The AZ Athletics 18U team culminated a very competitive Connie Mack State Tournament with a 7-2 win over AZ Pro White to claim the title on Sunday morning. Steven Kane tossed a complete game to earn the win. Brandon Demarest drove in 5 runs for the A's on a pair of doubles.

Jared Gaynor gets the sign (L) Oscar Gonzalez beats Jorge Ozuna's tag

Jordan Spaulding throws across (L) Steven Kane works for the A's

All Star Baseball 17 defeated a tough AZ Athletics squad to claim the Don Mattingly State Tournament and win the paid berth to the Mattingly World Series. Joey Curletta got the win on the mound.

July 18, 2011

All Star Baseball Academy-Romero bashed their way to the 2011 Mickey Mantle State Championship on Saturday night, defeating ASBA-LeBrun 17-7 in the championship game.

ASBA Romero pounded out 76 runs in 5 games during the tourney, and now head to the Mantle Western Region Champiosnhip in West Covina, CA beginning this Thursday.

Sister team ASBA Lebrun played very well all week as well. This is the 15U ASBA team and the defending Sandy Koufax World Series Champion of a year ago.

This makes back to back state titles for ASBA Romero, who qualified for regional last year as 15 year olds.

It also makes two state championships so far this summer for ASBA, who last week took the title in the Sandy Koufax division.

Its about time people start giving Director Jonn Freitas and his players and coaches some love here. Great job guys.

July 15, 2011

The Angels 2012 White team has concluded play in Georgia at the Perfect Game 17U Championships. The Angels fared well, going 4-1, finishing second in their pool and receiving an at large spot in the championship bracket. After a first round win they ran up against a tough ABD Bulldog team and were eliminated.

If you are looking for a local camp opportunity, Grand Canyon will be hosting a 2 day hitting camp on July 21-22. Click here for details.

July 9, 2011

Congratulations to the All Star Baseball Academy 14U team for winning the state tournament and earning a berth in the Sandy Koufax World Series as the Host team. ASBA defeated a game Halos Red team 2 out of 3 times in the tourney, including an 8-0 win in the final.

July 7, 2011

Arizona teams fared very well in the Firecracker Classic tournament in California.

The Diamondbacks 17U team won the championship at the Firecracker Classic in California. With the win the DBacks get a paid berth in the Don Mattingly World Series July 26-31.

The AZ valley Dogs (aka Wildfire) defeated All Star baseball Academy 4-3 in the championship game of the 16U division. The Dogs get a berth in the Mickey Mantle Western Regional.

June 27, 2011

The Arizona Firebirds went undefeated against a very tough field to emerge as the champion of the 2011 National Connie Mack World Series Qualifier. With the win the 'birds head to the CM WS in Farmington, N.M. August 5-12, 2011.

Great pitching performances, were the story of the week, including complete games from Nick Diamond (1 run allowed) Michael Howard and Stephen Tarpley (both shutouts). Diamond would also throw 3 shutout innings in relief in the championship game and was named the Most valuable Pitcher for the tournament.

Dallas Patriots' CF Tyler Coker received the Big Stick Award for the top offensive performer of the tournament.

Here is the Firebirds roster:

The Arizona Diamondbacks 16U Red team made the best showing by an AZ team in years at the USA Baseball 16U Championships, eventually taking 4th place in the 72 team field.

All Star Baseball Academy entered the championship round as the 4th seed overall and The Show from Tucson as the 3rd seed.

Other AZ teams who qualified for the championship round were SABA (11), AZ Diamondbacks Red (12), and Warriors Baseball (19). With 6 teams qualifying for championship round play it was the best overall AZ performance in recent memory.

Team AZ took 3rd place in the Heartland Classic (formerly Senior Sunbelt) Tournament.

Nathaniel Causey homered 6 times in the event and was named to the All- Tournament team along with Steven Kane from Sunrise Mountain.

June 16, 2011

Team AZ couldn't get the bats going in the 3rd place game at the Junior Sunbelt, falling 2-0 to Georgia in the team's final game in the tourney.

Jaren Drummond started on the mound and tossed 3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit. AZ only managed 3 hits on the day.

June 14, 2011

The undefeated Tennessee team got  the better of Team AZ 10-7 in Tuesday's second game for AZ.

Joey Curletta's solo shot in the bottom of the second put AZ up early 1-0. Tenn immediately responded with 3 runs in the top of the third and 3 in the fourth.

Caleb Wood and Zach Gibbons each had a pair of hits for AZ. Curletta, Wood and David Graybill homered for AZ.

Garrett Jeffries took the loss on the mound.

Team AZ passed the first of  today's two stiff tests, defeating Georgia 8-4. Zach Gibbons, David Graybill and Juan Gamez all homered. Gamez went 2-3 on the day. Cody Moffett  worked 5 2/3 innings for the win, scattering 6 hits and allowing 4 runs. Nick Diamond went the last 1  1/3 for the save.

AZ is playing the undefeated Tennessee now.

June 13, 2011

Team AZ continued its destruction of opposing pitching, homering 6 times in a 19-6 pounding of Mississippi.

AZ jumped out to an early 5-0 first inning lead keyed by a two run blasts from Marcus Wheeler and Brendon Erickson. Mississippi would score a run of their in the bottom of the first.

In the second, AZ blew it open. Emo Torrez was hit by pitch to start the inning. Nelson Benjamin and Zach Gibbons  followed with walks to load the bases, before David Graybill connected on a grand slam. Wheeler and Joey Curletta then drew back to back walks and Cooper Smith singled to load the bags again. Torrez would follow with a bases clearing double and it was good night now.

Zack Gibbons homered with Caleb Wood aboard in the 3rd, and 2 batters later Wheeler added his second blast of the day, a solo shot. Cody Moffett finished the homer barrage with a 2 run tater in the 4th.

AZ finished with 14 hits on the day, with 11 different players collecting knocks. Mississippi helped the cause as well, committing 4 errors. 

Tuesday looks to be a difficult day, as AZ faces Georgia and the tournament's lone undefeated team, Tennessee in back to back games. AZ is now 6-1 in the tourney and has won 6 games in a row.

June 12, 2011

Team AZ battled back from an early deficit to claim a 5-4 win over Oklahoma Blue. Zach (The Toy Cannon) Gibbons, unloaded for his 4th bomb of the tournament. Garrett Jeffries knocked in a pair of runs for Arizona.

Zach Smutzer, Nelson Benjamin and Brendon Erickson combined on the mound to earn the win. AZ moves to 4-1 inthe tourney.

On Monday, the Zonies face Mississippi at 2:00 pm local time.

Ben Skuro allowed a lead off single and a solo run in the 1st inning but tossed no hit ball the rest of the way as Team AZ took a 15-1 win over Missouri. AZ pounded out 12 hits including 3 homers and stole 6 bags en route to the  thrashing.

AZ broke open a 1-1 game with a 5 run second inning. The 2 teams traded zeros until the sixth when Caleb Wood homered with West Tunnell aboard. In the 7th, AZ would hang a crooked 7  keyed by  a solo blast from Nick Diamond and Cody Moffett's grand slam.

Nelson Benjamin, in the lead off hole, went 2-5 and scored 3 runs. Caleb Wood went 2-4 with a double and homer and knocked in 3 runs. Ten Arizona players had hits.

Brendon Erickson launched a a pair of scuds and knocked in 5 runs to lead Team AZ to a 12-1 win over Colorado yesterday at the Junior Sunbelt. Nick Diamond doubled, tripled and went 3-4 with 2 RBIs. Zach Gibbons also went 3-4 with 2 steaks.

Jaren Drummond got the win on the mound, working 4 strong innings and allowing only 1 run, a first inning solo homer. Jeremy Timpf worked 2 scoreless innings in relief.

The AZ lads tee it up with Missouri today at 2:00 and Oklahoma Blue at 5:45 local time.

June 11, 2011

Team AZ moved to 2-1 in the Junior Sunbelt tournament with a 12-3 win over Canada. Zach Gibbons once again provided the fireworks, cranking his second homer of the tourney and going 2-4 with 4 RBIs. AZ also got long balls from Joey Curletta and Caleb Wood. Nelson Benjamin went 2-3 and scored 3 runs. On the hill, Andrew Naderer earned the win with 5 strong innings, allowing only 3 runs.

Zach Gibbons homered and went 2-4 with 3 RBIs as Team AZ dropped Oklahoma Gold 6-3 at the Junior Sunbelt Friday. Brendon Erickson went 2-3 with a double and drove in a pair of runs.

AZ got behind 3-0 early before knotting the score in the bottom of the second and then tacking on 3 more in the 4th. Garrett Jeffries worked 3 innings before giving way to Caleb Wood, who tossed 4 scoreless innings of one hit ball.

June 10, 2011

The AZ Junior Sunbelt team dropped their opener to Texas this morning by a score of 7-6. After falling behind 3-0 early due to some shaky  defense, AZ rallied with 5 runs in the 3rd. Marcus Whheeler tripled and scored on a Nick Diamond hit. Aaron Smith would later go deep for a 3 run jack.

Texas would win it in the ninth after a questionable call on a play at first and a seeing eye grounder that drove in the game winner.

Cody Moffett started for Team AZ and threw well.

June 8, 2011

The AZ Sabercats 16U team is now 4-0 and has gone unscored upon in their 4 games.  Friday night they won 3-0 and 10-0 against the Hammer with Logan Peterson and Nick Meservey throwing complete game shutouts. 

Last night they beat Extreme Baseball 16U by 3-0 and 9-0 margins.  Michael Bloom and Logan Peterson combined on the first game shutout and Stephen Gifford, Nick Meservey, Brett Adams and Logan Peterson worked the second game.  Offensive highlights: In Game 1 Eric Cabrera went 2-3 and Brett Adams went 3-3 with a 2B and 3B.  Adams scored 2 runs and drove in the third.  In Game 2, Adams and Meservey each went 3-4 while Turner Lace and Matt Mara each had 2 hits.

June 7, 2011

Congratulations to the winning teams at The 4 Corner Classic:

18U DBacks 18 Red

16U The Show

14U All Star Baseball

The AZ Athletics had a good showing as well, playing in the championship games in the 16U and 18U division. The 18U and 17U teams went a combined 5-1 in Pool play.

All Star Baseball's 18 and 17 teams both went 2-1

The DBacks 4 teams in 18U all won their pools and went a combined 9-1-2.

The Angels 4 teams went a combined 7-8 in pool play in the 18U division. While none of their 18U teams won their pool and advanced to bracket play, one of the 3 16U teams did win a pool.

May 15, 2011

Saguaro broke open atie game in the top of the 7th by exploding for 7 runs to defeat Sunrise Mountain in the 4AI state title game.

The Sabercats started the scoring in the third with singles from Kyle Young and Matt Morris. Austin Reed would follow with a 3 run homer to left. The 'cats would add a solo run in the fourth to take a 4-0 advantage.

Sunrise would answer right back. Catcher Adam Webb homered into the bullpen in left, followed by a Brick Paskiewicz base hit. Austin Byler then scorched an RBI double into the corner in right. Tyler Crawford singled in Byler and Nick White followed with another single. Drew Wolff then doubled in 2 runs to tie the game at 4.

Sunrise took a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the 4th but Saguaro did not relent, scoring solo runs in the 5th and 6th to tie things at six.

The big blow in the 7th was a bases clearing triple by Matt Morris to give Saguaro a 10-6 lead.

Chris Freudenberg got the win in relief of Travis Steinheiser.

Chris Freudenberg on the hill (L) Nick White throws across for Sunrise

A 7 run third inning powered the Chaparral Firebirds to a 10-3 victory over Perry for the 5AII championship. Nick Deregis tripled and Kyle Toth both had 2 RBI triples in the inning. The 'birds would add 3 more in the 6th. Nick Diamond got the win on the mound with relief help from Peter Lehnstrom.

Jordan Kipper singled home Scott Kingery in the  bottom of the 8th inning to give Mountain Pointe the 5AI title over Hamilton 7-6. Kevin Cron went the distance on the hill while Jake Andrews worked 7 strong innings for Hamilton.

Catalina broke up a 1-1 tie in the 9th inning by scoring 7 times en route to an 8-4 win over Thunderbird for he 4AII title.

Nick Johnson cranked a long 2 run homer in the bottom of the 9th to give Blue Ridge an 8-6 win over Estrella Foothills for the 3A title. Johnson also earned the win on the mound.

May 14, 2011

Saguaro's Michael Benson turned in a dominant complete game effort as the Sabercats advanced to the 4AI final with a 5-1 win over Catalina Foothills. Benson scattered 6 hits and struck out 10.

Saguaro would jump out to a first inning lead on a lead off triple by Austin Anderson and an RBI ground out by Zach Gibbons, and would score a pair in the third to take a 3-0 lead.

Michael Benson carving some Falcon (L) A.J. Muscarello throws across for Foothills

Sunrise Mountain dropped a game Sabino squad 3-2 with senior lefty Tyler Crawford working 6 1/3 solid innings for the win. Crawford also helped his own cause with a 6th inning base hit that eventually resulted in a  run when Steven Kane's sharp single to right scored Crawford's courtesy runner with an important insurance run to give the Mustangs a 3-1 lead.

Sabino would threaten in the top of the the 7th, putting runners at second and thrid with one out. Aaron Bummer would come in to relieve Crawford, and the senior would uncork a wild pitch to allow the 'cats to pull within one before striking out the next two hitters.

Austin Byler homered to lead off the first inning for Sunrise.

Sabino junior right hander Jeremy Timpf was the tough luck loser, tossing a complete game for  Sabino.

Tyler Crawford helps send Sunrise to the title game

May 13, 2011

Chaparral outlasted Horizon to move on to the 5AII final on Thursday night, taking the evening's second game 8-6.

The Huskies forced the decisive nightcap in a wild slugfest played in very windy conditions, winning game one 18-11. Horizon jumped out early, scoring a solo run the top of the first and leading 5-1 entering the bottom of the third. Despite starter Tanner Horn seeming to be in total control, Horizon made a pitching change. Chap would immediately explode for a 7 spot, keyed by homers from AJ Schillinger and Nick Diamond. Horizon would tie things in the top of the 4th, before Chance Adams would play long ball sending Chap back in front 11-8. In the top of the 6th, Horizon would end the suspense, hanging 8 runs on the board and forcing the day's second game.

The wind died down significantly for game 2, and once again Horizon would jump to an early 1-0 1st inning lead. Sophomore Tyler Messer, who had thrown in relief in game 1, got the start for Horizon, and blanked Chap for the 1st 3 innings as the Firebirds couldn't solve the sub 70 MPH gravity balls. Messer would depart in the 5th with a 6-4 lead after Chap scored two in the third and fourth innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, Horizon would send Nick Valenza to the mound for his third appearance of the week. Eric Brossart would start things with a single. His courtesy runner advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a Joey Bielek single. Jordie Hein followed with a triple over the center fielders head to knot the game at 6. Nick Deregis would then flare a ball to right, giving the 'birds a 7-6 lead, and AJ Schillinger ended the scoring with a shot off the wall in right for a triple.

May 12, 2011

 The Saguaro Sabercats beat the Sunnyslope Vikings 6-1 last night at Camelback Ranch. The Sabercats were led by the pitching of Senior left-hander Chris Freudenberg who took a no-hitter into the 5th. Freudenberg only gave up one hit over 6 innings, striking out 2 Vikings in the process. Kane McCaslin pitched the 7th, also strking out 2. The Sabercats were led offensively by Matt Morris who went 3-3 on the evening including a double high off the wall in spacious Camelback Ranch. Chris Akmon had 2 hits and Brendon Demerest had a double and an RBI. Saguaro plays Catalina Foothills on Friday at 4:00 at C-R in a rematch of last year's State Championship game.

May 11, 2011

Mesquite run ruled Brophy 12-2 with Zach Davies getting the win on the mound. Lane Doty, garrett Jeffries and Spencer Applebach all had 2 hit games for the Wildcats.

Dylan Barrett scattered 4 hits in a complete game effort as Desert Ridge eliminated Gilbert 6-3.  The game was scoreless into the fifth when Gilbert's Dustin Peterson doubled in the game's first run. The Jags bounced back by hanging a 6 spot in the bottom half, all with 2 outs.

Horizon 13 Desert Mountain 2 (5 innings)

Horizon scored in every inning, and Nick Valenza beat Desert Mountain for the 2nd time in less than a week as the Huskies ended the Wolves' season with a 13-2, 5 inning rout at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. A 2-run double by Zach Stierstorfer in the 1st inning got the Huskies out to a 3-0 lead, then Horizon added 4 more runs in the 2nd to break the game open. Stierstorfer (5 RBI's), Michael McNamara (4 RBI's), Kyle Woods, Jordan Dunatov and Valenza all had 2 hits as the Huskies pounded out 13 hits in 5 innings. Valenza gave up just 1 hit in 3 innings of work, striking out 4, as the Huskies move on to face Chaparral on Thursday in the Pool B finals. Lucas Jacobi had 2 hits and 2 RBI's for Desert Mountain, the Desert Valley Region regular season champions.
 

MILLENNIUM 7 BOULDER CREEK 0


Millennium’s 7-0 win over #1 seed Boulder Creek, put them in the semi-finals of the 5A II State Tournament for the first time in the school’s history. The Tigers got another great pitching effort from senior Tatum Hendrix, who followed up his gritty 9-8 complete-game victory over Pinnacle, with a masterful 3-hit shutout over a team that entered the game with a .348 TEAM batting average. Hendrix is now 9-4 on the season, with a 2.50 ERA and 3 shut-outs among his 7 complete games. He kept the Jags off-balance all night, finishing with 10 K’s, 5 of them looking.

As has been the case all season, the Tigers got offensive production from almost all of the nine starters and jumped out to an early lead. They also benefited from some shaky Boulder Creek defense early in the game. Millennium scored 3 runs in the first inning on only 1 hit and carried that momentum throughout the game. The Tigers ended up with a solid 10-hit attack which included 3 doubles and a triple.
Here is a brief offensive summary:

Anthony Davison: 2-4, double, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Tyler Booth: 2-4, double, 1 RBI, 1 run scored
Nyles Fowler: 2-4, triple, 1 RBI
Tatum Hendrix 2-4, double
Josh Rojas: 1-2, 2 runs scored
Austin Hoffman: 1-2, 2 runs scored

 

May 10, 2011

Missed from last week:

Highland 4 - Casa Grande 3

Highland beat Casa Grande on Nolan Whittlesey night Tuesday. Whittlesey pitched a complete game and hit a 3 run opposite field home run to provide the edge offensively. Highland was up one to nothing after 2 on an RBI single by Tyler Clancy who scored Jordan Peterson who had walked and stole second. In the third, Noe' Mitchell and Gentry Kinsella led off with a singles. Christian Jantze sacrificed them ahead, but that didn't matter as Whittlesey launched his bomb for the balance of Highland's runs.

Casa Grande mounted a rally in the 5th when Tyler Elliot hit a two run bomb scoring Tyler Norris who had walked. The top of the 7th was a nail biter as pinch hitter Coronado was hit by a pitch. After a strike out, lead-off batter Donny Vicari doubled to leave the tying run at second. Coach Scott Cook came out to talk to Whittlesey and might've even had the hook, but Nolan stayed in to finish. Cooper Esmay hit a deep fly to right to score Coronado but Sergio Conoles flied out to right to end the game.

Highland
Whittlesey (W) 7 IP, 7H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5K, 2BB, 1-3 HR, 3 RBI
Kinsella 2-3 R
Westin Wiederhold 2-3
Noe' Mitchell 3-3 R

Casa Grande
Ram Ortega (L) 5IP, 8H, 4R, 4 ER, 1K, 1BB
Vicari 3-4 2B, SB
Elliot 2-3, HR, 2RBI

 

May 9, 2011

 In a 3½ hour playoff matchup between regional rivals, Chaparral prevailed over Horizon 12-11 in a nine inning thriller at Surprise Stadium Saturday night.


The game had something for every baseball fan – big hits, clutch pitching, tough defense, coaching strategy, small ball – and both teams battled to the end in a back-&-forth classic.

The see-saw struggle ended in the ninth when Joey Bielek came through with his biggest hit of the year on a two-out shot to the fence that brought in the winning run and emptied the dugout as the Firebirds swarmed home plate in celebration. Bielek continues to swing a hot bat with a 24 game hitting streak that warrants consideration for player of the year honors.

The victory marks the team’s third straight tournament win, moving Chaparral into the 5A-II Pool Championship game on Thursday where they will play the winner of the Loser Bracket (Horizon vs. Desert Mountain – stay tuned!).

#6 Horizon wasted little time getting on the scoreboard when Tanner Horn hit a 2-run HR to take an early 2 – 0 lead. But Chaparral answered big-time with a seven-hit barrage that scored seven runs, chasing Huskies starting pitcher Dean Jackson. Joey Bielek, Jordie Hein, Colby Targun, Nick DeRegis, Dillon Bigcrane, Kyle Toth, & Chance Adams all had hits as the Firebirds brought ten batters to the plate to take a 7 – 2 lead after one inning.

The Firebirds threatened to run away with the game when they added three more runs in the second. Jordie Hein hit a lead-off single followed by a Nick DeRegis 2-run blast over the 400’ marker in dead center for his team-leading 11th HR of the year, putting him in the school record books (tied for second behind Paul Konerko’s ’94 season record of 13). Colby Targun tripled, then scored when AJ Schillinger hit a sac fly to take a 10 – 2 lead.

