Yuma tops Somerton 9-2, extends winning streak to seven games

Ethan Schmidgall’s standup double opened the kind of inning that can turn a local rivalry into a full-night event at Curley Culp Memorial Stadium, and Yuma made the most of it. The Criminals scored in bunches Tuesday night, pulling away from Somerton for a 9-2 win that extended their winning streak to seven games and kept their home crowd locked in late.

Yuma entered the game already rolling and turned a 6-1 lead into something more decisive in the sixth inning. Schmidgall’s double put pressure on Somerton right away, and Roman Jacobo followed with an opposite-field hit that drove in a run. The Criminals kept adding from there, pushing across two more runs before closing out the game in the seventh and leaving little doubt about the outcome.

For Somerton, the night became another step in the wrong direction. The Toros have now lost three straight, and while they pushed across a run in the final inning, they never solved Yuma’s offense or its ability to keep the pressure on through the middle innings. What had the feel of a competitive region game shifted quickly once Yuma started stacking hits and forcing Somerton to chase.

The victory moved Yuma to 13-7-2 on the season, while Somerton dropped to 6-12. For a county where baseball remains one of the clearest spring markers of school pride, those records matter beyond the standings. A seven-game run gives the Criminals momentum in the region race and adds fuel to the kind of bragging rights that travel through classrooms, dugouts and family conversations across Yuma County.

Yuma head coach Nick Johnson pointed to the work the players had put in all year, even during stretches when the results were not always coming. Tuesday’s win looked like the payoff for that steady effort, with Yuma turning a rivalry game into another reason for fans to keep showing up and making Curley Culp Memorial Stadium part of the local routine.