Daniel Fraenkel is an NAU School of Communication student assigned to cover high school baseball for AZPreps365.com

FLAGSTAFF — Northland Prep did not easily cruise to a win as they did in the first game of this doubleheader in which they effortlessly handled Pinon in a 15-1 victory.

Kicking off the nightcap of this doubleheader, Pinon jumped on the board early with a leadoff triple by senior Eithan Tachine, followed by a wild pitch bringing him home.

This was the story of the day between these two teams who had a plethora of wild pitches, errors, and uncoordinated mistakes.

When Pinon was able to jump out to an early 5-3 lead in the third, and with two runners on base and no outs, NPA coach Nick Cosper had seen enough and decided to give his freshman son Brock Cosper an opportunity to work them out of this jam. 

Brock had not pitched in an organized game in over three years and has been rehabbing an arm injury to boot, so nerves were expectedly running high. 

“I for sure had a lot of nerves and the yips when first coming onto the mound,” Brock Cosper said. “I just tried to keep my composure and work on throwing strikes to get us out of it.”

From the moment he stepped on the mound, Cosper did just that, starting off by picking off the runner at first to record the first out of the inning, then following it up by striking out the next two batters he faced. 

The Spartans were able to respond on offense with a small-ball approach, working the count to draw walks and being aggressive on the bases, totaling 13 stolen bags over the course of the game, including four from both Brock Cosper and sophomore Wyatt Massey. 

For the rest of the matchup, the Spartans had seemingly regained momentum, Cosper had full control and it showed. Over five innings of work, he allowed zero earned runs while striking out nine and walking two. 

Combining this with contributions at the plate from sophomore Tyler Cary (2-4, RBI),  sophomore Cooper Skersick (2-2, 2 RBI’s), and Massey (2-3, RBI, 4 SB), Northland was able to crawl back to tie this matchup up at 6-6 going into the sixth inning.

Then, when it really mattered, the bats came alive in the bottom half of the sixth, where the Spartans put up three runs, giving Cosper a solid cushion to put Pinon away in the top of the seventh. 

Cosper made everyone sweat a bit, allowing a leadoff double, then hitting the next batter, but then turned around and delivered three straight K’s to cap off his fantastic night. 

Northland captured the win 9-6 in a scrappy comeback, where the bullpen looked thin after the first matchup, but the Spartans fought and got their fourth straight victory.

This win meant more than just baseball for coach Nick Cosper, who got to witness both his sons, senior Blayden Cosper and freshman Brock Cosper, collect dominant wins in both games of this double-header. 

“It’s amazing for me as a dad to be able to watch,” Nick Cosper stated. “It is as proud as I could possibly be.”