But any thoughts of a one-sided landslide quickly disappeared as Horizon climbed back into the game with a third inning six-hit rally that produced five runs. Johnny Rubino got the Huskies started with a lead-off single - his first of three hits in the game – proving to be one of the toughest outs of the season. In three games against the Firebirds, Rubino reached base in 11 of 13 PA & scored seven times. Also contributing to the rally were Jordon Dunatov with an rbi triple, Michael McNamara, Luke Messer, & Tanner Horn with hits that cut the lead to 10 – 7.

The rejuvenated Huskies shut down Chaparral 1-2-3 in the bottom of the third and suddenly it was a new ballgame. But after three innings of offensive firepower that produced 17 combined runs, defense and great pitching by both teams took over resulting in three straight shutout innings. Horizon’s Julian Carlos held the Firebirds to three hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Peter Lenstrohm came in to stop the Huskies third inning rally & pitched four+ solid innings.

Horizon threatened in the sixth when a runner tried to score from third on a short fly ball. But Chaparral came up with a huge defensive play to end the inning on Nick Diamond’s catch & throw from the outfield and the runner was called out at home for interference.

With hits at a premium, the Firebirds tried to manufacture a run with a first-third delayed steal, but Horizon executed perfect defense to easily tag out the runner at home and end the sixth inning with the score remaining 10 – 7.

Trailing by three runs and down to their final out, Horizon never panicked. Ryan Hand hit a single that drove in a run to keep the Huskies alive. Representing the tying run, pinch-hitter Nick Valenza came to the plate, and on a two-strike count tattooed the ball into the left field bullpen and just like that the game was tied.

Leading off the seventh, AJ Schillinger reached on a throwing error and Chaparral played small ball strategy. Pinch-hitter Eric Brossart laid down a perfect bunt to advance the runner into scoring position, but Valenza struck out two batters to send the game into extra innings.

Rubino hit a leadoff single to start the eighth. Nevin Wilson entered in relief, got the first out then walked two batters to load the bases. A popup made out #2, but Horizon scored on a wild pitch/passed ball to take an 11 – 10 lead before Wilson ended the inning with a strikeout.

Having led almost the entire game, it was Chaparral’s turn to show its muster. With two outs and runners at second & third, AJ Schillinger came through with a clutch hit up the middle, bringing in Jordie Hein from third to tie the game, but Nick DeRegis was called out at home on a perfect throw from CF Tanner Horn to extend the game another inning.

Valenza got a leadoff single for the Huskies in the ninth, but Wilson was on a mission and the hard-throwing lefty was overpowering with a strikeout & double-play to end the inning.

Bielek’s walk-off in the ninth was the play of the game; however, Nick Diamond’s ninth-inning lead-off single that turned out to be the winning run deserves mention as one of the best at bats of the season.

May 8, 2011

 MILLENNIUM 6 CIBOLA 2

In a well-pitched, well-played game the Millennium Tigers advanced to the next round with a 6 - 2 win over Cibola. The visiting Raiders wasted no time getting on the board as leadoff hitter Miguel Corral lined the second pitch of the game into center for a solid single, moved to second on Braden Easley’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Krysthinan Leal’s single to right. Four pitches - 1 run, and the next 2 batters reached base on an error and another single. Tiger starter, Austin Hoffman was looking at a bases-loaded, one-out jam - already down 1-0. He threw 4 more pitches, inducing two weak grounders and the inning (and Cibola’s offense) was over. Hoffman cruised through the remaining 6 innings virtually unscathed except for a meaningless, unearned run in the 7th. Hoffman needed only 84 pitches (60 of them strikes) to secure the win. He’s 10 - 0 on the season and has lowered his ERA to 2.06.

Hoffman is proving to be a big part of the Millennium offense, too. Aided by two Cibola errors, the Tigers bounced back with 3 runs in their half of the first. The big blow was Hoffman’s 2-out, RBI double in the left-center gap. An error and third baseman Nyles Fowler’s single produced the other 2 runs. The Tigers added single runs in the 3rd, 5th and 6th innings for the final margin of victory. Tyler Booth led off the third with his 7th triple of the season, and scored on Hoffman’s sacrifice fly. That was Tyler’s 18th career triple which sets a new 5A State Record. Millennium’s run in the 5th came from Tatum Hendrix’ inside-the-park homerun. Tatum’s blast almost cleared the left-field fence anyhow, and when the Raider left-fielder’s all-out effort sent him crashing into the wall, the always-hustling Hendrix easily scored standing up. In the 6th, right-fielder Geno Jacobs led off with a bunt single, advanced to second on Nyles Fowler’s sacrifice bunt, and eventually scored the final Tiger run on Jake Newsome’s sacrifice fly.

Desert Mountain 4 Ironwood Ridge 3

Austin Mill hit a walk off home run over the 380 foot sign in left center field in the 7th inning as Desert Mountain eliminated Ironwood Ridge, 4-3 in a game played at Camelback Ranch. The Wolves have now won 3 playoff games in their final at bat, with Mill now having two of those hits. Desert Mountain took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning on a leadoff walk by Mill, a double by Lucas Jacobi, an RBI single by Drew McLaughlin and a sacrifice fly by David Greer. The inning could have been even bigger if it weren't for a spectacular running catch in deep center field by Brandon Matthews, who then quickly got the ball back to the infield in time to double McLaughlin off first. Starting pitcher Will Jones was cruising into the 3rd inning until a dropped fly ball in center field and throwing error led to 3 unearned runs after a 2-RBI single by Jake Matthews, giving Ironwood Ridge a 3-2 lead. Cody Erickson's RBI single to right tied the score 3-3 in the 5th inning before Mill ended it with his 1-out blast in the bottom of the 7th.

Jones was tremendous on the hill for the Wolves, pitching a complete game 4-hitter while striking out 6 batters and allowing no earned runs. Kyle Petty was the tough luck loser for Ridge, allowing just 3 earned runs on 7 hits in 6 1/3 innings and recording 4 strikeouts. Desert Mountain advances to play Horizon at 4pm Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, with the winner facing Chaparral for the Pool B championship. The Desert Mountain/Horizon winner will have to beat Chaparral twice on Thursday to advance to Saturday's 5 A II state championship game.

Junior lefty Jaren Drummond went the distance as Perry upended #1 seed Boulder Creek in the 5AII state tourney 5-3. David Walker, Chris Spelts,and Max Arredondo each had 3 hits for Perry.

Hamilton trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the third but the Huskies erupted for a 10 spot to cruise to a 14-4 win over Brophy.

Kevin Cron tossed a complete game and cranked a massive home run to lead Mountain Pointe to a 2-1 win over Gilbert. Cron and Gilbert lefy Stephen Tarpley locked horns in a real battle of arms. Scott Kingery's RBI single in the fifth proved to be the game winner.

Palo Verde... 0 0 1 0 1 X X - 2
Notre Dame.. 5 1 1 3 2 X X - 12

Notre Dame's Tayler Scott belted the first pitch he saw over the left center field fence for a lead off home run and Joe Luvisi lined a RBI double on the last pitch of the game to complete the 5 inning run rule victory in round 1 of the playoffs.

There were plenty of fireworks in between for the Saints where every player in their line up produced positively in their offensive attack:
Tayler Scott- 3 hits including 2 home runs, 2 RBI and scoring 3 runs on the day
Casey Scott- on base 4 times including a single and scoring 3 runs
Joe Luvisi- 2 doubles,2 RBI and a run scored
Joey Greco- a double, a RBI, and a run scored
Brian Poupore- a double and a run scored
Greg Hopkins- 2 singles,a RBI, and a run scored
Ryan Scott- 2 singles including a critical 2 out hit in the first inning driving in 2 runs and scored a run
David Wynne- single with 2 big first inning RBI's
Sam Griffen - walked twice and scored a run

On the mound Tayler Scott picked up the win escaping a critical first inning bases loaded jam. Scott went 4 innings allowing 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 4. Sam Napp pitched an effective 5th inning allowing 1 run on a fly ball that got lost in the sun and became an RBI triple for Palo Verde's Arvizu who contributed 3 of Palo Verde's 5 hits on the day. Starting pitcher S. Almeraz took the loss for Palo Verde.

Notre Dame (17-11) will take on Mingus in a quarterfinal game at 4pm on May 11th in Peoria.

 

May 6, 2011

Mike Zoemisch tossed six solid innings to lead Dobson to a 5-2 win over Trevor Browne in a 5AI elimination game. DJ Carr worked a perfect 7th to earn the save. Dobson scored 4 times in the 2nd inning, thanks in large part to some sketchy TB defense.

Osman Dominguez squares one up for TB (L) Mike Zoemisch gazes in for the sign

Desert Ridge scored 6 times in a marathon first inning and held on as the Jags eliminated Salpointe 8-5 at Phoenix Muni. Keaton Cenatiempo got the win for DR.

MILLENNIUM 9 PINNACLE 8

In a 9-8 baseball game you don’t expect to hear about pitching heroics or a complete-game victory, but that is the big story here. Millennium’s Tatum Hendrix survived the Tiger’s shoddy defense (4 errors leading to 4 unearned runs) and came up big at the end to earn his 8th win of the season, against a very talented Pinnacle team. In the bottom of the 7th, aided by right fielder Geno Jacobs’ spectacular over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track, Hendrix was clinging to a one-run lead with two outs and the bases loaded. On a 2-2 pitch Hendrix froze Parker Manahan on a knee-buckling curveball for his 7th and biggest strike-out of the day to preserve the victory. Overall, Hendrix gave up only 5 hits, but when you add the 4 errors and an uncharacteristically high 5 walks, that’s a lot of baserunners. Those walks were mostly a product of the home-plate umpire’s small, erratic strike-zone that had both sides complaining throughout the game. Four Pinnacle pitchers issued a total of 10 walks and they were no way near that wild.

For Pinnacle, most of the run production came from the 6th and 7th hitters in the line-up. Jordan Makis drove in 4 big runs with an RBI fielder’s choice and a bases-clearing double that tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. Eric Melbostad drove in 2 runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.

Millennium got production from 7 of the 9 hitters, with sophomore catcher AJ Diggs driving in what proved to be the winning run on a 2-out infield single in the 6th inning. An offensive summary is provided below.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS:

Tyler Booth: 2-2 (on base all 5 times), single, triple, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored
Jake Newsome: 2-2 (on base all 4 times), 2 singles, 1 run scored
Anthony Davison: 2-5, single, triple, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored
AJ Diggs: 1-2, single and sacrifice fly, 2 RBIs
Nyles Fowler: 1-3, RBI single
Tatum Hendrix: 1-4, RBI double, 1 run scored
Austin Hoffman: 2 RBI groundouts
 

Desert Mountain 8 Sandra Day O'Connor 7

Lucas Jacobi hit a one-out, game winning single into right field in the bottom of the 9th inning to complete a game-long comeback and give Desert Mountain a dramatic 8-7 win over Sandra Day O'Connor at Surprise Stadium. The Wolves battled back from a 4-0 1st inning deficit to tie the game twice before pulling out the win in the 9th inning.

The Eagles jumped out to the lead with the help of a walk, 2 Desert Mountain errors, a hit batter and a 2-run single by Greg Saenz. The Wolves responded with an RBI single in the bottom half of the 1st inning by Cody Erickson, driving in Austin Mill after he singled to start the inning. The Eagles stretched the lead to 5-1 in the 4th on a triple by Cody Kimes and a wild pitch before the Wolves began their rally. Keaton Boysen tripled into the right field corner, then scored on a 2-out double by Marios Mylonas to cut the lead to 5-2 after 4 innings.

 In the 5th inning Desert Mountain tied the score on a 2-out, 3-run double by Boysen after a single by Erickson and 2 walks. O'Connor regained the lead in the 6th on a 2-run double by Brendon Erickson to lead 7-5 and were 3 outs away from the win when David Greer walked to start the 7th, Erickson followed with a single and Joey Mandros walked to set the stage for back-to-back sacrifice flies to deep right by Boysen and Ben Rodriguez. After a scoreless 8th, O'Connor had runners at 1st and 3rd with no out in the 9th before Matt Lewis pitched out of the jam by getting a flyout to shallow right, then struck out the final 2 batters in the inning. In the bottom of the 9th Rodriguez' infield single and Mylonas' bunt single set the stage for Jacobi's heroics.

Boysen (3B, 2B, SF, 4 RBI's), Erickson (3 singles, RBI), Mylonas (2 doubles, single, RBI) and Jacobi (3 singles, GW RBI) led the Wolves' comeback to advance to Saturday's game vs. Tucson Ironwood Ridge at Camelback Ranch. Matt Lewis was outstanding in 3 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win, allowing no runs on 4 hits and striking out 5 batters.

 

May 5, 2011

 Notre Dame... 0 0 1 0 2 0 5 - 8
Arcadia..........1 0 1 0 0 3 X - 5

Notre Dame controlled their own destiny going into this very important regular season finale against Arcadia and came up big rallying for 5 runs in their final at bat to complete an 8-5 comeback win on the road and a season sweep of the Titans. The victory clinched Notre Dame's 7th consecutive conference title and also assured the Saints of a first round home playoff game this Saturday at Notre Dame.

Brendon Satran gave Arcadia the first inning lead doubling to lead off the game against Notre Dame pitching ace Tayler Scott. Satran scored on a Notre Dame fielding error.

Joe Luvisi homered in the third inning off Arcadia pitching ace Thomas Schellhardt. Luvisi's towering opposite field blast to RCF tied the game at 1-1.

A Mike Roberts single and 4 walks including one that forced in a run allowed Arcadia to quickly regain the lead. This would be Tayler Scott's last inning of pitching for the day (due to pitch count) as he was replaced by teammate Caleb Badder who did a nice job in relief

Notre Dame put together 3 consecutive one out hits in the 5th inning which produced 2 runs and a 3-2 lead. Tayler Scott singled, Casey Scott ripped an RBI double and Joe Luvisi singled to drive in the go ahead run.

Arcadia finally got to Saints relief pitcher Caleb Badder in the bottom of the 6th with Brendon Satran driving in 2 runs with his second double of the day. Max Schuman then singled in another run to extend the Arcadia lead to 5-3. Notre Dame brought in their third pitcher of the day in Ryan Riggs and he ended the inning with no more damage.

Notre Dame batted around in the 7th inning to rally for the lead. Arcadia's Thomas Schellhardt's strong outing on the mound ended when he walked lead off hitter Ryan Riggs. The Arcadia bullpen then unraveled as Tayler Scott walked and Joe Luvisi was hit by pitch on an 0-2 count setting the stage for Joey Greco to deliver his second hit of the game- a line drive single which drove in a pair of runs to knot the game at 5-5. Luvisi then scored the game winning run from third base on a wild pitch. Brian Poupore followed with a walk and scored with Greco on Greg Hopkins clutch single which drove in 2 more insurance runs. Hopkins finished his big day at the plate with 3 hits in 4 at bats.

In the bottom of the 7th, winning pitcher Ryan Riggs allowed 2 baserunners bringing the tieing run to the plate with no outs before bearing down to get 3 consecutive outs to complete the big comeback victory for Notre Dame.

Greenway 6 - Sunrise Mountain 2

Monday night game at the Peoria Sports Complex main stadium had all the feelings of a playoff game. Top in 4A-I going at #2 in 4A-II. Top lefty’s for each getting the starts with Tyler Crawford for Sunrise and Scott Squier for Greenway. Crawford went 4inn giving up 2R, 2H, 2BB & 1K’s. Squier went 5inn giving up 4H, 1R, 3BB & 4K’s. Aaron Bummer came in for Sunrise to throw for 1st time since his injury and looked live and loose, giving up 2R in 2inn with 1R coming on a hard-luck dive that turned into an ITP-HR for Charlie Wagner of Greenway. Steven Kane finished up for Sunrise and Jordan Tucker closed the game for Greenway. Greenway capitalized most on their chances tonight for the win with being out-hit by Sunrise Mtn. Greenway highlights include 3b’s from Westin Rogers and Ethan Percell, Percell with 2H on the night. Tony Troftgruben led Sunrise with 2H and Brick Paskiewicz with a 2b for Sunrise. Was a fun game to watch as both teams are senior heavy with lots of good friends & ex-teammates from the club-ball and summer scout teams.

May 4, 2011

5AII Games
O'Connor 11 – Valley Vista 1

They say it is tough to beat a team three times and today was no exception. OC jumped out on Caleb Wood, posting a 5 spot in the first that was highlighted by a three run bomb by sophomore Owen Sanborn. That was all Tommy Lay would need as he held VV to 2 hits in five innings. O’Connor 11 – Valley Vista 1

They say it is tough to beat a team three times and today was no exception. OC jumped out on Caleb Wood, posting a 5 spot in the first that was highlighted by a three run bomb by sophomore Owen Sanborn. That was all Tommy Lay would need as he held VV to 2 hits in five innings. The only run for VV would score would be on an unearned on two errors in the first inning.

Horizon 8 Desert Mountain 4

Horizon jumped out to a 7-2 lead after 3 innings, then held of a late threat to defeat Desert Mountain at Peoria Stadium, 8-4. Tanner Horn homered in the first inning to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. The Wolves responded to tie the score in the bottom of the 1st on 2 walks and 2 wild pitches. Horizon regained the lead with two unearned runs in the 2nd, followed by a 4 run inning in the 3rd on RBI hits by Michael McNamara, Ryan Hand and Ryan Bishop to take a 7-1 lead. A David Greer RBI single in the 3rd was answered by another RBI double by Bishop in the 5th to make it an 8-2 game. An RBI fielder's choice by Jake McAdams and an RBI single by Marios Mylonas brought the Wolves within 8-4, but a 7th inning Desert Mountain rally ended with a questionable call at second base and a strikeout as the Huskies advance to meet Chaparral on Saturday.

Nick Valenza was the winning pitcher for Horizon, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits in 6 1/3 innings while throwing 119 pitches. Will Jones and Hunter Lambert combined to throw 4 2/3 innings of 4-hit relief for the Wolves. McNamara had 3 hits for the Huskies, and 4 other players had 2 hits each. Desert Mountain, who now face Sandra Day O'Connor in an elimination game on Thursday, had 7 players with one hit each.

Chaparral dished out a healthy dose of “Firebird Baseball” Tuesday night at Peoria Stadium as they totally dominated Tucson Ironwood Ridge 13 – 0 in five innings in 5A-II State Tournament play.

The Nighthawks appeared stunned as the Firebirds hammered their top hurler Brandon Matthews for six hits & six runs, chasing Matthews before completing an inning.

Chaparral tacked on four more runs to take a decisive 10 – 0 lead after two, and the onslaught continued all night as the Firebirds pounded out 14 hits in four offensive innings.

Ironwood Ridge never threatened as starting pitcher Adam Charnin-Aker had his best outing of the season in a complete game shutout. Aker combined pinpoint accuracy with a curveball that can only be described as “nasty” as he limited the Nighthawks to three hits over five innings.

Leading the way for the Firebirds was Nick Diamond who went 3-3 with two singles, a triple & 4-rbi, and Nick DeRegis with 3-rbi on a triple and a 420’ “major league” bomb for his 10th HR of the year. AJ Schillinger was also 3-3 with two singles & a double, and Chance Adams had two hits and drove in a run.

Joey Bielek set the pace with a lead-off single to extend his hitting streak to 23 games. Kyle Toth also remains hot – he extended his streak to 13 games with a first inning single, drove in runs by sacrifice fly two times, then made a “Jeter-like” play at shortstop to end an inning.

 

MILLENNIUM 7 MARCOS DE NIZA 3

Austin Hoffman improved to 9-0, tossing a complete game 5-hitter over Marcos de Niza, and for good measure, he drove in 2 runs with a pair of doubles. Austin didn’t allow any earned runs and struck out 5 en route to the win.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS:

Tatum Hendrix: 3-4, 1 double, scored 2 runs
Josh Rojas: 2-3, 1 double, 2 RBIs, scored 2 runs
Tyler Booth: 2-3, 1 RBI, scored 2 runs
Austin Hoffman: 2-3, 2 RBIs, scored 2 runs
Anthony Davison, Nyles Fowler, Jake Newsome and AJ Diggs were each 1-3.
Max Kraust tossed a complete game and Alex Burridge went 4-4 witha pair of doubles as Perry dropped Pinnacle to the loser's bracket 12-2. Max Arredondo added apair of hits for the Pumas.
5AI Games
Desert ridge 8
Corona 3

Desert ridge
Palacios-2 for 4-2 rbis
Adams-2 for 3-2 rbis

Winning pitcher-Barrett
Sophomore lefty Steven Oleksak tossed 4 plus solid innings as Brophy toppled Mesquite 5-3. The Broncos scored 4 runs in the last 2 innings to defeat the 'cats.
Jordan Kipper tossed a 5 inning complete game with 8 Ks and went 4-4 as Mountain POinte blasted Salpointe 17-7. The Pride totaled 18 hits in the 5 inning affair.
Malcolm Holland flared a base hit to right field to knock in the walk off run in he bottom of the 7th as Hamilton edged Mountain View 4-3. Derek Hill went the distance for the Huskies, striking out 10 along the way.

5AI Games

Desert ridge 8
Corona 3

Desert ridge
Palacios-2 for 4-2 rbis
Adams-2 for 3-2 rbis

Winning pitcher-Barrett
Sophomore lefty Steven Oleksak tossed 4 plus solid innings as Brophy toppled Mesquite 5-3. The Broncos scored 4 runs in the last 2 innings to defeat the 'cats.

