The Prescott Cardinals snapped a seven-game skid with back-to-back Middle Border Conference victories over the Amery Warriors last week.

Prescott’s drought was in large part because of the Cardinals’ grueling schedule, which included defeats against No. 5-ranked Altoona (D2), No. 1 Eau Claire Regis (D4), and West Salem, which is currently a top-20 Division 2 program.

The Cardinals defeated Amery 14-6 at home on Tuesday, May 2, and then won again two days later by the same margin at their place. For Prescott head coach Jeff Ryan, sweeping Amery was hopefully the spark his team needed to run the table through the final six games of the Middle Border Conference schedule.

“We expect to compete with everybody,” Ryan said. “We’re going in with the mindset of winning our last six conference games. I know it can happen, and our kids have to believe that it can happen too.”

If Prescott is going to salvage its season and finish above .500 and in the top half of the conference standings, it’s going to have to clean up issues that have plagued the Cardinals all season.

For coach Ryan, one of those improvements is getting pitchers to throw more strikes. Prescott’s first game of the series against Amery was a microcosm of the larger issues that have hampered the Cardinals consistently this year.

Junior Cullen Huppert surrendered five earned runs in four innings of work on the mound against Amery. A majority of the Warriors’ damage was in large part because of walks and Huppert’s pitch count, which ballooned to nearly 85 before his day ended early in the fifth inning.

“That many pitches in four and two-thirds innings of work will not get the job done,” Ryan said. “If you throw the ball over the plate, you’ve always got a chance to win and we’re just not doing that. I’m not blaming the kids, but you’ve got to compete and you can’t be afraid to fail. Our mental approach has got to get better.”

Despite scoring 14 runs, Prescott had its fair share of struggles at the plate. In several instances during that home game against Amery, Prescott batters struck out looking with runners on base. The Cardinals always want to be aggressive – both in the box and on the basepaths.

Throughout the 2023 campaign that hasn’t happened as often as Ryan would have liked, and he took accountability for not having his players as relentless as they need to be offensively.

“It’s frustrating, and no kid tries to strikeout or walk a kid, but it gets to a point where you have to perform,” Ryan said. “That’s why practice is so crucial, and I’ll take the blame for not getting these kids to concentrate better in practice. How you practice is how you play. We have to figure out how to adjust and compete because we’re not competing very well.”

Sophomore shortstop Barrett Temmers was one athlete who didn’t have to be pushed to compete at a high level during the Amery series. In that first game at Fire Hall Field, Temmers tallied four hits, two of which were doubles, had a pair of RBIs and scored four runs, but that wasn’t even the best part.

Temmers’ crown jewel came in the top of the fifth inning with two outs and Amery runners on first and third. That’s when senior designated hitter Logan Osero hit a screaming groundball up the middle that looked like it was going to be a base hit and drive in another run.

Except it wasn’t.

Temmers, who didn’t have time to field the ball clearly, ran behind second base and flipped the ball with his glove to the second baseman to record the out and end the inning. It saved at least one run and helped Prescott maintain its 11-5 advantage.

“That play that Barrett made behind second base was the best play I’ve seen in my 34 years of coaching, and I’ve seen a lot of baseball,” Ryan said. “I’ve never seen a play like that. It was the only way that he could have done it.”

Temmers, who had just made what coach Ryan called the best player he had seen in more than three decades, spoke of it as if it were just another standard play on the diamond.

“The ball got hit up the middle and I felt like I didn’t have enough time to set my feet and make a throw, so I just flipped it,” Temmers said of his SportsCenter-caliber play. “It feels pretty good to hear (coach Ryan) say that about it.”

The sophomore standout continued his excellence in the latter half of the season series at Amery two days later. Temmers tallied three hits, one of which was a triple, one RBI and scored three runs in the 14-6 victory.

Prescott now has its sights set on winning its last six Middle Border Conference games, which include series against Ellsworth, Baldwin-Woodville and Osceola. Temmers spoke about the final six league games.

“We need the mindset of knowing we can win,” Temmers said. “I think we can beat Ellsworth twice. Baldwin and Osceola are pretty good, but I think we could split or win them both. We’re feeling pretty good, but sometimes we lack confidence. We’re getting there though.”

The Cardinals are slated to be back in action on the road against Osceola on Monday, May 8. The first pitch for that contest is slated for 5 p.m.