Walker, Cox homers power<br>the Phantoms past Ash Fork

WILLIAMS — While Ash Fork was playing for a possible first-place tie in the 1A North Region Friday afternoon, Grand Canyon entered the season finale playing for pride.

Grand Canyon's Shane Cox is mobbed by teammates in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday after he hit a two-run homer to defeat Ash Fork, 11-10. The Phantoms swept the doubleheader over the Spartans.

The Phantoms came through in dramatic fashion by sweeping Ash Fork by the identical scores of 11-10.

"Overall, I think we had a great season," Grand Canyon coach Andrew Aldaz said. "A lot of times, we beat the tough teams but lost to the weaker teams."

The final hit of the season was one of the biggest in recent years. Shane Cox, who had never hit a home run before Friday, nailed a two-run shot over the left-field fence to give Grand Canyon a come-from-behind win in game two.

In the opener, the Phantoms got off to a good start when Mitchell Walker hit a three-run towering homer to left field in the first.

After Ash Fork tied the game in the fourth, the Phantoms responded with six unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Joe Wilkerson hit a two-RBI double in the fourth and Michael Vincent had a two-RBI double in the fifth.

The Spartans rallied for five runs in the sixth on three hits, errors and passed balls.

But in the seventh, Ash Fork went down 1-2-3 as the comeback fell short. Vincent, who had 10 strikeouts at pitcher, fanned the final Spartan batter looking to end the game.

Gabaldon had a notable performance on defense in left field.

In game two, Ash Fork jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Phantoms got things going. Grand Canyon scored three runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Cox had a two-RBI single in the fourth, Walker hit a three-run homer in the fifth and Vincent had a two-RBI triple in the sixth.

That set up the thrilling seventh. Ash Fork regained the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh. But in the bottom half, Gabaldon singled and Cox followed with his first career home run.

Walker got the win at pitcher. The games were played in Williams, where GCHS went 4-0 this year.

The Phantoms finish the season at 3-5 in the region, 9-11-1 overall.

Linescores

Friday at Williams

Game 1

Scoring by innings:

Ash Fork 300 205 0—10

Grand Canyon 401 330 x—11

2B—Joe Wilkerson, Michael Vincent, John Gabaldon. HR—Mitchell Walker.

WP—M. Vincent (4-4-1).

Game 2

Scoring by innings:

Ash Fork 022 300 3—10

Grand Canyon 000 333 2—11

2B—Shane Cox. 3B—Michael Vincent. HR—Mitchell Walker, Cox. WP—Walker (2-2).