Jordan Kipper tossed a 5 inning complete game with 8 Ks and went 4-4 as Mountain POinte blasted Salpointe 17-7. The Pride totaled 18 hits in the 5 inning affair.

Malcolm Holland flared a base hit to right field to knock in the walk off run in he bottom of the 7th as Hamilton edged Mountain View 4-3. Derek Hill went the distance for the Huskies, striking out 10 along the way.

North Canyon stayed alive with a win over Alhambra Tuesday afternoon
Alhambra got out to an early 3-1 lead after 3 innings.
The Rattlers batted around in the 4th and took a 5-3 lead.
The score remained the same until the 7th when NC scored 7 more to take a 12 - 3 lead.
Coley Bruns got the win throwing six innings while striking out 11
Dominic Portocarrero threw a scoreless 7th
Lino Vargas took the loss for Alhambra throwing 6 innings.

Highland 4 - Casa Grande 3

Highland beat Casa Grande on Nolan Whittlesey night Tuesday. Whittlesey pitched a complete game and hit a 3 run opposite field home run to provide the edge offensively. Highland was up one to nothing after 2 on an RBI single by Tyler Clancy who scored Jordan Peterson who had walked and stole second. In the third, Noe' Mitchell and Gentry Kinsella led off with a singles. Christian Jantze sacrificed them ahead, but that didn't matter as Whittlesey launched his bomb for the balance of Highland's runs.

Casa Grande mounted a rally in the 5th when Tyler Elliot hit a two run bomb scoring Tyler Norris who had walked. The top of the 7th was a nail biter as pinch hitter Coronado was hit by a pitch. After a strike out, lead-off batter Donny Vicari doubled to leave the tying run at second. Coach Scott Cook came out to talk to Whittlesey and might've even had the hook, but Nolan stayed in to finish. Cooper Esmay hit a deep fly to right to score Coronado but Sergio Conoles flied out to right to end the game.

Highland
Whittlesey (W) 7 IP, 7H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5K, 2BB, 1-3 HR, 3 RBI
Kinsella 2-3 R
Westin Wiederhold 2-3
Noe' Mitchell 3-3 R

Casa Grande
Ram Ortega (L) 5IP, 8H, 4R, 4 ER, 1K, 1BB
Vicari 3-4 2B, SB
Elliot 2-3, HR, 2RBI

May 1, 2011

 Hayden Rodgers went a solid 5 innings, keeping Highland off the scoreboard to pick up a win on Saturday morning. Mountain View took a 2-0 lead after an RBI single by Bo Stapley in the 2nd and a Sacrifice Fly from Hunter Bryce, which scored Willie Ethington, who had doubled in the third.

Highland lefty Ethan Evanko was battling and getting lots of pop-ups and ground balls through the first four innings. In the fifth, the wheels came off for Highland. With one out, Bryce was hit by a pitch and Nick Morales singled. A wild pitch put the pair at second and third with one out. Travis Taylor hit a comebacker and Bryce was caught in a rundown between third and home. Highland made one too many throws and Bryce beat the play home. The runners both moved up to second and third. Evanko induced a ground ball to second with the infield in but the throw was in the dirt and the runner safe to give Mountain View a 4-0 lead.

Evanko was relieved and two batters were immediately hit, forcing home the fifth run.

Highland attempted a rally in the 6th on a Jordan Peterson walk and a Tyler Clancy single with one out. Xavier Corrales and Westin Wiederhold followed with run scoring singles, but a check swing comebacker turned into a 1-6-3 double play and ended it.

Mountain View got an insurance run in the 6th on another Willie Ethington double and a throwing error to close the scoring.

Highland
Evanko (L), Klingensmith (5th), Carter (5th)
Christian Jantze 2-4
Nolan Whittlesey 2-4
Peterson 1-2, BB, SB

Mountain View
Rodgers (W), Ethington (6th)
Stapley 2-3 RBI
Ethington 2-4, 2 2B
Bryce 0-1, BB, HBP, SF

Desert Mountain 8 Tolleson 7

Austin Mill singled to left in the bottom of the 7th inning, driving in pinch runner Tanner Fraley as the Wolves defeated a very resilient Tolleson Wolverines team, 8-7. The game was tied 4 times and had 6 lead changes as both teams alternated clutch hitting and pitching with missed opportunities and poor defense. Desert Mountain started the scoring in the first inning with four straight 2-out hits...a triple off the center field wall by David Greer, doubles by Joey Mandros and Cody Erickson, and a single by Keaton Boysen to take a 2-0 lead.
Tolleson answered in the 2nd on an RBI triple by Johnny Garcia that was lost in the mid-day sky, then a suicide squeeze by Isaac Parra to tie the score 2-2. A sacrifice fly by Skylar Smith gave DM a 3-2 lead after 3 innings, but Tolleson scored 3 runs in the 5th to regain the lead on singles by Eddie Villa, Oscar Gonzalez and Billy Wilson followed by consecutive Desert Mountain errors to give Tolleson a 5-3 lead. A diving stop and tremendous throw by the Wolves' Erickson at third base prevented further damage in the inning.
The Wolves tied it in the home half of the inning on an RBI single by Erickson and a 2-out error by Tolleson. The Wolverines regained the lead in the top of the 6th on an unearned run only to have Desert Mountain plate 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th on two walks and two wild pitches, then a sacrifice fly by Erickson to make it a 7-6 game. The Wolves were one out away from victory when John Armenta walked, Victor Gardea singled and Eddie Villa tied the game at 7-7 on another pop fly lost in the sun.
Desert Mountain then finished the seesaw affair in the bottom of the 7th inning on a walk to Ryan Sandry, a ground out by Marios Mylonas that advanced pinch runner Tanner Fraley to second, then Austin Mill's 2-out game winning hit to left.

Matt Lewis (3-0) got the win on the mound for the Wolves, who advance to play regional rival Horizon on Tuesday. Tolleson will play at Tucson Sunnyside in an elimination game that same day.

It wasn’t pretty, but the #2  Chaparral Firebirds secured a victory over #15 SD O’Connor 5 - 4 to advance in state tournament play.

Both team’s starting pitchers brought their “A” games to the mound, making hits scarce as each team had only four in the game. Chaparral’s Nick Diamond was dialed in as he sat down the first twelve batters he faced and struck out seven over five innings, and Michael Gonzalez went the entire game to keep it close for the Eagles.

The Firebirds looked to be in control as they built an early lead, scoring three runs in the second when Diamond hit a double to score Nick DeRegis from first, Dillon Bigcrane was hit-by-pitch, Chance Adams laid down a perfect bunt to move the runners to 2nd & 3rd, Eric Brossart singled to drive in a run & Kyle Toth chalked up an rbi.

Chaparral made it 5 – 0 in the fourth when Brossart drew a walk followed by a two-run shot by Toth.

O’Connor’s first hit came in the fifth when a ground ball by Austin Daus took a bad hop and got through the infield. Greg Saenz singled and both players scored to make it 5 – 2. The momentum was shifting to the Eagles and Gonzalez shut down the Firebirds 1-2-3 in each of the final two innings.

The Firebirds went to their bullpen in the sixth, walked the first two batters & brought the tying run to the plate. Nevin Wilson struck out the next batter then was relieved by Chance Adams, and after a 12-pitch battle Brendon Erickson earned another walk. Adams struck out the next two batters, but not before the Eagles scored two runs without a hit to cut the lead to 5 – 4.

Peter Lenstrohm entered in the seventh, and O’Connor batters Saenz & Tyler Rose singled to put runners at 2nd & 3rd with only one out. But Lenstrohm closed down the Eagles with a strikeout and groundout to end the game.

Game notes –Bielek’s 1st inning single extends his hitting streak to 22 games, & Toth has a 12 game streak in the works!

Next up - #7 Ironwood Ridge @ Peoria Stadium, 7p Tues May 3

April 30, 2011

5AII First Round Games

Jaren Drummond tossed a 2 hit 5 inning shutout as Perry traveled to Yuma High and blasted the Criminals 15-0. The Pumas cranked 5 homers with Will Schommer going 4-4 with a scud, and David Walker going 3-4, scoring 4 runs and knocking in 3.

Pinnacle rallied from a 3-0 deficit and blew things open late en route to a 10-4 win over Yuma Cibola. With flame thrower Tyler Parmenter on the bump, the Raiders took an early 3-0 lead with some timely hits. Steve Casey would launch a 2 run homer in the 4th to tie things at 3. In the 6th, the Pioneers would hang a 7 spot on the Raider bullpen with some help from some shaky Cibola defense. Casey earned the win in a relief of Kris Ayers, tossing 4 shutout innings.

(L to R) Brock Hartley scores Pinnacle's first run, Tyler Parmenter brings the gas, Steve Casey is all smiles after his tying blast

 5AI First Round games

The Gilbert Tigers moved on Saturday in their quest of another state championship, with a big win against the Corona Del Sol Aztecs, by a score of 12 - 11.

Errors, the biggest arch nemesis of the Tiger's baseball season, reared its ugly head again, and early in the game, to give the Aztecs a 1 - 0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Tigers roared back in the bottom of the first, exploding for 3 runs, with the big blow of the inning coming from a 2 RBI single off the bat of DH Ty Neenan.

The Aztecs fought back with several miscues by Gilbert’s defense. A passed ball and throwing errors, tied the game at 3 - 3 in the top of the second. The Aztecs started exploding for hits off starting pitcher Billy Darras, and after the top half of the inning was complete, Corona was up by a score of 6 -3.

The Tigers bat came alive in the bottom of the second, as Justin McAllister singled, which was followed by a long Dustin Peterson two run homerun. Causey followed with his own bomb over the right centerfield fence which locked the score at 6 - 6.

Mike Castellano, the Aztec DH, pounded a pitch over the left field fence to start the third inning. Darras made a great line drive catch right back to his head for the 2nd out of the inning. An errant throw to first by Darras enabled the Aztec runner to end up at third, but was eventually stranded to end the inning.

Greg Esquibel homered in the bottom of the third over the right field fence to tie the score up again at 7 - 7.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Drew Stankiewicz started with an infield hit, followed by yet another Dustin Peterson base hit. Nathaniel Causey, on a terror as of late with his bat, gave the Tigers the lead with a three run shot over the right centerfield fence, at 10 - 7.

Corona, proving they could play with anyone in the tournament, loaded the bases in the 5th, and scored on a walk. Aaron Siple then delivered an RBI single, dropping Gilberts lead to 10 - 9.

Aztec Chris Gammon hit a long homer in the top of the sixth, to knot the game at 10 - 10. A poor call on a Tiger double play, enabled the Aztecs to pull ahead 11 - 10. In the bottom half of the sixth, Stankiewicz started with a hit, followed by another Dustin Peterson hit. Causey then delivered another base hit, scoring Stankiewicz, locking the game up at 11 - 11.

The Aztecs threatened in the top of the seventh on Tiger throwing errors, but ended up with no runs in the inning. The Tigers started the bottom of the seventh with a Greg Esquibel hit to right field, and after a few walks and a putout, the Tigers had the bases loaded with one out. Drew Stankiewicz, hitting clutch hits when the Tigers needed them all year, tagged a shot over the centerfielders head, scoring the game winning run, 12 - 11.

Zach Davies went the distance as Mesquite dropped North canyon 8-4 in a1st round matchup. Garrett Jeffries was 3-3 to lead the way offensively.

Other games:

The Saguaro Sabercats made it 27 in a row on Thursday beating the Prospectors of Apache Junction 8-2. Travis Steinheiser ran his record to 8-1 in gaining the win. The offense was paced by Bradon Demerest who hit his 6th home run of the year and drove in 3. Reed Austin hit a solo homer, his 3rd and Austin Anderson raised his average to .523 with a 3 for 4 effort. The Sabercats conclude their regular season Monday night at 7:00 against Queen Creek at Salt River Fields.

Maricopa.... 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 - 5
Notre Dame 2 0 1 1 2 2 X - 8

On senior night at Notre Dame's home field, the Saints locked up a playoff spot in winning their third consecutive game to improve their record to 15-11 overall and 11-2 in their conference.The Saints offense was led by the seniors who had all but 1 of Notre Dame's hits: Brian Poupore- 3 singles, Joey Greco- 2 doubles, Tayler Scott- 2 singles, Casey Scott- triple and single, Anthony Bonacci- double, Joe Luvisi- single. Sophomore Ryan Scott doubled for the Saints other hit. Senior Dustin Coffindaffer got the start on the mound and pitched 4 solid innings giving up no earned runs and striking out 6 along the way. Reliever Sam Napp got credited with the win before giving way to Kelvan Pilot who picked up the save with 2 scoreless innings of relief.

Maricopa's offense featured 2 hit games from Kolter Hunt, Ryan Sarver, and Brian Nechamkin. Starting pitcher JC Seymore pitched well in defeat.

April 29, 2011

 Notre Dame 0 3 0 1 3 0 6 - 13
Coronado.....2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2

Caleb Badder shook off a rocky start and faced the minimum 15 hitters over the next 5 innings to pick up the victory. Ryan Riggs also pitched a scoreless inning of relief. It was another important win to keep Notre Dame (14-11 overall, 10-2 conference) in the thick of the playoff picture.

Notre Dames offensive highlights included:
Joey Greco hit a 2 run homer and scored 2 runs
Greg Hopkins had 3 singles with 2 RBI's and scored 3 runs
Joe Luvisi had a single, double with 2 RBI's and scored 2 runs
Ryan Scott had a single, double and 2 RBI's
Brian Poupore had a pair of singles and scored 2 runs

Gilbert knocked off Highland Tuesday afternoon by a score of 12 – 6, then turned around, and played one of their best games of the season Wednesday, beating Perry by a score of 10 – 6, in 9 innings.

Stephen Tarpley started the game for the Tigers and once again, looked crisp. Perry got on the board early 1 – 0 in the top of the first, but the Tigers answered quickly. Drew Stankiewicz, the Tigers premier leadoff hitter, pounded a triple to start things for the Tigers, and was quickly followed with a Dustin Peterson RBI single to lock the game up at 1 – 1.

Billy Darras came in to pitch the third inning, and a couple of costly infield errors, gave the lead back to Perry by a score of 2 – 1. But it didn’t take the Tiger long to answer back. Peterson started the bottom of the third with a single, which moved Stankiewicz to third. Nathaniel Causey, the Tiger catcher, banged a homer, to give the Tigers the lead at 4 – 2.

Dalton England came in to relief Darras in the fifth for the Tigers. Collin Braithwaite, playing left field, hit a solo shot, to cut the Perry lead down to 4 – 3. But the Tigers fought back in the bottom of the 5th, with some heads up base running by Dustin Peterson, who scored from second base on a throwing error.

Things looked a little gloomy for the Tigers in the top of the sixth, as AJ Amaro tagged a 3-run homerun, to give Perry the lead back by a score of 6 – 5. That could have taken the wind out of the Tigers sails, but in the bottom of the 6th, the Tigers fought back again. Darras walked, and Neenan delivered a single. Greg Esquibel delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game up at 6 – 6, but the play of the inning belonged to second baseman Max Arredondo. Arredondo made a diving stop to come up with the ball, and made a tough throw for the putout at first, to save a couple Tiger runs from scoring.

Alex Urbina came into the game for the Tigers in the 7th, and was relieved by starting catcher, Nathaniel Causey. Causey looked needle sharp striking out Chris Spelts to end the 7th. The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t manufacture a run to win it.

After a scoreless eighth inning, the Tigers came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Senior Zach Regier, reached first base on an error. Regier ended up reaching third with nobody out, and a double intentional walk to Stankiewicz and Peterson, loaded the bases for Causey. With the outfielders playing in, Causey hammered a pitch over the left centerfield fence for a grand slam, to win it for the Tigers, in the bottom of the ninth.
 

Williams Field 6

Arcadia 5 (8 innings)

The Blackhawks (18-10) and Titans (20-8), ranked three and four respectively in 4AII power points, both sent their lefty aces to hill in this East Sky Region matchup. Dartmouth bound Sr. Adam Frank for Williams Field and Arcadia Jr. Andrew Naderer battled to a no-decision stalemate. Frank gave up four hits, two runs, and had 8 K's in six innings and Naderer allowed five hits, three runs, and registered 6 K's in seven innings of work.

Ultimately, Titan miscues were the difference. Arcadia started out well when leadoff hitter Brendan Satran tripled to deep center in the first and Frank hit Max Schuman putting runners at the corners with no outs. Titan shortstop Michael Roberts dumped a single to right scoring Satran and Colton Sanchez lifted a sac fly to center scoring Schuman for an early 2-0 lead. Naderer set the Blackhawks down in order in the first and second, but WF got a run in the third when DH Kyle Campbell drew a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on a single from Jamison Gardner.

Frank settled in and shut down the Titans in the second, third and fourth (striking out the side). However, Frank issued back-to-back walks to Schuman and Drew Butler in the fifth which proved costly when a throwing error allowed Schuman to score and Butler soon followed on a passed ball for a 4-2 Titan lead. Arcadia returned the favor in the sixth, JD Layton singled to right but ended up on third when the ball was misplayed. Layton scored on a passed ball and Drew Wahlers added another single. Frank showed his Ivy League smarts by ever so slightly "leaning" into a Naderer offering and being awarded first base. Naderer was then called for a questionable balk sending Wahlers to third and Frank to second. Wahlers scored on a second passed ball and Frank scored on an errant throw home when Jake McDavid grounded to second, tying the score at 4.

 WF took a 5-4 lead in the seventh when Naderer hit Gardner and JD Layton delivered an RBI double just inside the bag at third. McDavid took over for Frank in the seventh and the Titans answered when Satran led off with an infield hit, stole second, and raced home on Schuman's single to left. Arcadia sent reliever Allan Frank to the mound in the eighth and (Adam) Frank drew a lead off walk. A ground ball advanced him to second, he stole third, and scored the winning run on a dropped third strike/passed ball to Skyler Wengert. McDavid gave up a lead off single to Roberts in the bottom half, but struck out the next three Titan hitters to end the game.

Arcadia Top Hitters:

Brendan Satran 2-4, 3B, SB, 2R
Michael Roberts 2-4, RBI
Max Schuman 1-2, BB, HBP, RBI, 2R
Colton Sanchez 1-3, RBI, Sac Fly

Williams Field Top Hitters:

JD Layton 3-4, 2B, RBI, R
Jamison Gardner 1-3, RBI, HBP, R
Drew Wahlers 1-4, R
Adam Frank 0-2, BB, HBP, 2R

Arcadia Coach Ken Rudolph holds one of several discussions with Mr. Umpire. Adam Frank and Andrew Naderer faced off.

April 28, 2011

 Kevin Cron, Joey Curletta and Quinn Tucker all went deep twice asMountain Pointe crushed Skyline 22-4. The Pride exploded for 11 runs in the 6th to mercifully put the game away.
Anthony Balderamma got the win on the mound.
Cron's second scud set the state record for homers in a season at 23. The team has an astounding 79 big flys on the year.

 Higley........  0 0 0 0 2 1 0 - 3
Notre Dame 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 - 4

Casey Scott came up huge for the Saints-- A bunt single, a triple, a run scored and a 1 out bases loaded game winning walk off single giving the Saints an important comeback victory. Sam Young scored the game winning run in the 7th inning after starting the rally with a single which gave him a 2 for 3 day at the plate.

On the mound for Notre Dame--Sam Napp (5.33 ip / 3 runs), Dustin Coffindaffer (.67 ip / 0 runs) and Greg Hopkins (1 ip/ 0 runs-- winning pitcher) got the job done.

Kevyn Nunez went the distance (6.33 ip / 4 runs) but took the tough luck loss for Higley.

From Monday:

Notre Dame 2 0 0 0 1 0 - 3
Thunderbird 0 2 2 3 0 6 - 13

Eric Wagner hit a solo homer, Marcus Wheeler jacked a 3 run homer, and Jake Stiak belted a walk off 3 run homer for the Chiefs in this run rule shortened 6 inning game. Wagner picked up the win on the mound for Thunderbird going 5 innings before Wheeler added a scoreless inning in relief.

Offensively Notre Dame had only 6 hits and not much went right for Notre Dames starting pitcher Kelvan Pilot (7 runs) and reliever Ryan Riggs (6 runs)
 

MILLENNIUM 10 LA JOYA 6

Millennium closed out the regular season with a 10-6 win over La Joya (their 8th straight win). The Tigers pounded out 13 hits, including 4 home runs to secure the victory. Tatum Hendrix proved to be a major “pain” in La Joya’s side. On offense he smashed the second pitch of the game for one of those 4 home runs. He was the winning picture, allowing 2 hits and 1 earned run in his 3 innings of work for his 6th win of the year. Then on defense, with La Joya starting to rally in the bottom of the 7th, Tatum gunned down a runner at home with a perfect one-hop strike from left field. That throw was all Ashton Miller needed to complete a scoreless inning and earn his first save of the season.

Joining Tatum on the offensive, Josh Rojas, Tyler Booth and Anthony Davison had great days at the plate. Josh was 3-4 with a 3-run HR, his second in 2 days. Booth smashed 2 Hrs, a 2-run blast and a solo shot, and just missed a third dinger, flying out to deep left-center. To go along with several great plays at shortstop, Davison was 3-4, with a double and 2 singles.
 

