Coyotes look to bounce back after loss to Wabash Valley

By Sally Sexton 

Courtesy of the Weatherford Democrat 

GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO — The Weatherford College Coyotes may be down, but they're not out. 

The Coyotes saw a 20-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night in a 14-4 loss to Wabash Valley at the 2023 Alpine Bank JUCO World Series, their first loss of the tournament. 

Head coach Jeff Lightfoot didn't mince words in his post-game conference on the team's start, which saw the Warriors open with a 4-1 lead after the first inning. 

"We were on the flip side of this Monday night," Lightfoot said of the Coyotes' 14-6 win over top-seeded Central Florida. "[Wabash] came out and hit us in the mouth. I didn't think we responded very well, I thought our body language was pretty poor and we didn't compete in some moments." 

WC got on the board first, with a Jack Arthur single to centerfield, scoring Jack Clarke. 

The Warriors responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, one in the second, and four more in the third, courtesy of a Nicklas Williams grand slam. 

Weatherford College called Joseph Carbone to the mound to settle things down a bit. 

"He hadn't thrown in awhile. He settled this thing down and did a great job of giving us a chance and putting up some zeroes," Lightfoot said. "We loaded [bases] up a few times and were kind of a big hit away from getting in the game, but they executed a pitch and came through in big spots." 

A late Coyote rally saw a Kevin Duran single score two runs in the top of the fourth, and WC took advantage of a fielding error in the next frame when Robin Villeneuve scored. 

But the Warriors added five more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the run-ruled victory. 

"We've won 20 games in a row and you think you're invincible a little bit — we got handled tonight pretty good," Lightfoot said. "Part of my job ... I'm going to get them rallied up come out here and compete. 

"Families stick together. We're a competitive team and it was an emotional moment, but we love each other in good times, and we love each other in bad times." 

Wabash Valley (53-11, 3-0), now the only undefeated team left in the tournament, will play Central Florida at 8 p.m. Thursday. 

Weatherford (52-10, 2-1) will take on Blinn in a now win-or-go-home moment, at 3 p.m. Thursday. 

"This is the difficult part of the tournament where they're coming off a win and we're coming off a loss," Lightfoot said. "We've got to shake off that mentality and be who we're supposed to be. 

"It all starts with a quality start, good energy on the mound and fly around on defense."