Diamond Notes March 2009

March 31, 2009

Notre Dame 6
Glendale 1

Jordan Luvisi improved his record to 4-0 throwing 6 innings of no hit ball while striking out 10. Nick Barber pitched a hitless 7th inning and combined with Luvisi for the no hitter. Luvisi also hit his team leading 4th home run to give the Saints an early 1-0 lead. Then in the game changing 4th inning, Luvisi received an unusual intentional walk with runners already on first and second which backfired when Andy Wilder drilled a single to left driving in a pair of runs. Casey Upperman completed the Saints offense with an rbi sacrifice fly and a long 2 run triple.

McClintock beat Shadow Mountain today by a score if 4 to 1. Another solid performance from soph. LHP Chris Freudenberg, with a complete game effort giving up only 1 earned run. On the offensive side Parker Marshall was 2-3 with a two strike 2 run bomb to make the score 3 to 1 and then added a two strike double off the center field fence to make the score 4 to 1.

PVHS 0-0-0-0-2-0-0 = 2 R / 6H / 0E
SHS 1-0-2-3-0-0 = 6R / 9H / 1E

Dylan Beam threw 7 innings, holding PV to 6 hits and only two runs off the bat of Jordan Dee (3-3, 2B, 2 RBI). Zach Gibbons opened the Saguaro bottom of the first with a base hit the scored the first run of the game off the bat of Ryan Comford who lined a double into right center. Wes Smith kept the Saguaro bats talking with a lead-off single to open the third inning, Smith raced first to third on a hit an run single into right field of off bat of Chris Vasquez (2-2, 2B, RBI, R, sac). Saguaro extended its lead in the fourth inning with 4 hits, including 3 doubles (Tucker Frazier, Josh Chapman and Vasquez).

Chaparral rebounded Monday with a 10-3 non-region victory over visiting Liberty. Jack Diamond had three hits, including two doubles to deep left,
and a pair of RBIs, to lead the Firebirds, who dropped a tough pair to Cactus Shadows last week. Jordan Weymouth also contributed a pair of doubles
and an RBI.
Liberty took and early lead with two runs in the second inning on a double by Austin Hasquet and consecutive singles by Ryan Benedict and Nathan
Bannister. But Chaparral took control in the third and never looked back. Eight consecutive Firebirds reached base to produce six runs. Joey Bielek
capped the rally with a two-run single. The Firebirds added two more in the fourth on a single by Trey Ford, an RBI double by Diamond and a run-scoring single up the middle by Aaron Levy.
Every Firebird starter had a hit as Chaparral put together a 14-hit attack. Bielek, Levy and Joel Hayden all had two hits in addition to Diamond and
Weymouth. Will Abram, 1-1, was the winning pitcher in relief for the Firebirds, who also got an effective outing from Preston Hill, who struck out four and ended the game with a ground ball that third baseman James McDonald and second baseman Will Abram turned into a slick double play.
In the games against Cactus Shadows, the Firebirds failed to capitalize on four hits from Ford, including a home run. Levy also had homered for
Chaparral.
 

Apache Junction and Cactus Shadows battled to a 7-7 tie with the game being called due to darkness. After trailing the entire game, CS ralied late to tie the score at 7 in the bottom of the seventh. Chris Sabanosh knocked in the tying run and also had a 2 run homer earlier in the game. Ryan Howard threw 7 solid innings for AJ and got good relief help from Nathan Higginbottom.

Chris Sabanosh connects (L) Ryan Howard was excellent on the bump for AJ

March 30, 2009

Sahuaro's Jake Cole and Nogales' lefty Juan "Speedy" Espiricueta faced off in a pitcher's duel in Tucson on Friday. Both pitchers went the distance, each allowing only 4 hits, with Espiricueta striking out 15 and Cole striking out 10. Nogales scored 3 runs in the top of the third with a triple by Kevin Rosas who then advanced home on an overthrown ball into the Apache dugout. A two run HR by Espiricueta put the Apaches up by 3. Sahuaro tied it up in the bottom of the 5th. Adam Borboa reached first on an error and advanced to second on a passed ball putting him into scoring position. With 2 outs Sahuaro's 1-2-3 hitters (Matt Hamm, Mike Rodriguez and Jake Cole) got 3 hits in a row to tie up the game. With the game tied 3 - 3 in the top of the seventh inning, Nogales' Kevin Rosas reached first on a 3rd strike passed ball. Lead-off hitter Daniel Zuniga laid down a sac-bunt putting Rosas into scoring position and Bobby Torres got the job done with a single line drive to right field. Sahuaro RF Adam Borboa made a great throw home in time for a close play at the plate, but Rosas was safe and the Apaches were up 4 - 3. Espiricueta held off Sahuaro in the bottom of the seventh with 1 walk and 3 strike-outs to get the win. Jake Cole was the only player for either team with multiple hits going 2 - 3 with a double.