Chaparral ended the regular season on a high note with a victory over defending state champion Horizon 8 - 4 on Wednesday.

Chaparral delivered a solid team effort with contributions on both sides of the plate as seven players shared in the team’s 11 hit total, and five different pitchers combined to limit the Huskies to six hits for the day.

In Coach Messina’s inaugural season at the helm, the Firebirds finish with a 14 – 4 league record and look poised & ready to compete for another state title as tournament play begins Saturday.

Several players deserve mention for their efforts – Joey Bielek had a single & a 2-run HR, extending his team-leading hitting streak to an impressive 21 games; Nick DeRegis had three hits including his team-leading ninth HR of the season; Dillon Bigcrane hit a 2-run shot, 3-rbi & earned the win in relief when he induced a bases loaded 6-4-3 double play that shut down a Huskies rally in the fifth.

Eric Brossart reached base in all three plate appearances with two hits and a walk, plus blocked everything in sight behind the dish; Kyle Toth remained hot with a deep drive in the gap that he tried to stretch into a triple; and Nick Diamond hit a bomb that was about a foot short of going out for a double, then made a heads-up defensive play for the final out of the game when he fired the ball to first base from right field to catch the runner napping.

Starting pitcher Tyger Talley brought his usual fire to the mound and struck out five batters over three innings; Will Strauss was effective for 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit & striking out a batter; and senior aces Nevin Wilson & Peter Lenstrohm closed the door on the Huskies with each throwing an inning of dominant heat – Wilson struck out two of the four batters he faced in the sixth & Lenstrohm followed suit with two K’s in the seventh to close the game.

Pinnacle 7 St. Marys 4

Jake Winters threw a complete game and got stronger as the game progressed. He was helped by two double plays and a key pinch hit triple by sophmore Sam Weldon in the 7th. kudos to St Marys as they played hard every inning and competed till the end. Many balls were hit hard and many fine plays by both teams. with the win Pinnacle finishes with a 5-5 confrence record and should host a first round game at Pinnacle High School on sat at 11 am

 

SALPOINTE 2 TUCSON HIGH 1

The Salpointe Catholic Lancers found out earlier during the day that they won the 5A Southern
Regional Championship as a result of the wild game between Sunnyside and Ironwood Ridge
the night before which the Blue Devils won 17-16. However, the Lancers legitimized their claim as
champions by winning a very close game against their long time rivals Tucson High Badgers
to sit atop the 5A Southern standings after today and thereby assuring themselves a likely home playoff
game this coming Saturday.

It turned out to be a pitcher's duel between Senior Lancer AJ Alexander and Junior Badger Ernie
Sta. Cruz as hits and runs were sparse in comparison to their first meeting this season where the Lancers won
a 26-10 shootout against the Badgers.

After a scoreless 1st inning, the Lancers struck 1st.

TOP of 2nd:
After the Badgers completed a double play to get 2 outs, AJ Alexander helped himself by depositing a
double in the Right Center gap. 3b Ryan Penaflor hit a hard single between the SS and 3b to bring Alexander in
and the Lancer's 1st run.

Lancers 1- Badgers 0

BOT of 3rd:
After 2 outs, Senior Bryant Munoz hit a single, LHB Ryan Norrix then hit an opposite side double to bring
Munoz in.

Lancers 1 - Badgers 1.

It remained scoreless until the TOP of the 7th when Kevin BRice was HBP, advanced to 2nd on a WP and advanced
to 3rd on a Sac Hit by Senior Jordan Scelfo. Serrano was then intentionally walked and then stole 2nd. After Sta.Cruz
struck out the next batter, Michael Hoard was intentionally walked to load the bases. Forest Chapman took a WP for a BB
and brought Brice in with what ended up as the winning run. Alexander then retired the last 3 Badgers to get his 8th win and
finishing the season 8-1.

Lancers 2 - Badgers 1 END GAME


Offensive Stars

Salpointe
AJ Alexander - 2/4, 2b, R
Ryan Penaflor - 1/2, RBI, Sac Bunt
Kevin Brice - 1/2, R ,BB
Forest Chapman - 1/3, BB, RBI

Tucson High
Bryant Munoz - 2/2, R
Ryan Norrix -2/3, RBI

Defensive Star:

Salpointe
AJ Alexander (8-1) , 7IP, 4H, 4K,BB,R, ERA 1.00.

Desert Mountain 20 North Canyon 0 (5 innings)

Desert Mountain won the Desert Valley Region Championship on Wednesday with a 20-0 victory at North Canyon. The Wolves, 20-8 on the season and 8-2 in regional play, started fast against the Rattlers with a grand slam by Cody Erickson in the 1st inning and a 3-run homer by Ryan Sandry in the 2nd inning to take a 7-0 lead. Desert Mountain scored 4 more runs in the 3rd, 6 runs in the 4th and 3 runs in the 5th to finish the regular season in convincing fashion. Will Jones (4-2), Hunter Lambert and Keegan Krell combined on a 2-hit shutout as the Wolves rolled. Austin Mill and Keaton Boysen had 3 hits each for Desert Mountain, while David Greer and Marios Mylonas had 2 hits each as 12 Desert Mountain hitters pounded out 18 hits.

Highland 12 - Corona 2 (5)

In a must win situation for Highland, the bats came up big. Corona would get on the board first, however when leadoff hitter Jeff Carter took advantage of some confusion with signs and belted the first pitch to the fence for a lead-off triple. He scored on a Josh Either ground out.

From there it was all Highland. In the second, Jordan Peterson was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Tyler Clancy then hit the first of Highland's 5 dingers. In the third, history repeated with Christian Jantze getting hit and Nolan Whittlesey following with the HR. Peterson singled and with two outs, Xavier Corrales hit the first of his two homers to put Highland up 6-1.

In the fourth after two quick outs, a walk and two HBP's loaded for Corrales again and he unloaded for a grand slam. Westin Wiederhold hit one of his own to put Highland up 11-1. Corona got one back when Rick Riley doubled down the first base line. After a walk, Highland made a miss-play on what should've been the last play of the game. It wasn't.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Gentry Kinsella led off with Highland's fifth hit by pitch. He promptly stole second and was singled home by pinch hitter Tyler Brown in the walked off.

Cody Moffett (6-4) atoned for the shelling he took at Corona earlier in the year, going 5 innings, giving up one earned, striking out seven on three hits. He's won his last decisions. Summan took the loss for Corona. He was relieved in the third by Chris Tate. Tyler Lynch pitched the bottom of the fifth.

Highland
Whittlesey 2-3, 2b, HR 2RBI
Peterson 1-1, 2 HBP, 3R
Clancy 1-2, HR, HBP, 2 RBI
Corrales 3-3, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Wiederhold 2-3, HR

Corona
Carter 1-2, 3B BB
Riley 1-2, 2B R

April 27, 2011

Pinnacle 14 - St. Mary's 10

11 Seniors were recognized for their acomplishments on and off the field as well as in the classroom, yesterday and got a much needed 14 to 10 win. Kris Ayers was the winning pitcher going three innings, and helped himself by going 3/5 with 3rbi. Jake Winters was 3/5 as well with a big opposite field homerun in the 3rd. Steve Casey hit his 11 bomb of the year and was 2/2 with a single, HR and 2 bb., Rudy Bogowevich also contributed with a great day at the plate too. There were many great plays by both teams and St Marys showed a lot of grit as they continued to score in the later innings to prevent the run rule. The Knights were lead by a Ricky Bustamante Bomb over the batters eye in the 4th. These two teams take the field today as St. Marys will be the home team at Phoenix College in a night game starting at 7.

Desert Mountain  8  North Canyon  7  (9 innings)

Skylar Smith singled home David Greer with the game winning run in the 9th inning, and Keaton Boysen allowed just one hit over the
final three innings to record the win as Desert Mountain defeated North Canyon 8-7 in a back-and-forth contest that ended as the last
glimmer of light left North Scottsdale.  Coley Bruns of the Rattlers and Austin Davis of the Wolves were locked in a 2-2 pitchers' duel through
four innings, with both teams only able to tally a couple of unearned runs each before the Wolves broke through in the 5th to take a 5-2 lead.
In the inning, Joey Mandros drove in Austin Mill, who had singled, with a hit to center to break the tie.  Cody Erickson scored when the throw
to 3rd base went into the Wolves' dugout.  Smith ripped a sun-aided triple to right to score the 3rd run of the inning.  But North Canyon
answered with 3 runs of their own in the 6th to tie the game at 5-5 on an RBI single by Marco Higuera and Ricky Hamilton's RBI fielder's
choice. The 3rd run scored on a dropped throw at 2nd base.  In the home half of the 6th DM took a 7-5 lead on a leadoff double by Jake McAdams
followed by a sacrifice bunt by Marios Mylonas that was thrown away at 3rd, allowing McAdams to score.  Erickson scored Mylonas with an RBI
groundout to give the Wolves a seemingly comfortable 7-5 lead.  However North Canyon rallied again with the help of a key DM error before
Zach Walker sent the game to extra innings with a sacrifice fly.  Boysen cruised through the 8th and 9th, allowing only an infield single and a walk
before Desert Mountain rallied with 2 outs in the 9th to win the game on a single by Greer, walks to Mandros and Boysen and the game winner
by Smith.  Mill, Greer, Mandros and Smith had 2 hits each for the Wolves while Higuera and Marco Burciaga had 2 hits for the Rattlers.  The two
teams finish the regular season on Wednesday with a rematch at North Canyon.

From last weeks National Classic:

Notre Dame... 0 3 0 1 0 0 2- 6 10 0
Christian Bros 0 0 2 0 1 0 0- 3 9 1

From Anaheim California-- 2011 National Classic

Kelvan Pilot went the distance on the mound while Joe Luvisi and Israel Ramos supplied the home run power at the plate to lead Notre Dame to victory in California.

Pitching
Kelvan Pilot - 7 ip, 3 runs, 9 hits, 4 k, 1 bb, (winning pitcher)

Hitting
Joe Luvisi belted a 2 run homer,singled,and scored 2 runs
Israel Ramos belted a solo homer scoring a run
Casey Scott had an RBI double, singled, and scored 2 runs
Joey Greco doubled and had an RBI Sac fly
Ryan Riggs had a pinch hit RBI single
David Wynne and Brian Poupore each singled
David Brennan singled and scored a run
 

MILLENNIUM 9 SOUTH MOUNTAIN 2

The Millennium Tigers ran their winning streak to seven games behind the strong right arm of Austin Hoffman, who turned in another solid effort. He allowed only 1 earned run and recorded 7 Ks on the night. His record is now 8-0 and he lowered his ERA to 2.70.

The big blow on offense was Sophomore Josh Rojas’ clutch 2-out, 2-run home run that put the Tigers in the lead for good. On the night, he drove in 3 runs as he picked up another RBI with a bases loaded walk. Josh is hitting .419 on the season, with 19 RBIs, he routinely comes up with big hits. Tyler Booth was 2-3 with a double and a 2-run single, as he extended his hitting streak to 15 games. He raised his average to .477 and has a team-leading 36 RBIs. Jake Newsome was 2-2, scoring once and driving in a run.

Garrett Jeffries went 4-4 with a pair of bombs, 2 doubles and 7 RBIs to lead Mesquite to a 14-1 win over Basha. Zach Davies worked 4 innings for the win, remaining undefeated on the year.
 

In the final week of the regular season, Chaparral lost a hard-fought battle against Desert Valley regional rival Horizon 5 - 3 Tuesday night.

Pitchers from both teams made hits hard to come by – Chaparral had five hits to Horizon’s six for the game. Chap starting pitcher Adam Charnin-Aker allowed only four hits over four innings while striking out six batters, and Chance Adams gave up two hits in two innings of relief while striking out five. Both players struck out the side in an inning, Aker in the fourth & Adams in the sixth.

The Huskies scored in the first inning after an error, walk, and single loaded the bases with nobody out. On the next play, two runs scored when the ball got away on an errant throw attempting a double play.
The Firebirds got a run in the second on a Jeremy Wolf single who scored on a throwing error to make it 2 – 1.

Jordie Hein hit a leadoff homerun that tied the game in the third. Joey Bielek followed with a single, extending his hitting streak to 20 games, but was stranded. The Huskies took the lead back when C Zach Stierstorfer hit a double that scored 2B Luke Messer, who had singled, and SS Johnny Rubino who walked, making the score 4 – 2 after three innings.

Kyle Toth answered with a two-out shot to dead center for his first career HR, cutting the lead to 4 – 3 and forcing a pitching change. The Firebirds looked like they might rally when Horizon reliever Nick Valenza walked the first two batters he faced on eight straight balls. But the hard-throwing pitcher got out of the inning with a strikeout, then took control as he didn’t give up a single hit against 14 batters faced in 3 1/3 innings.

The Huskies added an insurance run in the fifth when Rubino singled then scored on a Tanner Horn double for the final scoring of the game.

Chaparral remains #2 in Power Rankings at 13 – 4, but falls behind Desert Mountain in regional standings after the Wolves’ nine inning victory over North Canyon. Chaparral needs a victory over Horizon & a Desert Mountain loss tomorrow to secure the regional title.

Arcadia 14

Tempe 0

Titan Sr. Thomas Schellhardt (5-1) threw a perfect game (5 innings), striking out 13 of the 15 batters he faced coupled with two ground ball outs. Schellhardt was also 3 for 4 at the plate with 3 RBI. Arcadia tallied five runs in the first with shortstop Michael Roberts delivering the big blow, a 2-run shot to left. Drew Butler and Caleb McKinnon had RBI doubles in the inning. The Titans added three runs in second, Max Schuman plated two with a hard single to right and later scored when Colton Sanchez tripled. Schuman continued his hot hitting in the third, doubling home two more runs. Butler had another RBI double and Schellhardt an RBI single. In the fifth, Schellhardt added his third single, and RBI, before retiring the Buffalos to end the game.

Arcadia Top Hitters:

Max Schuman 3-3, 2B, 4 RBI, 3R
Thomas Schellhardt 3-4, 3 RBI
Michael Roberts 1-2, HR(2), 2 RBI, R
Drew Butler 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2R
Brendan Satran 1-2, 2B, HBP, 3R

On Thursday, April 21 Saguaro defeated Campo Verde 19-0.  Chris Akmon hit 3 home runs for a total of 9 on the season and his teammates Zach Gibbons, Teddy Ruben and Kyle Young also went deep; for Young, it was his 6th of the year.  Akmon added a single to his 3 bombs going 4 for 4 on the day and is hitting a gaudy .530 on the season.  Michael Benson got the win for the Sabercats.  Benson is now 4-0 and has yet to give up an earned run in 17 inning pitched for the Cats. 

On Tuesday, April 26, Saguaro ran its winning streak to 26 by beating region rival Cactus Shadows 10-2 on Senior Day at Saguaro.  Chris Freudenberg got the start and shut the Falcons out for 5 innings, striking out 9 in the process. For Freudenberg, it ran his record to 8-0 to go along with a 1.09 ERA.  The offense was led by the Sabercats leadoff man Austin Anderson who went 3-4 on the day and is now hitting .515 on the season.  Brandon Demerest hit his 5th home run of the season and drove in 2 as did Chris Akmon, Matt Morris and Reed Austin. 

Chris Freudenberg moves to 8-0 on the season

Desert Ridge 13  Marcos          6

 Desert Ridge:

Alonzo Palacios 3 for 4-4 rbis

Dylan Barrett      2 for 4-2 rbis-hr(7)

April 26, 2011

Sunrise Mtn 4 El Dorado, CA 2

Behind a strong pitching performance by Brick Paskiewicz ( 5 inn 4 hits 2 runs) the Mustangs won thier final game of the National Classic defeating El Dorado, CA (ranked #2 in CA). Paskiewicz kept the Golden Hawks off balance threw 5 innings scattering 4 hits. Zach Byler pitched a perfect 6th inning and Tyler Crawford closed the 7th inning striking out 2 of the 3 hitters he faced. Austin Byler, Steven Kane, and Drew Wolff led the Mustangs offensively with multiple hits.

Sunrise Mountain finishes the National Classic 2-2. Tyler Crawford and Austin Byler we both named to the 20 man National Classic All Tournament Team.

Valley Vista 2 – OC 1
Great match up at Maryvale Stadium between two solid lefties, Tommy Lay for OC and Nelson Benjamin for Valley Vista. Both pitchers showed they are just that, pitchers, using their mix of pitches to keep hitters off balance. With the game tied at 1-1 in the 6th, Valley Vista got two hits off Lay and then a close 3-2 pitch went for a walk. OC went to Mike Gonzalez, but he would walk the first batter he saw for the go ahead run. Caleb Wood would close the door and give VV the “W”. Benjamin held OC hitters to 2 runs over the 13 innings this season.
 

Darian Ramage tossed a complete game 2 hit shutout as Deer Valley topped Mountain Ridge 6-0.

April 22, 2011

 Arcadia 11
Seton 1

On Thursday, the Titans jumped on the Sentinels early sending ten men to plate and posting a six-spot in the first. The lower half of the order did all the damage with RBI hits from Tim Janssen, Christian Munoz, Caleb McKinnon and Andrew Naderer. Arcadia plated four more runs in the second, and once again Janssen, Munoz, McKinnon, and Naderer collected RBI hits. Seton got their only run in the third when C.J. McGrady reached on an infield single and later scampered home on a passed ball. After a scoreless fourth, the Titans ended this one in the fifth when Naderer led off with a triple and Brendan Satran lifted an RBI sac fly to right. Naderer was in command throughout on the hill, scattering five hits and striking out six for his eight victory of the year (tied with three others for the 4A-5A lead).

Arcadia Top Hitters:

Andrew Naderer 3-3, 3B, 3 RBI
Tim Janssen 2-3, 3 RBI
Caleb McKinnon 2-2, 2 RBI

Seton Top Hitters;

Ryan Bresnahan 2-2
Matt Haggerty 2-3
C.J. McGrady 1-2, SB, R

Sunrise Mtn 4 El Dorado, CA 2

Behind a strong picthing performance by Brick Paskiewicz ( 5 inn 4 hits 2 runs) the Mustangs won thier final game of the National Classic defeating El Dorado, CA (ranked #2 in CA). Paskiewicz kept the Golden Hawks off balance threw 5 innings scattering 4 hits. Zach Byler pitched a perfect 6th inning and Tyler Crawford closed the 7th inning striking out 2 of the 3 hitters he faced. Austin Byler, Steven Kane, and Drew Wolff led the Mustangs offensively with multiple hits.

Sunrise Mountain finishes the National Classic 2-2. Tyler Crawford and Austin Byler we both named to the 20 man National Classic All Tournament Team.

April 21, 2011

 MILLENNIUM 9 CENTENNIAL 4

The Millennium Tigers clinched the Desert West Region title with a 9–4 victory over Centennial Thursday night. The win was the 6th straight, as they improved their league and overall records to 9–2 and 18–8, respectively.

Tatum Hendrix picked up the win with 6 strong innings of work, running his record to 6–3. Aided by 2 double-plays, he continually got the “big outs” he needed to keep the Coyotes off the board. The one run that Tatum allowed was unearned as he lowered his ERA to 1.93.

SCORING SUMMARIES:
Top of the 3rd: Trailing 1–0, Jake Newsome ripped a 1-out double to left, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Austin Hoffman’s sacrifice fly to right. (1–1)
Top of the 4th: AJ Diggs drew a 2-out walk and scored on Anthony Davison’s clutch triple to deep left-center. Davison scored on the first of three Nyles Fowler singles. (3–1)
Top of the 5th: Two walks and a Josh Rojas single loaded the bases and Tyler Booth lined a single up the middle to score 2 runs. That single extended Booth’s hitting streak to 14 games. Anthony Davison’s sacrifice fly drove in the final run of the inning. (6–1)
Top of the 6th: An error sandwiched between singles from Nyles Fowler and Austin Hoffman loaded the bases for Tatum Hendrix who delivered 1 run with a sacrifice fly. The other Tiger run of the inning was the result of a balk. (8–1)
Top of the 7th: Another Nyles Fowler single drove in the final Tiger run. (9–1)

Desert ridge 10-Perry 6-
Scott Hoffman was 3 for 5 with 4 rbis and 2 hrs.
Dylan Barrett went 4 for 5 hitting for the cycle and threw 5 1/3 shutout innings to earn the win.

Perry rallied for 6 runs in the 7th inning to make things interesting.

Highland 12 - Dobson 2

In a very important game between two teams fighting to make the post season, Highland got the upper hand over Dobson Thursday afternoon. Highland started early with Gentry Kinsella hitting the second pitch of the game out of the park for the first of Highland's three big flies on the night. Nolan Whittlesey was hit by a pitch and Cody Moffett followed with a shot into the right centerfield gap. The Clydesdales galloped with Whittlesey scoring from first and Moffett ending up on third with a triple. Tyler Clancy followed with an RBI single to score Garrett Repp, who mercifully ran for Moffett.

Dobson struggled defensively, which resulted in two runs in the second and another in the fourth. Both of which started with Christian Jantze being hit by pitches. Clancy and Westin Wiederhold each homered in the fifth. Highland scratched another run across in the sixth when Kinsella walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Whittlesey ground out to put Highland up 9-0.

Cody Moffett carried a no hitter into the sixth for Highland but nine hole hitter Josh Ling nearly decapitated him or at least almost destroyed some very expensive dental work with a line drive up the middle. Justin Behnke, Ryan Behnke and Chris Pennell singled to score Dobson's two runs. Highland scored three in the top of the 7th on a walk, singles by Kinsella and Noe' Mitchell, an error and two run single by Moffett.

