Kofa Kings Pull Away Late, Defeating Gila Ridge Hawks 12-2

Ryan Rosas stepped to the plate in the bottom of the third inning with Kofa trailing 2-0 and put the Kings ahead to stay with a two-run home run that turned a deficit into a rout.

Gila Ridge had looked sharp early. Joel Raymundo opened the scoring in the top of the second when his ground ball slipped through the infield, allowing Noah Caza to score on a headfirst slide for a 1-0 lead. Connor Zimmerman followed with an RBI grounder to push the Hawks' advantage to 2-0.

Kofa answered in the third. Ozzie Ortiz, who finished with five hits on the day, sparked the rally with a hit through the infield. Two batters later, Rosas sent the Kings ahead with his two-run shot, and Kofa's lineup never looked back. The Kings piled on runs through the later innings to close out a 12-2 final, a 10-run margin that completed their second win over Gila Ridge in three days after an 8-0 victory earlier in the week.

On the mound, Gael Vargas was dominant. He worked five innings without allowing a single earned run while striking out ten batters. The performance carried particular weight given a telling team split: Kofa is 2-1 when Vargas allows at most one earned run, but 4-6 in all other outings.

Julio Reina contributed 2-for-4 at the plate with a triple, one RBI, and two runs scored. That two-run threshold has proven significant for the Kings, who are undefeated when Reina crosses it but 3-7 when he falls short. Gerardo Parra also scored, recording his first run of the 2026 season.

With the victory, Kofa improved to 7-7 overall. Gila Ridge dropped to 2-10 and has now lost four straight. The Hawks will get another shot at the Kings in a rematch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.