Mtn Ridge beat Kingman Friday by the score of 7-3. Austin Buelow got the win for the Mtn Lions improving his record to 4-1. Cody gray also pitched the last few innings striking out four. He also had 2 doubles in the Ridge Victory.

Notre Dame 3
Flagstaff 2

On Thursday,with temperatures in the high 30's,snow flurries near by, and winds blowing at over 40 mph Notre Dame improved to 10-0 surviving a 7th inning jam to hold off Flagstaff's bid for a big upset. Casey Upperman gave a solid 6 plus inning effort before giving way to reliever Nick Barber with the tying run on 3b and winning run at 1b. Barber snuffed out the rally and picked up a big save. The Saints offense could only come up with 5 hits on the day with Jordan Luvisi leading the way going 2 for 3 at the plate in the brutally cold conditions.

On Saturday, Scottsdale Christian defeated Valley Christian 13-2 with SCA's Jay Baumgardner hitting 2 grand slams.

SCA's Jay Baumgardner had a day (L) Jake Storrer dives back to the bag
 

March 28, 2009

O'Connor defeated Peoria 7-1 Aaron Copfer got the win going 4 innings giving up 1 run, he was relived by Anthony Willm throwing a perfect 5th and 6th, Tyler Doolittle closed it out in the 7th. Wes Sutton was 3-3 with two doubles, Bryce Keffeler had two hits for OC.

Seton Catholic took out Queen Creek by a score of 8-3 in a regional game on Friday. In what proved to be a close game early on (1-1 going into the 6th), turned ugly- just as the crowd's interactions did (small classless melee on both parts). The Sentinels tagged starter Kyle Wallace for 6 runs through 6 1/3 on 8 hits (11 total in the game), while the QC could only manage 5. Seton was led by Spirakus who threw a CG and Weatherman who was 3-3, HBP and a bomb short of the cycle. Eddie Malone blasted his 6th home run of the season in the losing effort for QC.

Cactus completed a sweep of a two game series Thursday night defeating Millennium 10-2. The Cobras unleashed a 16 hit attack led by Michael Vaughn who had 3 doubles and Austin Brunke who hit two doubles and a triple. James Fajardo went the distance scattering 5 hits while striking out 5 and walking none. Tuesday's game was won by a 7-1 score on a dominant pitching performance by Andrew Walter as he struck out 14 in a 3 hit complete game performance. Cactus is now 12-4 overall and 2-0 in region.

Desert Ridge played at Mesquite Friday with Zach Davies pitching for Mesquite vs Jake Barrett for Desert Ridge. Desert Ridge stuck early scoring 9 runs in the first chasing Davies out of the game. Mesquite came back and scored 3 in their half of the first on a Steven Harrington 3 run HR. After that Desert Ridge went on a roll and beat Mesquite 17-4 in 5 innings. Offensively Desert Ridge was lead by Alex Villar who was 4-4 with a double, Barrett was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a monster HR with 5 RBI's, and Steven Bier was 1-2 with a 2 run HR.

 

Desert Mountain outslugged Red Mountain 15-10. Adam Sonabend was 3-4 with a homer and 2 doubles. Taylor Lindsay and Lance Harper also went deep. Cole Gleason and Derek Mendoza both homered for RM

Matt Potter tossed a complete game 2 hitter as basha beat San Luis 5-1. Jeff Uhlhorn was 3-3 for Basha.

Hunter Herdt tossed a complete game, scattering 6 hits, as Gilbert defeated hamilton 9-2. DJ Peterson launched a pair of bombs for the Tigers, and Rick Rydalch had a double, homer and 4 RBIs.