Shane Carter worked a perfect 7th for Highland. Moffett got the win and Ryan Strazl took the loss, with R. Behnke and Keegan Lohide working in relief.

Highland hitters included:
Kinsella 3-4, HR, BB 3 runs
Moffett 2-4, 3B, BB 3 RBI
Clancy 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
Wiederhold 1-3, HR, BB 2 runs

Dobson
Josh Ling 1-3 with a run and one of the outs could've been a hit if there wasn't a no hitter in the mix

April 20, 2011

Bryce Greager homered 3 times as Fountain Hills defeated Payson 16-9.

 
Wednesday, April 20 Christian Bros vs. Sunrise Mtn 10:00 am
Christian Brothers (TN) 6 Mustangs 9
Nick White went 4-4 at the plate as he led Sunrise Mountain to a 9-6 victory over Christian Brothers in seven innings at National Classic on Wednesday. A. Byler (2-4, 1HR) and T. Crawford (1-3, 3RBI) combined for 4 RBI’s. Sunrise Mountain starter Seth Martinez, (6 innings, 9 hits, 4 ER, 7K’s and 1BB) got the win, with B. Paskiewicz closing out the game. (1 inning, 1 hit, 0ER, 3K’s)
Sunrise Mountain never trailed after scoring eight runs in the third on a two-run double by Crawford, an RBI single by White, an RBI single by Adam Webb, and a two-run double by Martinez. Other players with hits for the Mustangs include T. Fite (2-3), T Troftgruben (1-2) and N. Gorman (1-2).


Tuesday, April 19 Sunrise Mtn vs. Valley Christian 10:00 am
Valley Christian 12 Mustangs 4
Steven Kane got the start for the Mustangs, and pitched 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, 7K's and 2BB's, with 1 earned run, to take a lead of 4-3 into the top of the 7th. Valley Christian was able to tie it up in the 7th and take the game into extra innings. Valley Christian took advantage of Mustang relief pitchers, T. Palacios and A. Garcia, scoring 8 ER's in the Top of the 8th, to put the game out of reach for the Mustangs. N. White had an RBI single and T. Crawford had a bases clearing triple (3RBI) to account for the Mustangs scoring. Singles by A. Webb, S. Johnson and S. Kane rounded out the offense for Sunrise.


Monday April 18: Sunrise Mtn vs. IMG Academy (FL) 4:00pm
Mustangs 0 IMG Academy 1
The Mustangs lose a pitcher's duel, 0-1 in Anaheim. Tyler Crawford pitched outstanding, giving up a home run in the 1st that would end up being the game winner, and only run scored in the game. Crawford pitched 6 innings, with 8 strikeouts, 2 BB. 4 hits and the 1 earned run. Unfortunately, the Mustangs couldn't push a run across, with only 2 hits (A. Byler and A. Webb) off the IMG Academy's LHP Brandon Bonilla.

Saturday April 16: National Classic Home Run Derby- Austin Byler WINS
Austin Byler hit 9 homeruns in the final round of the Home Run Derby to win. Both he and Shane Johnson hit 5 homeruns in the first round to advance to the finals. Austin, hitting 2nd in the final round, came up big and blasted 9 homeruns to run away with the title. Congratulations to Austin, and to Shane for representing Sunrise Mountain baseball in a big way.

El Dorado.....2 0 0 0 0 7 0- 9 10 0
Notre Dame 0 0 0 0 1 0 0- 1 3 3

From Anaheim California-- 2011 National Classic
Caleb Badder pitched 5 strong innings vs (#2 Southern California ranked) El Dorado as Notre Dame dropped to 0-3 in the tournament.

Pitching
Caleb Badder - 5 ip, 6 runs, 8 hits, 0 k, 3 bb, (losing pitcher)
Patrick Denny - .67 ip, 3 runs, 1 hit, 0 k, 1 bb
Ryan Riggs - 1.33 ip, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 k, 1 bb

Hitting
Brian Poupore singled, doubled and scored a run
Ryan Riggs singled
 

Chris Pennell scattered 5 hits in a complete game effort as Dobson dropped Skyline 7-2.  Ryan Starzl was 4-4 for the Mustangs to lead the way offensively.

Chris Pennell got the win on the hill (L) Josh Stone is safe as Ricky Alvarez can't find the handle

Kevin Cron homered twice and allowed only 2 hits on the hill as Mountain Pointe dropped Hamilton 11-1 in 6 innings. Joey Curletta's  sixth inning grand slam was the deal breaker for the run rule victory.

Colby Woodmansee cranked a walk off 2 run homer in the bottom of the 8th  to send Desert Vista to a 10-8 victory over Corona Del Sol. The Aztecs opted to walk Shaun Chase ahead of Woodmansee, and the sophomore made CDS pay.

Corona had rallied back from a  7-0 deficit, scoring  4 times in both the 6th and 7th innings to send things into extras.

Woodmansee had a pair of homers and 5 RBIs for the Thunder.

Desert Mountain 13 St. Mary's 2 (6 innings)

Desert Mountain belted 5 home runs, including two by winning pitcher Cody Erickson, and Erickson and Keaton Boysen combined on a 4-hitter as the Wolves beat St. Mary's, 13-2 in 6 innings. DM scored 6 runs in the 2nd inning, started by Erickson's leadoff home run and ended by Drew McLaughlin's 2-run double, and they never looked back. Marios Mylonas hit a 2-run bomb in the 5th to stretch the DM lead to 8-1, then the Wolves finished it in the 6th with 3 more shots over the left field wall. David Greer's solo blast started the inning and was followed by Erickson's second homer of the game. Then Hunter Lambert finished the game with a towering 3-run drive, his first career home run. St. Mary's could only score two unearned runs, one in the 4th and one in the 6th inning. Ten different Desert Mountain hitters contributed to the 14 hit attack as the Wolves ran their season record to 18-8 and their Desert Valley Region record to 6-2.
 

April 19, 2011

 Desert Mountain 10 Chaparral 7

Desert Mountain jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, then held off several Chaparral rallies with a combination of clutch pitching, outstanding defense and timely hitting to beat the Firebirds, 10-7, in a game played at Chaparral. The Wolves scored 3 runs in the 1st inning on just one hit by capitalizing on 2 walks, a wild pitch, a passed ball and an error. They extended their lead in the 2nd inning to 4-0 on an RBI single by Drew McLaughlin before Chaparral cut the lead in half on a RBI single by Chase Adams and a DM error. The Wolves responded with 4 more runs in the 3rd on an RBI single by Marios Mylonas, a 2-run double by Lucas Jacobi and an RBI ground out by McLaughlin to take an 8-2 lead.
A 2-out, bases clearing double by Joey Bielek brought the Firebirds within 8-5 in the bottom of the 4th inning, but the Wolves came back in the 5th on RBI singles by McLaughlin and David Greer to regain a 10-5 lead. After A.J. Schillinger singled to reduce the Chaparall deficit to 10-6, the Firebirds appeared ready to rally in the 6th before Keaton Boysen ran down Jordy Hein's long fly ball to deep left and Cody Erickson snagged Bielek's line drive down the 3rd base line, then fired a bullet to 1st base for an inning ending double play. A sacrifice fly by Schillinger in the bottom of the 7th finished the scoring, as Matt Lewis struck out the final hitter looking to end the game.

Austin Davis (4-3) got the win, keeping the potent Firebird offense in check through 4 innings. Matt Lewis pitched very well in 3 innings of relief. Drew McLaughlin and Marios Mylonas had 3 hits each for the Wolves, and Lucas Jacobi had 2 hits. A.J. Schillinger, Dillon Bigcrane and Kyle Toth had 2 hits each for the Firebirds.

Austin Davis working for DM (L) Jordie Hein motors around third

 O’Connor 11- Kingman 1

This game was actually a 2-1 game until the 5th when OC broke it open when Kingman’s starter tired and OC got to the bullpen. The OC offense was pretty spread out, with the highlight a mammoth 430’ home run by sophomore Titan Jones. Josh Fogerlie picked up the win for OC.

MILLENNIUM 11 WESTVIEW 1 (5 innings)

Austin Hoffman did it all tonight for the Millennium Tigers. He ran his record to 7 - 0, tossing a 5-hitter against the Westview Knights. He allowed 1 unearned run and recorded a season high 9 Ks in his 5 innings of work. But, if you ask Austin, he’ll want to talk about the double he hit that one-hopped the center field fence and the 2-run, walk-off home run that he blasted in the bottom of the fifth to give the Tigers their 5th straight run-rule victory.

The Tigers took a slim 1 - 0 lead into the bottom of the 3rd when they scored 3 runs on 2 sacrifice flies sandwiched around Tyler Booth’s RBI double. They added 5 in the 4th inning, the big blow being Sophomore Sammy Rimer’s 2-run homer.

HITTING SUMMARY:
Sammy Rimer: 2-2, HR, 2RBIs, 2 runs scored Austin Hoffman: 2-3, 2B, HR, 2RBIs, 2 runs scored AJ Diggs: 1-2, 2 RBIs Tyler Booth: 1-2, 2B, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored Jake Newsome: 1-2, 3 runs scored

                                           R  H  E
Williams Field 2 1 2 3 5 1 - | 14 14 1
Maricopa        1 2 1 0 0 0 - |  4   8  1

WP: Martino

LP: Speer

WF Leading Hitters: Gardner 4-5, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, SB; Wahlers 2-2 HR, 3B, 3 RBI, IBB, BB, 4 R; Layton 2-4 2B, 3B, 3 R, BB

Maricopa leading hitters: Seymoure 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R

Nic Martino got the win on the mound for the Black Hawks on Tuesday, while the bats came alive. Jamison Gardner, Drew Wahlers, JD Layton, Jake McDavid, and Jordan Washburn all had multi hit games, including home runs from Gardner and Wahlers. Mitch Allred pitched a perfect 6th inning to close the game and get the run rule. Maricopa’s Seymoure blasted a solo homerun in the third. Williams Field takes on rival Higley on Thursday, while Maricopa takes on Seton on Tuesday.

Top two teams in 4AII went at it for 2nd time this season. Thunderbird came out on top 6-3 at Greenway on Tuesday night, splitting the region series.

Soph Eric Wagner with the CG for Thunderbird pounding the strike zone giving up 3-runs on 10-hits, 1bb & 5k’s. Scott Squire took the L from Greenway, struggling with control but battling for 6-inn giving up 5-runs on 4-hits, 11bb & 8k’s.

Thunderbird jumped out with a run in the top of the 1st after a 3B off the RF fence from Marcus Wheeler followed by 3-consecutive bb’s. Greenway came back with a 2-out, 2-Run dinger from Squire in the bott of the 1st. Tbird came back a run in the top of 2nd and stayed tied at 2’s until the 6th. Thunderbird put together 3-runs in top of the 6th all with 2-out hits from the top of their order with a 1b by Stiak, a long 2B off the batter’s eye from Everill and a 2-R oppo-home run from Wheeler. Thunderbird added another run in the 7th for a 4-run cushion. Charlie Wagner topped off a 4-4 night at the plate with a HR to CF in the bottom of the 7th to end the scoring for Greenway.

M. Wheeler for TBird: 3R, 2H (3b & HR), 2rbi
C. Wagner for Gnwy: 2R, 4H (2b & HR), 1rbi
S. Squire for Gnwy: 1R, 2H, 2rbi (HR)

Mingus 1
Arcadia 0

The Titans and Marauders could only scrape together ten hits between them, but Mingus got the one that counted. Shortstop Carlos Abbrigo launched a lead-off HR to left in the top of the seventh off reliever Gary Cornish, and Mingus starter Matt Chavez escaped a Titan threat in the bottom half for the victory. Chavez had only one strikeout but got ten ground ball outs while limiting the Titans to four hits. Titan starter Thomas Schellhardt took the tough no-decision, also allowing only four hits and striking out seven in four innings of work. Cornish pitched well in relief, allowing two hits with three strikeouts. The Titans loaded the bases in the fourth and seventh but were victimized each time by costly base running errors.

Arcadia Top Hitters:

Brendan Satran 2-2, 2 BB, 2 SB
Colton Sanchez 1-3
Christian Munoz 1-3

Mingus Top Hitters:

Carlos Abbrigo 1-3, HR, RBI
Ronald Morones 2-3, SB
Evan McFarland 1-3, 2B

Notre Dame 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 3 9 2
Cypress......3 0 0 2 0 0 X - 5 6 0

From Anaheim California-- 2011 National Classic

Sam Napp pitched well but Notre Dame's late rally came up short as they lost their second consecutive game in California.

Pitching
Sam Napp-- 5 ip, 5 runs, 6 hits, 2 k , 5 bb , (losing pitcher)
Ryan Riggs-- 1 ip, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 k, 0 bb

Hitting
Casey Scott had 2 singles, double, RBI and scored a run
Brian Poupore had a RBI double
Sam Griffen singled and scored a run
Taylor Scott beat out an infield single with a RBI
Sam Young had a pinch hit double and scored a run
Joey Greco and Ryan Scott each singled
Defense
Joe Luvisi (LF) and Sam Griffen (CF) each made incredible horizontal diving catches for the Saints

Gilbert topped crosstown rival Mesquite on Tuesday 12-6.

Stephen Tarpley, the hard throwing Tiger left hander, got the win on the mound.
The first 2 batters for Mesquite - Zach Davies, and Seth Fretheim, greeted Tarpley rudely, going back to back to give the 'cats an early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, the Tigers fought back with a few runs of their own. Dustin Peterson stuck the ball into the outfield for a line drive double. Tarpley, also a threat at the plate, stood in the box, and tagged one into the outfield for a 2 run RBI, locking the game up at 2 – 2.

In the top of the second, Jake Howard of the Wildcats cranked a monster homerun over the centerfield green wall, giving the Wildcats a 3 – 2 lead.
Tiger first baseman, Justin McAllister, singled hard to start off the bottom of the second. Jacob Hoefert crushed a double, to bring runners to second and third bases. McAllister later scored on a passed ball, and a Nathaniel Causey double, brought in Stankiewicz, giving the Tigers a 4 – 3 lead.

Ty Neenan, the Tigers big DH hitter, led off the bottom of the third, by clubbing one over the left field fence. Hoefert singled again to right field, and before you knew it, the Tigers were ahead 5 – 3.

In the top of the fourth, the Tigers were challenged in the field. A fly ball to right field fell against the fence, and runners advanced. A sacrifice fly by the hard hitting Howard dropped the scoring gap to 5 -4. By the end of the inning, the Tigers found themselves tied with the hard hitting Wildcats team at 5 – 5.

Tarpley led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run directly over the center field monster, giving the Tigers a small cushion of a lead at 7 -5. Ty Neenan and Billy Darras each singled, but were left on base to end the fourth.

Wildcat leadoff hitter Zach Davies tripled with one out in the top of the fifth to try and ignite a rally, but Mesquite could only muster 1 run in the inning. The Tigers opened up the scoring floodgates, and delivered the blow of the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Hoefert started the inning with a hard hit double, followed by a bunt-gone-wrong single by Greg Esquibel. Stankiewicz singled with bases loaded, and A. J. Taylor pinch running at second base, quickly scored on a passed ball. Causey, with bases loaded, delivered a 2 run RBI bringing the game to a score of 10 – 6. Tarpley tore into a pitch into left field for a hard single, and after a wild throw and runners advancing, the Tigers finished out their scoring of the night at 12 – 6.

Jake Howard hit yet another line drive double to the fence, but Tarpley, pitching the complete game and looking strong doing it, shut down the rest of the Wildcat hitters.

Corona Del Sol blasted Ironwood 15-2 with Grant Suman earning the win on the hill to go to 5-0 on the year. Josh Ethier was 3-4 and Kyle Jorgensen doubled, homered and knocked in 3 runs. Brett Spradling and Trevor Cates had a pair of hits and Mike Castellano added a homer.
 

April 18, 2011

Notre Dame 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 5 2
St. Francis 4 0 2 5 2 0 X - 13 14 2

From Anaheim California-- 2011 National Classic

Notre Dame fell to (Baseball America #1 ranked in USA) Saint Francis in their opening game.

Pitching
Taylor Scott-- 3.67 ip,11 runs,11 hits, 0 k, 4 bb (losing pitcher)
Dustin Coffindaffer--1.33 ip, 2 runs, 2 hits,0 k, 0 bb
Nick Affronti--1 ip, 0 runs,1 hit,1k, 2 bb

Hitting
Joe Luvisi doubled and scored a run
Joey Greco and Brian Poupore each had an RBI single
Sam Griffen had a bunt single and scored a run
Sam Young had a pinch hit single
Taylor Scott scored a run

Desert Mountain 15 St. Mary's 6

Desert Mountain jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the 2nd inning at St. Mary's, watched the Knights rallied to close the gap to 7-6 in the 5th inning, then
pulled away with 5 runs in the 6th and 3 runs in the 7th to beat St. Mary's, 15-6 in a game at Phoenix College. The Wolves scored 5 runs in the top
of the 1st on a 2-run double to deep center by David Greer, a 2-run single by Cody Erickson and an RBI single by Joey Mandros. After the Knights
scored a run in the home half of the 1st, Desert Mountain scored two in the 2nd on an RBI ground out by Greer and another RBI single by Erickson.
St. Mary's scored an unearned run in the 3rd, then pulled within 7-6 with a 4-run rally in the 4th on 2 hits, a walk and 2 hit batters. But the Wolves
put the game away with 5 runs in the 6th inning on an RBI single by Mandros, an RBI double by Jake McAdams and a bases-clearing triple by Marios
Mylonas. Ben Rodriguez then capped a 3-run 7th inning with a 2-run double as the Wolves finished the night with 18 hits. Jacobi, Erickson and Mandros
had 3 hits each for the Wolves, while Drew McLaughlin, Greer and McAdams had 2 each. Colton Mills (5-1) picked up the win for Desert Mountain and
Hunter Lambert pitched 3 shutout innings to hold off St. Mary's, allowing just 2 hits.

The Sabercats of Saguaro got their first taste of the new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Monday night as they hosted cross-town Coronado. The Dons struck first in this one as Harlan Gatewood, batting second in the Dons lineup jumped the first pitch he saw from Saguaro starter Chris Freudenberg and deposited it into the grass berm in LF to make it 1-0. From there it was all Saguaro as the Sabercats sent 16 men to the plate in the bottom half, plating 10 of them. Freudenberg settled in holding the Dons scoreless until the 5th when they got 3 on base hits by Luna, Chavez, Kittle and Buya to extend the game into the bottom half where the Sabercats picked up the two they needed for the 10-run margin. Final score, Saguaro 14, Coronado 4. For the Sabercats it was their 23rd straight victory. Offensively, Chris Akmon had three hits in three trips and Austin Anderson, Zach Gibbons and Kyle Young each had two hits with Gibbons going yard.

April 17, 2011

 April 16, 2011 Salpointe 15 Desert Vista 14

The Salpointe Catholic Lancers concluded their week 4-0 with a couple come from behind wins @ Rincon (15-4) yesterday and over visiting Desert Vista Thunder (15-14) today to finish their previously tied game 13-13.

Senior Lancer AJ Alexander dueled with Thunder Tyler Adams and it was a dramatic 4 innings of baseball that started at High Noon.
The 8th and 9th inning went scoreless as both teams were not able to capitalize.

In the top of the 10th, Desert Vista struck first when Future Wildcat Senior Shaun Chase deposited a towering shot to LF on 3-2 high fastball to give the Thunder a 14-13 lead. Alexander settled and got the 3 outs without any further damage.In the bottom of the 10th, Lancers 1st 2 batters went down when Ray Eastman reached on base on a single. Fernando Careaga was then called to pinch hit for Kimbrough and he hit a long double to RF and brought Eastman home to tie the game 14-14. Adams then got the last out.

In the top of the 11th Alexander quickly got 3 outs setting the dramatic bottom of the 11th. Future Razorback Senior Joe Serrano Started the inning by extending a single into a double. Forest Chapman then sacrificed Serrano to 3rd. The Thunder intentionally walked Miller and Hoard to load the bases placing Alexander to bat . He then brought Serrano with a sacrifice fly for the win!

The Lancers started their week vs Tucson High with a visit from legendary Coach and current president of the Pima Sports Hall of Fame John Gleeson who has 2 fields named after him ( Salpointe and Flowing Wells). The team has been playing well as of late with major contributions from both the starters and reserves. Here are the numbers for this week, in 4 games the Lancers scored 69 runs on 67 hits with 61 RBIs, 22 doubles and 8 HRs.

April 16, 2011

Brendon Erickson goes deep (L) Tommy Lay dealin' for the Eagles

North Canyon rebounded from a tough loss Thursday night to beat Pinnacle 8-4 Friday night.
Pinnacle got on the board in the 1st with an RBI single by Kris Ayers.
Pinnacle starting Pitcher Jake Winters completely shut down the Rattlers offense through 3 innings.
In the 4th inning the Pioneers got a solo HR from Jordan Makis to stretch the lead to 2-0
The Rattlers scored one run in the bottom of the 4th.
Bryce Bush came in in relive of Ricky Hamilton and kept the Pioneer bats at bay.
The Rattlers scored 5 more in the 5th inning to take a 6 -2 lead.
Pinnacle responded with a 2 run HR by Brock Hartly to close the gap to 6-4
North Canyon Got the two runs back in their half of the frame to extend the lead to 8-4
Dominic Portocarrero game in and closed the game for the Rattlers.

