As the players walked away from the team huddle following Kingman’s opening-season loss on Thursday, they moved slowly with stern looks on their faces. The loss to the Wildcats in El Dorado’s own McDonald Stadium wasn’t expected by any on the team.

The Eagles led the entire game until the bottom of the 6th inning when El Dorado scored four runs to take the lead by two. Kingman wasn’t able to reach home in the 7th inning and the Wildcats walked away with a victory, 11-9.

The general concensus amongst players as they made their way back to the dugout was a feeling of self-disappointment.

When asked what Head Coach Toby Munz told the team in the huddle, Aaron Minor responded, “We get down on ourselves but we got to get right back up.”

A few hours later, that’s just what they did.

Kingman responded by winning the next game of the triangle against Haven, 8-6. Five of Haven’s six runs were scored in the first inning. However, senior Danny Finder pitched four straight scorless innings to close the game.

“We came out real shaky, but you know, we were able to pull through and find a win,” said Aaron Minor, senior catcher. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Although the Eagles came away with a win, the team was still less than satisfied with its performance. As they walked to the bus for their ninety minute trip back home, there were mumblings from players that the day’s games were of their worst individual performances to date.

Despite the disappointment, Kingman still recognizes that a win is a win, regardless of the competition or score.

“(The win) feels good,” said Danny Finder. “Hopefully it’s the first of many.”

The Eagles, now 1-1, will look to improve on their last performance when they play Andover.

“We just need to cut down on a few little mistakes that lost us the game Thursday,” Austin Minor said. “Now that we have two games under our belt, we just need to go out there and let our talent and experience take over.”

The 0-4 Andover Trojans come to Kingman’s Riverside Park on Monday, April 5, to play a double-header starting at 4PM.

“They are off to a shaky start but we can’t overlook them,” said Austin Minor.