catcher John Castillo who was 2-2 with two walks and three RBIs.

Castillo scored two runs as well and was smack dab in the middle of the 11-run rally Camp Verde put on Verde Valley in the bottom of the third inning.

Camp Verde found itself down 2-0 after the top of the first but in the bottom of the second the offense kicked in for eight runs to take an 8-2 lead.

After Verde Valley scored three in the top of the third to make it an 8-5 affair, Camp Verde put the nail in the coffin with 11 runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 19-5 final.

Shortstop Beau Bullard had a solid day at the dish as well, going 2-2 with a walk, a triple, three runs scored and two RBIs.

The District 10 champions will enjoy their title with a few weeks of practice in an effort to get ready for the Arizona Little League All-Star State Tournament which is scheduled to begin Monday, July 19, in Paradise Valley.

Camp Verde will face the District 13 champion at 5:30 p.m.