Travis Stokey turns it for Desert Edge

Verrado 4, Desert Edge 3 (12 innings)

The fans in attendance at the Goodyear Ballpark got their money's worth Friday night, as Verrado out-dueled their region rival Desert Edge in 12 innings over 3 hrs and 15 mins of game play.
Verrado scored the game's first run in the top of the 4th when junior Chris Burks led off the inning with a triple down the right field line. Senior Abraham Garcia then punched an RBI single up the middle with the infield playing in to score Burks.
Desert Edge got their equalizer in the bottom of the sixth when senior Tanner Stokey led the inning off with a single, then scored on Adrian Figueroa's RBI double down the left field line.
The Scorpions then had their next scoring threat in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and runners on the corners, but Verrado first baseman Corey Knight made a leaping grab on a high bouncing ground ball to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th, Desert Edge looked to close the door with the bases loaded and only one out. However, another spectacular play by Knight at first saved Verrado as he fielded a hard ground ball and got the 3-2-3 double play to end the threat.
Verrado took the momentum of that play into the 10th as Burks reached on a fielder's choice, and then scored from first on sophomore Wyatt Hull's RBI triple. Hull was stranded on third to end the inning and the Vipers took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 10th where Desert Edge again had a timely answer.
After Tanner Lung drew a leadoff walk, a sacrifice bunt moved him to second, a wild pitch moved him to third, and then a sacrifice fly to center scored him to tie it up 2-2.
Verrado starter Brady Bowen left the game after 10 very gritty innings, striking out 10 and allowing the 2 earned. Desert Edge starter Travis Decker went 7 innings and allowing just one run.
Verrado broke the game open in the top of the 12th when Tyler Boxwell led off the inning with a triple down the left field line, then after a groundout by Knight, Desert Edge intentionally walked Burks in an attempt to set up a double play. Wyatt Hull then blasted his second triple of the evening, this time scoring both runs, and Verrado took the 4-2 lead.
Desert Edge then led off the bottom of the 12th with two singles, but Verrado fielded a bunt back to the pitcher and got the lead runner at 3rd for the first out. After a fly out to center moved the runners over, a slow dribbler that Hull mishandled at 3rd allowed the Scorpions to inch within a run 4-3. With the tying run on second base, Christian Rodriguez flied out to left field to end the game.


Top Performers:

Verrado (16-6 Overall)
- P Brady Bowen: ND, 10 Ks, 2 R, 2 ER, 10 IP
- 3B Wyatt Hull: 3-for-5, 2 3B, 3 RBI, BB
- CF Chris Burks: 1-for-5, 3B, 3 R, BB
- SS PJ Garcia: 2-for-5, 2B, BB

Desert Edge (15-11 Overall)
- P Travis Decker: ND, 5 Ks, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 IP
- LF Ryan Schwarz: 2-for-2, 2B, HBP, BB, Sac
- 3B Adrian Figueroa: 2-for-6, 2B, RBI
- SS Tanner Stokey: 2-for-4, 2 R, BB, Sac

Travis Decker (L) and Brady Bowen squared off at Goodyear Ballpark

Highland 5 - Basha 4

Basha jumped out to an early two run lead in the top of the first when Jake Westbrook (2B), Gary Sheffield (3B) and Jason Parks (1B) all went the opposite way in succession to lead off the game. A walk and an error didn't lead to any further damage for Basha. Torrente led off the second for Basha with the first of his three hits. He was promptly picked off, but the throw at second was dropped. After a fly out, Sheffield singled home Torrente. He promptly stole second and scored on an Anthony Conforti single. Basha was up 4-0 after 1 1/2.

Highland started to chip away in the bottom of the second when Jordan Peterson singled and after a couple of ground outs scored on a Christian Jantze single. Highland added a run in the third when Cody Moffett reached on an infield hit with two outs. After a Tyler Clancy walk, Peterson singled Tyler Brown (running for Moffett) home. With Garrett Repp up to bat, Highland tried a double steal, but Clancy was called out at home. Coach Scott Cook took exception and after a rather heated discussion, was relieved of his duties for the evening. Highland seemed to fire up.

Highland scored again in the 4th, when Noe' Mitchell doubled with one out and was singled home by Gentry Kinsella. Highland scored again in the 6th to tie it when Peterson doubled, was sacrificed by Repp and scored on a Mitchell sacrifice fly.

Coach Cook must've found Moffett's breaking ball in the parking lot, because it appeared about the time he left. After giving up 6 hits and 4 runs (2 earned) in the first two innings, he settled in. Basha threatened a couple of times, but Moffett weaseled out of jams in the 4th and 6th, holding Basha scoreless for the last five innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kinsella hit a routine ground ball that was thrown down the right field line and Westin Wiederhold followed with a walk-off single to end the game.

Moffett picked up the win, giving up 11 hits but walking only one and striking out 8 a gutting out 116 pitches. Aaron Blair took the loss for Basha and deserved better. It was the second win of the week for Moffett, who blew a save opportunity in an Ethan Evanko gem and vultured a win when Highland came back with a run to go ahead in the sixth.

Basha:

Westbrook 3-4, 2B, SB
Sheffield 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI
Torriente 3-3

Highland:
Peterson 3-3, 2B RBI
Mitchell 1-2, 2B, SF

Chaparral 11 Desert Mountain 1

Nick Diamond and Peter Lenstrohm combined on a 2-hitter, and Nick DeRegis capped a 6-run 7th inning with a grand slam as Chaparral defeated
Desert Mountain, 11-1. Chaparral took a 4-0 lead after 3 innings before Desert Mountain scored their only run in the bottom of the 4th inning on David
Greer's RBI single. After stretching the lead to 5-1 in the 5th, the Firebirds finished strong with their big 7th inning to hold first place in the Desert Valley
Region. Joey Bielek had 3 hits for Chaparral, and Colby Targun, AJ Schillinger and Kyle Toth had 2 hits each to lead the 14 hit Firebird attack.

Kevin Cron cranked #17 as Mountain Pointe Pointe blanked Westwood 4-0. Tony Balderamma and Cron combined for the shutout on the mound.

Tatum tossed a complete game 5 inning shutout as Millenium topped Cesar Chavez 10-0 in the Goodyear Stadium. Anthony Davison and Tyler Booth both went deep. Booth's was a towering no doubter on a curveball that landed on top of the awning over the right field seats.

  Tatum Hendrix in control for Millenium

April 15, 2011

 Saguaro kept up their winning ways on Thursday, topping the McClintock Chargers 10-0 at home.  In winning their 22nd straight, the Sabercats Michael Benson spun a no-hitter, striking out 7 and needing only 47 pitches in the 5-inning affair to take care of their region foes.  Benson was dominant throughout and missed a perfecto by virtue of a questionable hit batter in the 4th.  The Sabercats were paced offensively by their top two hitters in the lineup, Austin Anderson and Zach Gibbons who both had three hits and by their shortstop Matt Morris who also had three hits including two doubles.

Salpointe continued their hot ways scoring 9 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and never looked back in a 13-1 win over Marana Mountain View. Senior Forest Redd got enough offensive support and defensive effort enroute to bagging his 4th win of the season. Next in line for the Lancers are the Rincon Rangers tomorrow in an away game and the Desert Vista Thunder on Saturday @12PM Gleeson Field to commence their 13-13 tie.

Offensive Stars:
1)Kevin Brice 3/3, 2b
2)Joe Serrano 2/2, 2b (2)
3)Fernando Careaga, 3/4,2b
4)Forest Redd 2/3,2b
5)Ray Eastman, 2/3, 2b(2)
6)Michael Hoard, 1/2, 2b

Defensive Stars:
Lancer infield (Kimbrough,Serrrano,Eastman,Hoard, Penaflor)with several double plays and hot corner plays.

Arcadia 18
Maricopa 6
The Titan offense erupted for 20 hits, including three home runs, and got a solid performance from pitcher Gary Cornish to win their fifth straight. Arcadia scored three in the second on RBI singles from Christian Munoz and Eddie Lyon, and an RBI double from Andrew Naderer. Maricopa got a run in the bottom half, but Caleb McKinnon got it back when he led off the third with a solo shot to left. The Titans posted eight runs in the fourth highlighted by McKinnon's second dinger in consecutive at-bats, a two-run laser to center, and a 2 RBI double from Brendan Satran. Colton Sanchez and Preston McLain added RBI singles putting the Titans up 12-1. The Rams didn't want to call it a day in the fifth and scored five off a tiring Cornish to extend the game. Mike Scannell relieved Cornish and got the Titans out of the inning. In the sixth, Naderer singled and Satran hit a moon shot to left for two quick runs. After another run scored on an error, Sanchez plated two more with a double to deep center to close out the scoring. Scannell pitched a scoreless bottom half and got a double-play ball to end the game. Cornish got the win working 4 1/3 innings and striking out six.

Arcadia Top Hitters:
Caleb McKinnon 2-3, 2 HRs(2), 3 RBI, BB, 3R
Brendan Satran 3-4, HR(3), 2 2B, 4 RBI, SB, 2R
Colton Sanchez 3-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 2R
Andrew Naderer 3-4, 2B, RBI, 3R
Christian Munoz 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 2R

April 14, 2011

Junior lefty Jaren Drummond tossed a complete game one hit shutout with 11 Ks as Perry blanked St. Mary's 8-0. Phil Raetz had an RBI single and a 3 run homer, and Chris Spelts was 3-4 for the Pumas.

Colin Braithwaite scrambles back as Ricky Bustamante awaits the throw (L) Phil Raetz goes yard for the Pumas

 Chaparral pounded out 18 hits in a 19 -8 victory over Mountain Ridge on Wednesday.

The Lions walked the first three batters of the game and Chaparral took advantage with a grand slam by Nick DeRegis followed by a Nick Diamond solo shot to take an early 5 – 0 lead.

Mtn Ridge came up with two runs on two hits and three walks off of starting pitcher Nevin Wilson to cut the lead to 5 – 2. But Wilson settled in after that and didn’t give up another hit in four innings of work while striking out four batters.

The Firebirds added two runs in the second, three in the third on a 2-run shot by Dillon Bigcrane and a solo HR by Jordie Hein, and two more in the fourth inning on doubles by DeRegis, Diamond, & AJ Schillinger to take a 12 -2 lead into the fifth inning.

Chance Adams entered in relief for the Firebirds, gave up a hit & a walk, then struck out the next two batters. Adams was one strike away from ending the game by run-rule when Mtn Ridge’s Dan Will hit a 3-run HR to extend the game.

Chaparral put seven more runs on the board over the next two innings with singles by Schillinger, Eric Brossart & Austin Singer, doubles by Adams & Kyle Toth, and a triple by Colby Targun.

Tyger Talley came in to pitch the final two innings for Chaparral. The Lions hung on to score a couple runs on a few scattered hits, but the rally was short-lived as a determined Talley challenged every Mtn Ridge batter he faced and ended the game with a strikeout.

Saguaro and Notre Dame hooked up in a battle of cross-town foes at Scottsdale Stadium under the lights on Wednesday.  In a wild game, Saguaro came out on top by a score of 9-5 for their 21st consecutive victory but it wasn't easy. 

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 4th when the Saints scored twice on a Greco double and a Hopkins triple followed by a suicide squeeze by Scott.  In the top of the 5th, the game took an unusual turn as Jon Nimtz, Ben Tingley and Austin Anderson led off the inning with back-to-back-to-back singles.  After a strikeout, Chris Akmon singled driving in Nimtz and Tingley but the umpire ruled Tingley missed 3rd base and called him out.  That was all the spark the Sabercats needed as Austin Anderson then scored on a double steal and Brandon Demerest drove in Akmon to make it 3-2 after 4 1/2. 

 The Saints scored in the bottom half of the 5th on an RBI single by Greco to tie the game but the Cats came right back with a 5 spot in the 6th.  After chasing starter Tayler Scott, Demerest greeted  Notre Dame reliever Kelvan Pilot with a bases-loaded double,  For the night the Sabercats had 15 hits, 12 of them coming from the 5th inning on.  Travis Steinheiser went the distance for Saguaro striking out 6 in earning his 6th victory of the year.

Gilbert took on Dobson in a home matinee Wednesday, and defeated the Mustangs by a final score of 16 – 11.
Dobson took a 1-0 first inning lead on a lead off homer by Josh Stone. In the bottom half, Drew Stankiewicz would answer with a lead off blast of his own to tie the score. Dustin Peterson would follow with a double, and scored later to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
The Mustangs responded in the top of the second, on a double by Eric Haakenson double and a Josh Ling RBI single. Ryan Starzl hit a sharp ball to second base fielded by Dustin Peterson, to retire the side. The Mustangs led at this point by a score of 3 – 2.
The Tigers answered in the bottom of the inning with a Billy Darras double, and with two outs, Stankiewicz blasted an RBI single scoring Darras to lock the game at 3 – 3.
In the top of the third, 2 singles and a 2 walks to Mustang batters allowed Dobson to take the lead at 4 – 3. Dalton England was replaced by the tall right hander, Billy Darras in the third, who needed to pitch out of a huge jam. A pair of hits combined with some shaky Tiger defense let the Mustangs pull ahead in the game by a score of 6 – 3.
In the bottom of the third inning. Stephen Tarpley hit a gapper single, followed by a Justin McAllister RBI double bringing the score closer at 6 -4. Ty Neenan moved the runner to third, and Greg Esquibel lasered a long ball into right field, missing a homerun by about a foot. Esquibel’s double with 2 outs brought the score to 6 – 5. Zach Regier, starting in left field, tagged a double to the left field fence making the score 6 – 6. With runners at second and third, Drew Stankiewicz tagged a 2 run RBI, to put the Tigers ahead by the score of 8 – 6.
In the top of the fourth Haakenson hit an RBI single to make the game close at 8 – 7. Mariano Begay followed with another RBI single, knotting the game at 8 – 8.
In the bottom of the fifth, the flood gates broke wide open for the Tigers. Darras started the inning with a homerun. Stankiewicz walked, and was followed by a high bouncing hit between the 3rd baseman and shortstop by Peterson. Tiger catcher Nathaniel Causey, tattooed a line drive RBI single to right field. Tarpley helped Causey and friend get off the bases, by labeling a 3 run homerun over the fence. Suddenly the Tigers were up 13 – 8.
In the bottom half of the 6th inning, Stankiewicz had another single, followed by Dustin Petersons second home run in 2 nights. Causey followed Peterson's smash with one of his own, and the score was 16 – 8. Tarpley added a double, but was left stranded on base.
Kyle Eyster came on in the top of the 7th and was greeted with Mustangs Josh Stone hitting one out of the park. A couple more hits by the Mustangs and the score was thinned to 16 – 11, when the Justin McAllister came in to finish it off. McAllister pitched to 2 batters, truck them both out, and the final score of the game favored the Tigers, 16 – 11.

Pinch hitter Kyle Hanson singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 7th as Mesquite topped Highland 8-7. Mesquite would score solo runs in the first two innings and took a 2-1 lead into the 4th. Highland would proceed to erupt for 6 runs courtesy of some timely hits and assistance from the Mesquite defense. Trailing 7-3, the 'cats tallied 4 times in the bottom of the 5th to tie it, the big blow a long 3 run bomb from Jake Howard. Zach Davies tossed the 7th inning and was credited with the win.

O’Connor and Deer Valley were tied going into the 7th 4-4 when Brendon Erickson launched a no doubter over the left center field wall to give OC a 5-4 lead. Erickson who had come into pitch in the 6th, slammed the door in the bottom of the frame, showing some upper 80’s velocity and a tight hard breaking pitch, to secure OC a win.

April 13, 2011

                                         R H E
Seton Catholic 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 | 1 4 2

Williams Field 0 0 1 0 0 2 -  | 2 5 1

WP: Parkinson

LP: Villegas

Seton Leading Hitters: Hart 2-3 2B, R

Williams Field leading hitters: Wahlers 1-3 HR, 2 RBI; Wengert 1-2 2B

The slugfest rematch between Seton Catholic and Williams Field was quite the opposite on Tuesday with a pitcher’s duel between Williams Field’s Adam Frank and Seton Catholic’s Villegas. Frank had an impressive performance, striking out his first 5 batters faced, and racking up 12 K’s in 5 1/3 innings. With the score tied at 1-1 in the 6th, Zach Parkinson struck out 2 to bridge the gap and get the Black Hawks to the bottom half of the 6th. With 1 out, JD Layton singled, to bring Drew Wahlers to the plate. Wahlers delivered with a 2 run home run to put Williams Field up by 2. Jake McDavid came in to shut the door, striking out the side in the top of the 7th. Villegas pitched well for Seton, striking out 9 batters, and keeping the Black Hawks to 2 earned runs. Seton takes on Tempe, while Williams Field takes on Notre Dame Prep at Salt River Fields this Thursday.
 

 Joey Curletta cranked 3 bombs and Scott Kingery added a pair of homers as Mountain Pointe dropped Desert Ridge 12-5.  Jordan Kipper went the distance to move to 5-0 on the year for the Pride.

Arcadia 11
Higley 5

The Knights got two in the first on RBI singles from Brandon Boggs and Zepplin Lucero. The Titans (17-6) answered in the second, Mike Scannell walked, Colton Sanchez singled and was plated on an RBI single from Christian Munoz. Eddie Lyon scored Sanchez with a sac fly and Munoz scored on a wild pitch for a 3-2 lead. Arcadia starter Andrew Naderer made quick work of the Knights in the second and third, but Higley loaded the bases in the fourth only to see Naderer get two ground balls to end the threat. Meanwhile, the Knights Eric Nunez set the Titans down in order in the third and fourth innings, but Arcadia added three in the fifth. Lyon reached on a fielder's choice, Brendan Satran was hit by a pitch, and Michael Roberts singled to score Lyon. Satran scored on a wild pitch and Drew Butler followed with a single scoring Roberts. Higley responded with two in the bottom half to keep the game close. Lucero scorched an RBI triple to right and Fernando Nunez doubled, scoring Lucero. Caleb McKinnon's 2 RBI single gave the Titans some breathing room in the sixth and in the bottom half Munoz added a circus catch in left to get Naderer out of the inning. Colton Sanchez's 2-run HR in the seventh highlighted a three-run inning that put the Titans up 11-4. The Knights loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh but could only manage one run as Naderer (7-1) got a pop up, a ground ball out and a strike-out to end the game.


Arcadia Top Hitters:
Christian Munoz 4-4, RBI, 3R
Colton Sanchez 2-3, HR(1), 2 RBI, BB, 2R
Michael Roberts 2-3, RBI, BB, R
Eddie Lyon 1-2, 2B, RBI, Sac Fly, BB, R

Higley Top Hitters:
Zepplin Lucero 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI, R
Brandon Boggs 2-3, RBI, BB, 2R
Josh Ruiz 2-4, RBI, R
Fernando Nunez 1-3, 2B, RBI, HBP

MILLENNIUM 14 IRONWOOD 2

Austin Hoffman improved his record to 6-0 by tossing a 4-hitter in Millennium’s 14-2 victory over Ironwood. He only recorded 1 strikeout, but consistently had the Eagle hitters off balance by hitting his spots and changing speeds effectively. Only 1 run was earned.

The Tigers offense continues to get production all through the lineup and to score runs in bunches. Eight of the starters had at least 1 hit and five had 2 or more in the 15-hit attack. Below is a hitting summary.

LEADING HITTERS

Tatum Hendrix: 4-4, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Tyler Booth: 2-2, 1 double, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Austin Hoffman 2-2, 2 doubles, 3 runs scored
AJ Diggs: 2-3, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Anthony Davison: 2-3, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored

Saguaro took on Poston Butte on Tuesday night and came away with a hard fought victory, their 20th in a row, 4-2.  Chris Freudenberg went 4 innings, striking out 10 and Kane McCaslin and Daniel Akmon relived him with Akmon gaining his 3rd save of the year.  The Sabercats were paced on offense by Zach Gibbons who went
3 for 3 and scored 3 runs, Brendon Demerest who drove in the 1st run of the night with a 2 out double in the 1st and Chris Akmon who drove in 2 on the evening.  Saguaro plays Notre Dame at the Stadium on Wednesday night at 7:00.

The North Canyon Rattlers traveled to Horizon to play under the lights Tuesday night and came away with a 2-1 win.

The Huskies threatened in the first but the runner was gunned down at the plate by a perfectly executed play from CF Dominic Portocarrero to SS Marco Burciaga to Catcher Chad Lewis for a close play at the plate..

The Rattlers got on the board in the 2nd with a solo HR by Alberto Higuera.

In the top of the 3rd Zach Walker plated another run with a 2 out single to give NC a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 3rd Horizon's Nick Valenza hit a solo HR to cut the lead to 2-1

Bryce Bush was dominant for the Rattlers throwing 5 inning allowing 1 run on 4 hits.

Nick Valenza came in in the 5th for the Huskies and shut down the Rattlers offense.

Dominic Portocarrero threw the final two innings for NC without allowing a hit.

Stephen Tarpley got the win on the mound as Gilbert defeated Basha 10-4. Billy Darras, Dustin Peterson and Ty Neenan all went yard for the Tigers, who avenged an earlier 12-10 loss to the Bears.

Joe Serrano and Forest Chapman each homered twice as Salpointe defeated Tucson High 26-10. The two teams combined for 28 hits. The Lancers apparently missed an extra point.
 

