PRESCOTT — With Friday’s 3-0 win over region-rival Lee Williams, Prescott baseball notched its 15th win of the season.

It is the first time since 2019 the Badgers have reached that win total, with the 2016 club winning 20 games. That was the last season Prescott won a state playoff game, beating McClintock 8-7 before succumbing to Apollo, 3-2.

This season’s group seems to be leaning on “team chemistry” more and more as they near the end of the regular season.

“We are ready to play any team no matter how highly ranked, or how much better than us they are supposed to be,” outfielder Ryan Elliott said via text to AzPreps365.com.

The senior leads the team with 21 hits, two home runs and a triple with 17 RBIs. He was 1 for 3 with a double and two RBIs in Friday’s win over the Volunteers, which saw the Badgers plate three runs in the first inning and never look back.

Travis Gates twirled a gem, throwing seven innings of shutout baseball, allowing only six hits while striking out eight to earn the win.

Senior infielder Jack Burton said the Badgers (15-5, 8-2 4A Grand Canyon) need to play the “way we know how to.”

“I’m crazy confident in this team’s ability, we just need to put it all out there, trust ourselves, and our teammates,” Burton said.

That “ability” was highlighted in a recent game against cross-town rival Mingus when Prescott trailed 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning and rallied for seven runs to win it on a Cooper Magnett walk-off hit.

“A lot of teams would lose hope around that time, but our team stayed focused, and we wound up pulling off the come back,” Burton said.

Magnett was 2 for 4 with three RBIs in that win.

Four days later, Prescott beat the Marauders 5-3 for a season-high seven straight victories before two a pair of losses to No. 3 Flagstaff.

“This year has been full of good memories, but that one stands out,” Burton said, adding the pair against Bradshaw Mountain this coming week are big games for the No. 8-ranked Badgers.

“We want to win just as bad as the others, but these matter for the next step of placement in the region, and next the state seeding,” Burton said.

The No. 11-ranked Bears (14-7, 7-1 4A Grand Canyon) travel to Flagstaff on Monday, April 15, then host the Badgers on April 16 at 7 p.m. before wrapping up their own season in Prescott at 3 p.m. April 18.

Prescott skipper Barry Tolli said against good teams, it’s “vital to not give them free passes like walks and committing errors.”

“In a very competitive region, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will probably win,” Tolli said, adding his club is a little dinged up injury wise, but the team has pushed through.

“Our kids play hard and do not quit,” Tolli said. “I’m proud of the way they have faced adversity so far this year.”

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @AzPreps365Brian. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.