The High Desert Middle School Tigers’ season came to an end in the championship game of the Central Junior High League, where they fell 8-4 to the top-seeded Eloy Junior High School Blue Devils.

“The season was a success,” said head coach Jason Ramos. “From the kids that came on, they hadn’t played but we’ve seen improvements all around. You win them and you lose them. I told them to hold their heads up high and continue to get better.”

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Eloy added a run in the bottom half.

High Desert had a runner thrown out at home in the second inning and had two strikeouts. In the bottom of the second, the Blue Devil offense came to life, scoring five runs – capitalizing on Tiger errors.

“You can’t make errors against a team like this. Wwe walked one of their best hitters to get us in a better spot to get a third out but we had an error,” said Ramos.

In the top of the third inning, High Desert tried to rally. Drew Hernandez and Braden Wager crossed home plate to keep the Tigers within striking distance but the inning ended with two players stranded in scoring position.

Eloy added single runs in the final two innings to take the championship.

The Tigers finished the season 8-2. They had a mix of seventh and eighth graders on the team, leading Ramos to believe that High Desert will have a good core team next season.

“I thought we had this game, but to get defeated hurts,” said Ramos. “I give it all to my players because they put on the gloves and stand up there to hit the ball. I just try to teach them the fundamentals of baseball.”

A slew of Tigers were named to the All-Tournament team after the championship: Braden Wager, Sir Sneezy, Daniel Ramos, Drew Hernandez and Ben Layton.