April 11, 2011

4/8/2011
Salpointe 17 @ Mountain View 11

Senior Jordan Scelfo got his 3rd win of the season pitching a complete game.

Offensive/Defensive Stars:

SALPOINTE:
1) Kevin Brice 3/3, RBI
2) Ray Eastman 4/5, 2b(2),HR, 3RBI
3) AJ Alexander 4/5,2b(2),RBI
4) Michael Hoard 2/3, HR, RBI
5) Ryan Penaflor, 2/3, RBI. Sweet inning ending Do or Die 5-3 play to quelch the Lions rally.

MOUNTAIN VIEW
1) Graham Spraker 3/4, 3b, 4RBI
2) Devon Mcpeek (C), 1/2,2b, RBI. Nice throwdown to 2b to catch a Lancer Stealer.



4/9/2011
Salpointe 11 @ Sunnyside 1

Senior AJ Alexander pitched a strong complete game to earn his 6th win of the season. Win was aided by 3 errors
by the Blue Devils. His only hiccup was allowing a Solo HR late in the game to the freshman Sunnyside catcher Nunez.
The Key play of the game was at the top of the 2nd with the Lancers up only by 1 run, Joe Serrano fought off
Ace Pedro Cota's breaking ball and hit a bases clearing double to put the Lancers up by 4. Salpointe didn't look back after that.

Offensive Stars:
SALPOINTE
1) AJ Alexander- 4/4 , 2b,RBI
2)Joe Serrano -3/4,2b(3),4RBI
3)Michael Hoard -3/4,2b,3b,HR, 2RBI

April 9, 2011

Desert Mountain  10   Pinnacle   8

Desert Mountain rebounded from Thursday night's loss to Horizon using a grand slam by Drew McLaughlin, a 3-run homer by Cody Erickson, another effective starting pitching performance by Will Jones, and a 4-out save by Keaton Boysen to hold off Pinnacle by a score of 10-8.  After Pinnacle took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd on an unearned run, the Wolves responded on a single by Erickson, walk to Marios Mylonas, bunt single by Lucas Jacobi and the slam by McLaughlin to take a 4-1 lead in the 3rd. 

 The Pioneers scored single runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th on an RBI ground out by Jake Peevyhouse and RBI doubles by Brock Hartley in consecutive innings to tie the score 4-4 after 5 innings.  The Wolves then exploded for 6 runs in the 6th on a leadoff single by Keaton Boysen, infield single by Joey Mandros and Erickson's 3-run homer over the center field wall to make it a 7-4 Wolves lead.
The rally continued as Mylonas doubled down the left field line, Jacobi reached on a dropped 3rd strike, pinch runner Matt Lewis scored on a wild pitch, Austin Mill singled to left to score Jacobi and Boysen's infield single scored Mill to give the Wolves a seemingly comfortable 10-4 lead. 

But the Pioneers, who own several big comebacks on the season as part of their 16-2-1 record coming into the game, weren't done. After 2 quick outs in the 6th, Jones walked 2 batters and was relieved on the mound after another efficient start.  Peevyhouse was walked by reliever Matt Lewis, then Steve Casey doubled and Kris Ayers singled to bring Pinnacle within 10-8.  Boysen came in to get Hartley on a foul pop to end the inning, then got the final 3 outs in the 7th by striking out the last two batters. The inning included a great throw to 2nd by Mylonas to get Rudy Bogojevich, who had walked to lead off the inning, trying to advance on a dropped third strike.

Jones moved to 3-1 on the season with his 2nd consecutive win.  Erickson (3-4, 3-run HR) and McLaughlin (2-5, Grand Slam) led the Wolves offense.  Mill and Boysen both had 2 hits and an RBI as the Wolves moved to 2-1 in region play while Pinnacle falls to 1-2.  The two teams meet again on Tuesday at Desert Mountain.

The ball pops free as Lucas Jacobi collides with Kris Ayers (L) Drew McLaughlin gets congrats from Coach Rice after his slam

MILLENNIUM 15 TOLLESON 0

The Millennium Tigers started league play with 2 losses by a total of 3 runs, but they have roared back with 5 straight league wins by a combined score of 72 - 20. The first loss was a tough 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tolleson and on Friday night the Tigers avenged that loss in impressive style. Playing at Tolleson, for 1st place in the Desert West Region , the Tigers walked away with a 5-inning, 15 - 0 victory.

Anyone who has played Tolleson knows that if you don‘t bring your “A” game, they’ll find a way to beat you. Millennium was more than up to the task, scoring 5 runs in the first inning. Tatum Hendrix led off with an infield single to deep short and advanced to 2nd when Josh Rojas worked Tolleson starter, Oscar Gonzales for an 8-pitch walk. They both scored on Tyler Booth’s double to right, and the scoring barrage was started. Booth scored on Anthony Davison’s triple, and after a hit batsman and Jake Newsome’s bunt single, Austin Hoffman drove in the 5th run with an RBI-single. Leading 6 - 0 going into the top of the 4th, the Tigers broke it open with 6 more runs. The big hits that inning were: AJ Diggs’ RBI-single; Nyles Fowler’s booming 2-run triple; another Austin Hoffman RBI-single; and winning pitcher, Tatum Hendrix’ 2-run double. A brief summary of the 14-hit attack is below.

Tatum Hendrix’ performance on the mound was just as impressive as the offensive fireworks. He tossed a 4-hit shutout and recorded 7 Ks while registering his 4th straight complete game. In that span of 26 innings, Hendrix has allowed only 1 earned run. His season record is 4 - 3, with an ERA of 2.47, and he’s 2 - 1 in league play with a miserly 0.37 ERA.

BRIEF HITTING SUMMARY:
Players with 3 hits: Josh Rojas (4 runs scored) and Austin Hoffman (2 RBIs)
Players with 2 hits: Tatum Hendrix (2 RBIs); AJ Diggs (2 RBIs);
Players with 1 hit: Anthony Davison (3RBIs); Tyler Booth (2 RBIs); Nyles Fowler (2 RBIs); and Jake Newsome.

Kevin Cron tossed a complete game and Brantley Bell and Jordan Kipper homered to give Mountain Pointe a 3-2 win at home against Gilbert.

Horizon visited North Canyon Friday night for the 1st game of the home and home series, with NC coming away with a 3-2 win.

Like always, it was a well played hard fought battle when these two teams meet.

The Rattlers scored 1st when Chris Niederberger launched a three run home run in the 2nd inning.

The game remained 3-0 until the 5th when Horizons Nick Valenza hit a two run home run to cut the lead to one.

After Kevin Kuhlman left the game in the 3rd, the Huskies used two relief pitchers to keep the Rattlers at bay.

The Rattlers Coley Bruns keep the potent Husky bats quite most of the night.


Bruns threw the complete game allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 14 Kuhlman, Sutton and Valenza combined for a 4 hitter as well.

Kyle Jorgensen homered twice as Corona Del Sol run ruled Highland 15-5. Highland scored 5 times in the first, bringing Heath Dwyer to the hill for CDS with one out. Dwyer would proceed to toss 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, scattering 3 hits. Michael Castellano also homered for the Aztecs.

Boulder Creek hammered the hosting Deer Valley Skyhawks in a 15-0 five inning affair. Jonny Pawling earned the win on the mound.

Cody Jones connects (L) while David Real bounces off third

O'Connor 5 - Mountain Ridge 3

Well played game by both sides with a good pitching match up between Tommy Lay of OC and Daniel Will for Ridge that saw both pitchers go the distance. OC scratched across runs in key situations and Kenny Slattery lofted one into the strong winds for his third HR of the year to give OC some security. Ridge would not go quietly, threatening in the 7th, but Lay managed to get the ground balls when needed to get a much needed win for OC.

April 8, 2011

 Notre Dame 1 0 1 0 2 4 0 - 8
Seton 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 - 6

Notre Dame's Tayler Scott and Seton's Ethan Springston were locked up into a pretty good pitchers dual through 4 innings. Scott picked up the win scattering 7 hits while striking out 10 in 6 innings of very crisp work on the mound. He is a fielders dream with the fast pace that he delivers the game. The Notre Dame bullpen escaped a rocky 7th inning giving up 5 runs before finally closing out the victory.

Joe Luvisi belted a towering 430 foot plus 3 run homer high over the centerfield batters eye in the 6th inning to give Notre Dame some breathing room. Joey Greco then went back to back as he drove a line shot home run over the left field fence.Both Greco and Luvisi finished the game with 3 RBI's. Brian Poupore drove in the other Notre Dame run with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt. Poupore also made a game saving horizontal catch in centerfield to close out the 5th inning and an incredible stretch and scoop at the end of Casey Scotts brilliant play at shortstop in the 7th inning to slow down the Seton rally.

Ryan Bresnahan blasted a 7th inning 3 run homer to right to bring Seton within two runs. Bresnahan, Brian Sizer, CJ McGrady, and Ethan Springston all finished the night with 2 hits a piece for Seton.

Saguaro took advantage of some very sloppy play at Queen Creek High School Thursday afternoon, as the Sabercats trumped the Bulldogs 12-5. In what was a very close game through 4, QC didn’t help it’s cause by walking 8 and booting 4 plays. Saguaro showed off some defensive skills as they made countless great plays. Saguaro moves to 7-0 in the Desert Sky, while QC drops to 6-1.

Brandon Demarest gets congrats after going deep for Saguaro

Chaparral scored six runs in a dramatic seventh inning rally but came up short as Pinnacle prevailed 9 – 8 in the regional matchup.

Starting pitcher Steve Casey was masterful for the Pioneers as he held the Firebirds to four hits over six innings. The opposite was true for Chaparral, as both pitchers struggled against a strong headwind & tight strike zone as they combined for 10 walks & four hit batters in the loss.

Pinnacle scored four runs in the first inning without hitting the ball out of the infield to take an early lead. The Firebirds scratched out a run in the fourth when Jordie Hein hit a leadoff double, stole third, then scored on a hard-hit ball by Joey Bielek.

The real damage came in the fifth – three straight walks and a hit batter scored one run, then the only hit of the inning was a big one as Pinnacle’s 6’6” 230 lb 1B Kris Ayers hit a bomb to right center for a grand slam and a 9 – 1 lead.

The Firebirds scored a run in the sixth off a leadoff double by Eric Brossart and rbi single by Colby Targun to cut the lead to 9 -2.

The Pioneers went the their bullpen in the seventh, and Chaparral staged an eight-hit rally that included back-to-back HR’s by Nick Diamond & Dillon Bigcrane, singles by Kyle Toth & Brossart, then a three-run shot by Hein for his second hit of the game. Bielek hit his second single of the game to extend his team-leading hitting streak to 13 games, and then scored on a Targun double that put the tying run in scoring position.

After Nick DeRegis walked, Pinnacle made another pitching change. Diamond hit an infield single to load the bases, but reliever Jake Peevyhouse got the final two outs to preserve the 9 -8 victory and earn a save for the Pioneers.

Horizon 21 Desert Mountain 0 (5 innings)

Horizon avenged their loss to Desert Mountain on Tuesday in a big way with a 21-0 rout of the Wolves on Thursday night. The Huskies
jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Jordan Sandler, Zach Stierstorfer and Michael McNamara each had
3 hits in a game that was never in doubt. Ryan Bishop and Kyle Woods both had 2 hits and 4 RBI's, and Dean Jackson threw a complete
game 2-hitter as the Huskies rolled.

Arcadia 9
Coronado 4

The Titans rode a big first inning on offense, and a strong complete game effort on the hill from Gary Cornish, to sweep the season series from the rival Dons. Coronado struck first when third baseman Huston Edwards greeted Cornish with a solo shot to left for a 1-0 lead.
The Titans answered quickly when Brendan Satran smoked a double off the wall in left and Caleb McKinnon followed with a triple to right, tying the game. McKinnon scored on a dropped third strike/passed ball which also allowed Michael Roberts to reach base. After Drew Butler singled and Colton Sanchez walked, Tim Janssen plated Roberts with a sac fly. Andrew Naderer singled scoring Butler, but the Dons outfielder misplayed the ball allowing Sanchez to score for a 5-1 lead.

Arcadia added a run in the second when Satran led off with a single, stole second and third, and was plated on a single by Butler. Edwards kept the Dons close in third when he launched his second HR of the day, a 2-run bomb to left, making the score 6-3.
Coronado inched closer in the fourth when Mike Burgess singled and later scored on a Zach Chavez double. The Titans added two in the bottom half, Eddie Lyon and Satran had consecutive singles and both scored when Roberts singled to center.
In the sixth, Satran singled, stole second, and scored on an errant throw to give the Titans an insurance run. The Dons loaded the bases in the seventh, but Cornish got Edwards looking to end the game. Cornish allowed eight hits and struck out 12 in his best outing of the season.

Arcadia Top Hitters:
Brendan Satran 4-4, 2B, 3 SB, 4R
Michael Roberts 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Drew Butler 2-4, RBI, R
Tim Janssen 1-2, RBI, SF

Coronado Top Hitters:
Houston Edwards 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2R
Harlan Gatewood 3-4, R
Zach Chavez 1-2, 2B, BB, RBI

                                       R   H  E
Williams Field 7 1 1 1 7 |  17  15  0
Tempe High 2 0 0 3 0 |       5   8  4

WP: Werscky
LP: Flores

WF Leading Hitters: Campbell 3-3, 3 RBI, 2 R, Sac; McDavid 3-3 2B, BB, 3 R, 2 RBI; Gardner 2-2 2B, RBI, 2 R

Tempe leading hitters: Flores 2-3 HR, 2 RBI; Johnson 2-2 2B, R, BB

Travis Werscky got the win on the bump, with relief appearances by Mitch Allred and Zach Parkinson. The Black Hawks put up 15 hits on Tempe Pitcher Jose Flores. Kyle Campbell and Jake McDavid continued their hot hitting, each going 3 for 3 on the day. Junior Kyle Campbell has stepped up since assuming an every day role in the line up, going 8 for his last 12. Tempe’s Jose Flores hit a towering home run in the 1st to try igniting the Buffalo offense. The Black Hawks improve to 10-2 and remain the top spot in the 4A-II Power Points. Their matchup against Seton on Tuesday should be interesting following their previous slugfest that combined for 29 runs on 34 hits.

Jordan Kipper tossed a five inning complete game and Jrdan Curletta launched a pair of scuds as Mountian Pointe dropped Skyline 13-1. Kevin Cron and Tony Balderamma went yard as well.

Junior lefty Jaren Drummond tossed a complete game as Perry defeated Mesquite 9-5. Colin Braithwaite had a pair of hits for the Pumas. Lane Doty went 3-4 for the 'cats.

April 7, 2011

DEER VALLEY 7 MOUNTAIN RIDGE 4

W: Darien Ramage. L: Chris Evanello.

LEADING HITTERS

Mountain Ridge: Austin Paschke 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; John Meyer 1-3, RBI

DeerValley:Darien Ramage 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Andrew Nicholas 1-2, 2 RBI

 TIGERS BEAT HAWKS WITH BATS

Gilbert 8 HIghland 5

Dalton England started the game on the hill for the Tigers, and looked very good from the start. He kept the Highland Hawk hitters on their toes all afternoon, while the fielding looked marquee compared to the previous outings for the Tigers.

In the bottom of the first, Nathaniel Causey got the Tigers on the board by launching a long homerun over the right centerfield fence to give the Tigers a 2- 0 lead. Stephen Tarpley, the next batter after Causey, then launched a ball over the center field fence to make the score 3- 0.

The rain started to drop and the fans started to scatter in the third inning, but the teams kept playing in the light rain. Highland fought back in the 4th inning scoring 2 charity runs, to make the game interesting at 3 – 2.

The Tigers came clawing back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring 5 runs. Third baseman sophomore, Travis Goodwin, making his second start of the season on the varsity squad, bashed a long fly ball into the left field gap. Steven Lecometros hustled around the bases but was thrown out at the plate.  Drew Stankiewicz then belted an RBI single scoring a run. Two passed balls  gave the Tigers a 5 – 2 lead. Greg Esquibel hit an infield sacrifice, and Stephen Tarpley hits a double into left field, bringing in two more Tiger runs. When all was said and done, the Tigers led the game 8 – 2.

The rain picked up again in the 5th inning, yet the diehard fans stayed and watched the game.

The Tigers went to Nathaniel Causey in the top of the 7th to relieve Dalton England, who pitched superbly. Causey faced bases loaded, and the play of the evening was almost turned in by Dustin Peterson at second base. Peterson made an unbelievable diving grab on a line drive grounder, and came up throwing from his knees to first base, barely pulling Justin McAllister off the bag. With bases still loaded and the score at 8-3, a passed ball made the score 8 – 4. A walk loaded the bases again, before Causey recorded his first strike out of the game. Another walk by the Tigers, made the score 8 – 5, before Causey shut down the last two Highland hitters, by striking them out.

 

MILLENNIUM 13 LA JOYA 2 (5 INNINGS)

The Millennium Tigers sent 14 men to the plate in the first inning and using 7 hits, a couple of free passes and 4 La Joya errors, put 9 runs the board. The Tigers lashed out 10 more hits over the next 3 innings as every starter had at least 1 hit. When the dust settled the Tigers had a 13 - 2, 5-inning victory, improving their league record to 4-2.

Staked to a big lead, Millennium starter Austin Hoffman did exactly what he needed to do - throw strikes. Hoffman threw a total of 56 pitches, 42 of them strikes as he improved his record to 5-0. He allowed 5 hits and only 1 earned run to a good-hitting La Joya team.

LEADING HITTERS:

Tyler Booth: 4-4, 2B, 3B, 6 RBIs, 1 run scored
Tatum Hendrix: 3-3, 3B, 1 RBI, 4 runs scored
Josh Rojas: 2-3, 4 runs scored
Jake Newsome: 2-3, 1 run scored
AJ Diggs: 2-4, 1 RBI

Aaron Siple and Kyle Jorgensen both went deep as Corona Del Sol edged Dobson 11-10. The two teams pounded out 22 hits and combined to make 8 errors.

Zach Davies won his 6th of the year as Mesquite topped Basha 7-3. Jake Howard and Seth Fretheim homered for the 'cats.

Derek Hill allowed 4 first inning runs but settled in and quieted the Brophy bats in a complete game effort as Hamilton defeated Brophy 7-5. Hill also had 3 hits to help his own cause. Mitch Nay had  a pair of hits and knocked in 3 runs. For Brophy, Joe Maggi was 3-3.

The Saguaro Sabercats hosted the Apache Junction Prospectors on Tuesday in a Desert Sky match-up and the Sabercats came out on top 12-3 for their 18th win in a row.  Saguaro jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 1 and never looked back.  The Sabercats were led on offense by Chris Akmon who hit his 5th home run of the season and Austin Anderson who had two hits in the 1st inning.  Chris Freudenberg threw 5 shutout innings to gain the win, his 5th of the year. Freudenberg has yet to give up an earned run in 19 innings of work this year. Saguaro moves to 21-3 on the season and visits Queen Creek on Thursday.
 

April 6, 2011

 Skyline’s Trent Keefer survived some shaky defense and pitched a complete game victory over visiting Millennium. He scattered 7 hits and allowed only 2 earned runs while recording 9 K’s. Most of the offense was supplied by shortstop Ricky Alvarez, who was 4-4 and drove in 5 runs with 3 singles and a grand slam HR. Brian Melendez, Tyler Ketterling, and Robert Hilla-Dyer each added 2 hits for the Coyotes.

Leading hitters for Millennium:

Tyler Booth: 2-3, HR, 1RBI, scored 2 runs

Josh Rojas: 2-4, 2B, scored 1 run

Anthony Davison, Nyles Fowler, and Ruben Rincon each had a hit to complete the list of Leading hitters
 

David Graybill homered and Chris Beall and Joe Maggi each collected a pair of hits as Brophy dropped Mesa 7-2.

 Arcadia 5

Williams Field 2

The Titans handed the Blackhawks their first region loss using solid defense, the long ball, and another impressive complete game pitching performance from Andrew Naderer (6-1). Williams Field starter Nic Martino was equally impressive in the loss, going six innings, striking out eight and allowing only two hits after the Titans collected four hits in the first inning. Arcadia jumped out to an early lead when Brendan Satran led off with a single, Michael Roberts reached on an error, and four-hole hitter Drew Butler deposited the first pitch he saw over the fence in centerfield putting the Titans up 3-0. Naderer cruised through the first three innings, including a strike-out/throw-out to end the second. Williams Field broke through in the fourth on an RBI double by Jordan Washburn to cut the Titan lead to 3-1. The Blackhawks loaded the bases in the sixth on a hit batsman and two perfectly executed bunt singles, but Naderer got a strikeout and coaxed a ground ball for an inning ending 6-4-3 double play. The Titans gave Naderer some breathing room in the seventh when Eddie Lyon led off with a double, ending Martio's day, and Roberts took reliever Jake McDavid deep to left on an 0-2 pitch for a 5-1 lead. Williams Field added a run in the seventh. Kyle Campbell led off with a single, advanced to second on a fly out, and scored when Drew Wahlers grounded out to Butler at first. Butler made a nice play taking the hard hit grounder off his chest and throwing to a hustling Naderer for the second out. Naderer then struck out the next batter to end the game.

