Yuma High beats Arcadia, earns state tournament berth

A sixth-inning breakthrough and a clean defensive finish kept Yuma High’s season alive at Doan Field, where the Criminals beat Arcadia 4-2 and punched their ticket to the 4A state tournament’s first round.

The win mattered beyond one night’s scoreboard. In the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s 16-team 4A bracket, eight ranked teams and eight conference play-in winners advance into the championship field, so Yuma’s victory was not just survival, it was a direct qualifier into the state tournament. For a home crowd following Yuma High baseball, the result extended the season and confirmed that the Criminals can still win under pressure.

Sophomore right-hander Joseph Pastrana set the tone early, working through a pitcher’s duel and keeping Arcadia off balance for much of the game. Yuma needed that kind of start after a recent 5-1 loss to Kofa, and Pastrana delivered one of his strongest outings of the season when the margin for error was smallest.

The game turned in the bottom of the sixth. Roman Jacobo reached base on a misplayed ball, and Jack Bouts followed with the biggest swing of the night, a ground-rule double into the left-center gap that drove in two insurance runs and pushed Yuma in front 4-1. That hit gave the Criminals breathing room and shifted the pressure squarely onto Arcadia.

Arcadia made one last push in the seventh. Caleb Young doubled and scored as the visitors cut the deficit to 4-2, but Yuma answered with the kind of infield play that ends postseason rallies. Third baseman Jaxson Gastelum handled a clutch double play, stepping on third and firing to first to close the door and secure the win.

AZPreps365’s bracket listing recorded the final as Yuma 4, Arcadia 2 in the 2026 Baseball 4A Conference Play-In. The same site listed Pastrana as pitch-count restricted until May 4 after throwing 97 pitches on April 29, while Bouts was restricted until May 2 after throwing 99 pitches on April 27. Those restrictions underscore how heavily Yuma has leaned on a small core of arms during the stretch run.

For Yuma High, the payoff is a place in the state bracket and another chance to keep playing meaningful baseball. The Criminals now move from a do-or-die play-in into the first round with momentum, a tested pitching staff and a home-field win that showed they can hold up when the postseason tightens.