Arcadia Top Hitters:

Michael Roberts 2-4, HR(1), 2 RBI, 2R
Drew Butler 1-3, HR(2), BB, 3 RBI, R
Eddie Lyon 1-3, 2B, R
Brendan Satran 1-4, SB, R

Wiliams Field Top Hitters:

Jordan Washburn 2-3, 2B, RBI
Konnor Fritz 2-3, R
Drew Wahlers 2-4
JD Layton 2-4
 

The North Canyon Rattlers beat St Mary's in extra innings Tuesday night.

NC got on the board first with 2 solo HR's in the 5th by Marco Burciaga and Luis Leyva.

St Mary's came back in the 5th scouring 2 unearned runs to tie the game.

In the top of the 6th Joey Bustamante hit a two run home run to put the Knights up 4-2.

The Rattlers answered back with two of their own in the button of the 6th to once again tie the game.

Neither team scored in the 7th.

In the bottom of the 8th the Rattlers Chris Niederberger stroked a 0-2 fastball to Right field to knock in the winning run.

Rickey Bustamante threw the first 7 inning for the Knights allowing 4 runs on 11 hits. Irvin Ruiz took the lose allowing 1 run on 2 hits

North Canyon's Bryce Bush threw 6 innings allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits. Dominic Portocarrero got the win pitching the final two innings of shutout baseball.

Dominic Portocarrero has Camilo Ruiz in his sights (L) Joey Bustamante (8) gets love after going deep

Desert Mountain 6 Horizon 5

Desert Mountain used a two out, 4 run rally in the bottom of the third inning and some clutch pitching to hold off Horizon by a score of 6-5
in the first game of Desert Valley regional play for both schools. Austin Davis pitched out of no-out jams in the first and second innings
by striking out 5 batters in those innings to keep the Wolves within just a 2-0 deficit. In the home half of the 2nd DM scored their
first fun of the game on a double by Drew McLaughlin and RBI ground out by Skylar Smith. Then in the 3rd after two were out David Greer
singled to score Austin Mill, Keaton Boysen doubled into the right field corner, McLaughlin was intentionally walked and Ben Rodriguez delivered
a 3-run double to the center field wall to give the Wolves a 5-2 lead. Joey Mandros lined a homer to right in the 4th inning to increase the lead
to 6-2 before Horizon responded with 3 runs in the top of the 5th on doubles by Johnny Rubino and Tanner Horn, a dropped 3rd strike and a
passed ball. Matt Lewis came in to get the last out in the fifth, pitched a scoreless sixth and got two outs in the seventh inning before Cody
Erickson came in to get the final out of the game on a strikeout with runners on 1st and 3rd. Austin Davis (3-3) got the win for the Wolves.
Mill and Lucas Jacobi had 2 hits each for DM while Jordan Dunatov and Ryan Hand had 2 hits each for Horizon. The two teams meet again
on Thursday night at Horizon.

Coronado.... 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 - 5 (8 innings)
Notre Dame. 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 - 6

Notre Dame who had dropped all 3 extra inning games this season finally won their first extra inning game as Casey Scott delivered a huge 2 out game winning RBI single completing a 3 for 4 day at the plate giving the Saints an exciting comeback victory. Saints starting pitcher Caleb Badder was cruising along with a shutout until the 5th inning when Coronado struck for 5 runs before an important base running appeal play was ruled in Notre Dame's favor which took a run off the Coronado score sheet. Kelvan Pilot picked up the win in relief with his second consecutive day of work including getting himself out of a bases loaded no outs jam in the top of the 8th inning which included a failed suicide squeeze bunt. Coronado had tied the game at 5-5 when Zach Chavez completed a successful suicide squeeze bunt in the 6th inning but Notre Dame wasn't fooled again with the game on the line in the extra frame.

Other Saints that were key contributors to the offense were: Greg Hopkins with 2 singles,an RBI, and scored the game winning run / David Wynn 2 singles and 2 RBI's / Joe Luvisi a double and 2 RBI's.

Coronado received 6 strong innings of starting pitching from their lefty Harlan Gatewood. Alex Buya and Isaac Luna led their offense each going 3 for 4 at the plate. Kevin Rojas also added 2 singles for Coronado.

When it rains, it pours. And when you leave the sprinkler system on overnight, it floods. That's exactly what happened to Mountain View's baseball field on Monday night, as the flooded field cancelled the game at Mountain View Tuesday, and moved it over to Gilbert.

Stephen Tarpley took the hill for the Tigers for the first time this year, and looked impressive, firing 90 mph fastball across the plate, striking out 10 of the 12 batters he faced in the first 4 innings. Tarpley, signing his letter of intent to play at USC earlier this year, had the stands filled with scouts. The Tigers made a few 1st inning errors, including an errant pickoff attempt at 1st base, which scored the Toro’s first run. Before the end of the 1st was over, errors had the Tigers down by a score of 2 - 0.

In the 3rd inning, Tiger catcher Nathaniel Causey, lined his second double of the game down the right field line to bridge the gap by a score of 2 - 1. Dustin Peterson ripped an RBI and the game was locked up at 2 - 2.

A passed ball in the 4th, gave the Toro’s the lead at 3 - 2. In the bottom of the 4th, the Tigers had two on, but couldn’t bring them in. The Tigers had numerous opportunities throughout the night with base runners, they just couldn’t produce the hits they needed to score.

The Tigers brought in Billy Darras in the top of the 5th, and the Toro’s immediately took advantage of the pitching change. A long fly ball to dead centerfield and a sacrifice fly ball, gave the Toro’s the lead they needed to end the game at 5 -2.

The April 21st night game that was to be played at Gilbert High, has been changed to be played at Mountain View in a 4:00 matchup. There are only 4 more home games left for the Tigers, with the final game being the traditional Senior Day.

The Bulldogs of Queen Creek exploded for 20 hits in a shortened game that saw QC beat Combs, 26-2. Four different pitchers held the Coyotes to 2 runs on 5 hits through 5 innings of play. Freshman Chase Beal tallied his 2nd win in relief. Seven different Bulldogs had multiple hits. Chad Leonard (4-4, 2B, 3B, 5 runs, 3 RBI, BB) was perfect at the plate, continuing to hit lasers everywhere. The junior catcher is 11 for his last 12 (3 2B, 3B, HR) with 10 RBI in his last 3 games. Freshman Marcus Still was a key contributor as well, going 4-5 with 4 RBI. Three other Dogs had at least 2 knocks apiece. QC has won 7 straight and 11 of their last 12. They face highly touted Saguaro on Thursday in a key Desert Sky Region matchup.

April 5, 2011

Greenway 11 - Notre Dame 4

Greenway hosted Notre Dame in non-region game on Monday night.
Greenway's top lefty Scott Squier gave up 2 runs, 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out out 12 in 5.33 innings of work to pick up the victory. Notre Dames Sam Napp took the loss giving up 8 runs ,6 of which were unearned as the Saints defense once again failed to support a pretty good pitching effort.

Greenway jumped out to an early lead and was up 8-0 after 4 with some shaky NDP defense helping the cause. Napp was relieved in the 4th by Kelvan Pilot. Squier went into the 6th and relieved by Charlie Wagner with 1-out, bags full and 1-run in. Wagner walked his 1st batter and then retired the side with Greenway up 8-2. Greenway put up 3-more in the bottom of the 6th, highlighted by Jorge Ozuna’s lead off dinger. Wagner gave up solo shots in the top of the 7th to Greco and Wynne but finished the game for Greenway. Westin Rogers also with a solo HR for Greenway.
Greenway's offense was led by Jorge Ozuna's perfect day at the plate including a homer ,2 doubles and 3 runs scored. Weston Rogers also homered to go along with his 2 for 4 night at the plate. Ethan Percell added 2 singles and Michael Milani collected 2 RBI with a double.

Notre Dames offense was led by Joe Luvisi who collected 2 of their 5 hits off Squier. Joey Greco and David Wynn knocked Greenway's bullpen around as each hit solo homers in the 7th inning to complete the scoring.
 

Sunnyslope freshman Calvin LeBrun went toe to toe with Prescott's Michael Howard and came away with a 1-0 extra inning win. Howard left after 7 scoreless innings, Lebrun after 8, and the Vikings scraped a run across against the Prescott bullpen for the win.

Calvin LeBrun (L) and Peanut Howard were untouchable. Mike Chriss goes web gem for Prescott

April 4, 2011

                                                 R H E
Williams Field      0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 | 5 8 3
Notre Dame Prep 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 |  4 6 2

WP: McDavid

SV: Allred

LP: Pilot

Williams Field Leading Hitters: Campbell 2-2 BB, 2 R; Layton 2-4 4 RBI

Notre Dame Prep leading hitters: Hopkins 2-4; Poupore 2-4; T. Scott 2-4 HR, 2 RBI, SB

Williams Field’s Adam Frank gave the Black Hawks 6 innings on the mound on Saturday, struggling in his first 2, but settling in to take control and keep Williams Field in a position to win the game. He allowed 4 runs on 4 hits with 3 errors in the field. Taylor Scott belted a 2 run home run in the 2nd to put Notre Dame up 4-0. After 4 scoreless innings, JD Layton followed Jamison Gardner’s ground rule double with a single worth 2 RBIs. In the top of the 7th, Layton came up big with another 2 RBIs to tie the game at 4. McDavid Pitched a scoreless 7th inning, and prevented the Saints from scoring Taylor Scott from 2nd. In the top of the 8th, the Black Hawks played for one. After a lead off single by McDavid, Skyler Wengert put down the sac bunt to allow Jordan Washburn to push the go ahead run across the plate. Mitch Allred closed the game down for Williams Field to get the Save in only his 2nd appearance of the year.
 

On Thursday, Saguaro visited Cave Creek for a Desert Sky Region showdown with Cactus Shadows.  The Sabercats struck first with one run in the top of the 1st but the Falcons scored their first four hitters in the bottom half to make it 4-1 after 1.  Each team scored 2 in the 2nd making it a 6-3 game where it stayed until the 4th when the Sabercats erupted for 5 runs, sparked by an Austin Anderson triple. 
Saguaro added two in the 4th highlighted by a Reed Austin home run and held off a late rally by the Falcons, winning 10-8.  Michael Benson got the win in relief and Chris Freudenberg picked up his 1st save of the year. Saguaro has now won 17 games in a row.  Anderson had 3 hits for the Cats and Brandon Demerest, Matt Morris and Reed Austin each had 2.

Steven Kane scattered 6 hits in a complete game effort as Sunrise Mountain held off Valley Vista 3-1 on Saturday at Peoria Stadium. The Mustangs jumped out to an early 2-0 first inning lead keyed by a Tony Troftgruben RBI triple. Troftgruben and Tyler Crawford both went 2-3 to lead the Sunrise attack. Austin Byler rocketed a solo opposite field homer into the bullpen past the left field wall.

Steven Kane on the hill for Sunrise (above L) Caleb Wood goes to the backhand for Valley Vista

April 2, 2011

 
Chaparral’s offense rebounded on Thursday as they cruised to an easy victory over Downers Grove South 9 – 4 in the final matchup of the Horizon Big League Dugout Invitational Tournament.

Firebirds pitchers Nevin Wilson & Peter Lenstrohm held the Mustangs to three hits on the afternoon, with Wilson chalking up six Ks over four innings and Lenstrohm adding three Ks in three innings of work.

The Mustangs scored three runs in the first inning on a single hit – a walk & hit batter scored on a double by Kansas State bound 3B Matt Wivinis (who had two doubles on the day) who then scored on a throwing error to lead 3 – 0.

But the Firebirds offense was too much as they pounded out 13 hits including six extra hits, led by Eric Brossart who had a single & two doubles; Joey Bielek with a single, double & sac fly; Nick Diamond with a single & double; and Jeremy Wolf with a single & double.

Almost every Firebird position player registered a hit in the outing. Chance Adams, who has been used sparingly as a utility infielder & relief pitcher, recorded his first hit of the season when he legged out a sacrifice bunt that also scored a run.

Other game notes – Joey Bielek extended his team-leading hitting streak to eleven games; Nevin Wilson earned his team-leading fourth win of the season in his sixth start.

In matchup of (2) top-5 4AII teams and region rivals on March 31st at Thunderbird HS.

Greenway 16 - Thunderbird 3

Jordan Tucker threw 5-innings for the W for Greenway with 3R, 3H, 4BB and 7K’s. Greenway busted open a 6-3 game in the top of the 5th with a 10-spot highlighted by freshman Tyler Frost’s 3-run dinger, his 3rd on the yr. Greenway pounded out 16-hits on the night, 6 with 2-hits or more and 7 with at least 1-rbi.

Other Greenway highlights:

C. Wagner – 3R, 2H, 3rbi’s with a 2-R HR (hr #6 )

S. Squire – 2R, 3H, 2rbi’s with 2-dbls

P. Squire – 2R, 2H, 1-rbi

Thunderbird’s M. Wheeler was the Tbird highlight: 1R, 2H, 2rbi’s with an oppo-HR & a couple very nice plays at 3B on the night.

Both teams with tough games right up next:

Notre Dame comes to Greenway on Monday Apr 4th. Thunderbird turns around to play Liberty tonight (4/1).

Salpointe Catholic 8 Desert Mountain 7

Salpointe Catholic rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat Desert Mountain, 8-7, in a back-and-forth game in Tucson that
saw the lead change hands several times. Dylan Cozens hit a 2-run homer in the first to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead. The Lancers responded
with four runs in the home half of the inning on an RBI single by Joe Serrano and a bases clearing double by Michael Hoard. A 3-run homer
in the third by David Greer gave DM a short-lived lead before Salpointe tied the score on an unearned run in the bottom of the 3rd. RBI singles
by Cody Erickson in the 4th and Shane Taylor in the 6th pulled the Wolves ahead by a 7-5 count, setting the stage for the Lancers' rally in the
6th. In the inning, Salpointe tied the score at 7 on just one hit but were aided by 2 Desert Mountain errors and a wild pitch. Hunter Miller then
hit a ground rule double before Hoard drove him in with the game winner. A.J. Alexander got the complete game win for the Lancers, while
Serrano was 4-4 and Hoard 2-2 with 2 walks and 4 RBI's. Greer led the Wolves with 2 hits, a 3-run blast and a double that hit the base of the
center field wall.

Boulder Creek 6 O’ Connor 4

Match up between old teammates Tommy Lay for OC and Tony Blanford for Boulder Creek.
A good back and forth game with many lead changes. OC just couldn’t keep BC down and the old adage “errors will kill you” did just that with 3 unearned runs sealing the deal for BC.

The usual suspects, Alex Real, Cody Jones, Jonny Pawling for BC and Wes Sutton for OC continued to swing the stick the way everyone knows they can.
The rematch on April 26 at BC should be a good one.

                                                  R H E
Coronado        2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 | 4 10 3
Williams Field  0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 | 5 13 4

WP: McDavid


WF leading hitters: McDavid 3-5 RBI, R; Campbell 2-4, 2B, RBI, R; Gardner 3-5, RBI, R; Parkinson 2-4, RBI, R

Williams Field was trailing by 2 going into the bottom of the 7th, when they pushed the game into extra innings. Jake McDavid pitched a stellar 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th inning to keep the Coronado Don’s at bay, while the Black Hawks tried to find a way to push the winning run across the plate. After Skyler Wengert got on base to lead off the bottom of the 10th, Jordan Washburn put down a sac bunt to get him over to second base. The Don’s intentionally walked Zack Parkinson to put the double play in order. A ground ball to the short stop seemed like the top of the 11th was on the way but an overthrow to first base allowed Wengert to score from second to win the game. Martino pitched a solid 6 innings to keep Williams Field in the game. Juniors Kyle Campbell and Zack Parkinson, getting his first start at 1B, had some clutch hitting, while Seniors Jake McDavid and Jamison Gardner each had 3 hits a piece. Despite their record, Coronado is capable of upsetting some teams this season. The Don’s take on Notre Dame on Tuesday and the Black Hawks will host the Arcadia Titans

April 1, 2011

Chaparral produced a couple of early runs, but the bats cooled off and Corona del Sol used a late inning rally to overcome the Firebirds 5 – 3 in the Horizon Big League Dreams Invitational Tournament and end their eight game winning streak.

The Firebirds scored two runs in the first off singles by Jordie Hein, Joey Bielek, & Dillon Bigcrane.

But Corona scored two runs of their own in the second off of a double by DH Brett Spradling, a single by 3B Trevor Cates, and a single by SS Josh Ethier.

Chaparral answered with a run in the third after Hein singled and scored on a Nick DeRegis single to take a 3 - 2 lead.

From then on, Freshman starting pitcher Garrett Poole kept the Firebirds off-balance, allowing only two more hits in a complete game performance.

Corona rallied in the sixth inning with four hits starting with DH Brett Spradling’s second double of the game, followed by a double by RF Chris Gammon. C Rick Riley hit an rbi single and then scored on an rbi knock by 2B Jeff Carter as the Aztecs took a 5 -3 lead.

The Firebirds advanced a runner but were shut-down by Poole in the seventh.
Joey Bielek extended his team-leading hitting streak to ten games, and Dillon Bigcrane extended his streak to nine.

The North Canyon Rattlers rebounded from a tough loss Monday to beat Alhambra 8-1 Thursday night.

NC got out to a quick start scoring 3 runs in the 1st and 3 more in the 3rd off starter Rolando Vasquez. Coley Bruns was hurling for the Rattlers and was able to keep the lions off balance all night.

The Rattlers scored single runs in the 6th and 7th off Reliever Franco Munoz to take a 8-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th. Alhambra plated one run in the 7th to prevent the shutout.

The Rattlers were lead offensively by Alberto Higuera who had a triple, double and single as well as 4 RBI. Dominic Portocarrero also chipped in with 2 hits

The Lions were lead by Juan Rocha with 2 hits. Rocha also threw out 2 base runners.

Bruns threw a complete game allowing one run, striking out 8 and walking 2
Vasquez 3 + innings allowing 6 runs on 8 hits
Munoz 3 + innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits

 Millennium 12 Centennial 6

Six of the nine starters had multi-hit games as the Millennium Tigers unleashed a 15-hit attack to record a 12-6 win over League rival, Centennial. The win was the 3rd in a row for the Tigers after dropping 2 close games to start league play last week.
Austin Hoffman overcame a shaky start to improve his record to 4-0. Aided by 4 walks, 3 hit batsmen and an error, Centennial scored 5 runs in the first 2 innings on only 2 hits. Hoffman settled down and only allowed 1 more run before giving way to Ruben Rincon, who worked a perfect 7th inning to secure the win.

LEADING HITTERS
AJ Diggs: 3-3, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Nyles Fowler: 3-4, 2 RBIs, 1 run scored
Tyler Booth: 2-5 ,1 HR, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Geno Jacobs: 2-2, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Anthony Davison: 2-4, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored
Tatum Hendrix: 2-4, 2 runs scored

Desert Mountain 13 Valley Vista 2

Desert Mountain used two big innings and solid pitching by four hurlers to defeat Valley Vista, 13-2. The Wolves took a 6-0 lead in the 2nd inning
on an RBI double by Keaton Boysen, an RBI single by Ben Rodriguez and a 3-run homer by David Greer to give starter Colton Mills (4-0) all of the
cushion he would need as the Wolves rolled. In the fourth inning a 3-run homer by Dylan Cozens, a 2-RBI triple by Boysen and a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez gave DM a 13-0 lead before Valley Vista plated the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Mills, Hunter Lambert, Skylar Smith and Keegan Krell held the Monsoon to just 4 hits as the Wolves moved to 12-5 on the year and 6-1 in power
ranking games. Greer (2-2, HR,3 RBI, R), Cozens (2-3, HR, 3 RBI, R), Boysen (3-4, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R) and Smith (2-3, 2 R) led the DM 12 hit attack.
The Wolves travel to Salpointe Catholic for their final non-region game of the season tomorrow.
 

Notre Dame 1 0 2 3 1 5 1 - 13
Higley 2 2 0 2 2 1 3 - 12

In their second slugfest of the week Notre Dame extended their winning streak to 5 in a row. Joe Luvisi and Ryan Scott led the Saints offense each collecting 4 hits and 3 RBI's a piece. Brian Poupore also added 2 hits and 2 RBI's for Notre Dame.

Higley was led offensively by Kevyn Nunez 4 hits and Josh Ruiz 3 hits. Brandon Boggs belted a 3 run homer in the 7th to pull the Knights within a run. Boggs also made an incredible ESPN worthy over the shoulder diving catch in foul territory earlier in the game.

Notre Dame and their last 2 opponents (Maricopa and Higley) have scored an amazing 55 runs combined in their last 2 games.

Arcadia 10
Tempe 0

Junior Andrew Naderer (5-1) barely missed his second no-hitter of the season in the Titan's victory. The lefty struck out nine in five innings of work to notch his second career one-hitter and earn his third shut-out. Tempe's only hit came on a bad hop to the shortstop on the second pitch of the game. Senior Thomas Schellhardt provided Arcadia with all the offense they would need, sending a 1-2 pitch over the center-field fence in the bottom of the first for a 3-run homer. The Titans struck for seven runs in the third highlighted by doubles from Schellhardt and Brendan Satran. Alex Reynolds and Mike Scannell also delivered hits in the inning.
Arcadia Top Hitters:

Thomas Schellhardt 2-3, HR(2), 2B, 4 RBI, 2R
Brendan Satran 1-2, 2B, HBP, SB, R
Preston McLain 1-1, 2B
Alex Reynolds 1-2, RBI, R