March 27, 2009

A seven run second inning set the tone, as the Queen Creek Bulldogs ran their region record to 3-0, with a 9-5 win @ Perry High School. Hats off to Perry, for making it a real fight throughout the rest of the game. Shelton VanAllen led the Dogs with a 2-4 performance, lacing a triple and knocking in 3 runs. Eddie Malone hit an oppo jack, his 5th of the season. Also, Pierce Arnett (2-2, 2B, 2 RBI) and Travis Eggert (2-4, 3B, 2 RBI) contributed to the Bulldog offense. Eggert picked up his 2nd win of the season, going a CG and giving up 4 earned runs over the course of the game.

Cactus Shadows completes the sweep of Chaparral this week with a 5-3 victory. Jackson Goulder throws a compete game for Cactus Shadows, moving his record to 5 and 0. Cactus Shadows moves their record to 11 and 3.

Jackson Goulder dealin' for Shadows (L) Austin Edwards puts the leather on Will Dyer

Marcos de Niza defeated Casa Grande 21-9 behind a 5 hit performance by Mike Kenneth. MdN delivered 18 hits in the game, which was highlighted
by 5 Padre home runs. Kenneth, Chris Martinez, Ramon Abreu each had a round tripper, while Max Sankey hit 2. For the Casa Grande team,
Rodriquez led off the first with a bomb to right center.

Tucson Sahuaro defeated Marana 11 - 5 on Thursday. Sahuaro was down 2 - 5 after 3 inning, but got their bats going in the top of the 4th inning, scoring 4 runs to take the lead. Drew McKeever came into pitch in the bottom of the 4th and shut Marana down allowing no runs and earning the win. Leading the offensive attack were Josh Weyker 2 - 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's, Adam Borboa 2 - 4 with 1 RBI, Chris Browne 2 - 4 with 2 RBI's, Drew McKeever a double, sac fly and 2 RBI's, CJ Rodriguez a triple and 1 RBI and Matt Hamm added 2 RBI's.

With very strong winds gusting to over 45 mph, the North Canyon Rattlers eked out an 8-7 win over host Boulder Creek in the semi-finals of the Coach Bob Classic on Thursday with one of the more exciting and unexpected finishes this season. This was a tale of two games. The first 6 innings saw Boulder Creek's Cody Jones and Mike Mattina pitch very well, holding North Canyon to 2 unearned runs on 5 hits. North Canyon's Kevin Baumgartner, after giving up a 1st inning 2-run homer to Bryce Eisenbart, settled in scattering 4 hits and striking out 5 over 5 innings, allowing an unearned run in the 4th.
With a 3-2 lead and two-outs in the top of the 7th, Boulder Creek turned the game over to hard throwing Senior Ryan Hill. North Canyon responded with three straight singles by Dillon Moeller, Matt Rosowitz, and Tony Spiesman, a 2 run double from Jay Boardman, and a 2 run home run by Jason Walker.
With North Canyon leading 8-3 entering the bottom of the 7th, Boulder Creek came storming back with singles by Brandon Hendrix, Ryan Hill, and a walk to Bryce Eisenbart to load the bases. Corey Sipe singled home Hendrix and Hill to chase Peyton Deiters, who had relieved Baumgartner for North Canyon in the 6th. A double by Braylon Cox off North Canyon's Dominic Portocarrero scored Eisenbart and Sipe, bringing Boulder Creek back within one. Mike Mattina grounded to second, moving Cox, the tying run, to third. On a 3-2 count, Portocarrero struck out Sam Saunders to end the game.
Peyton Deiters got the win in relief for North Canyon while Ryan Hill was tagged with the loss. Dillon Moeller and Jay Boardman each went 2 for 4 for North Canyon with Moeller scoring three times. Brandon Hendrix and Ryan Hill each went 2 for 4 for Boulder Creek with Bryce Eisenbart, Corey Sipe, and Braylon Cox each having 2-RBI's.

Seton Catholic smoked  a short handed Arcadia on Thursday 14-7 (or so)

Joey Demichele throws across for Arcadia (L) Bobby Mayer scores one of many for Seton

On Wednesday, Horizon topped Hamilton 6-5, giving them the 2 game Husky sweep.
Horizon's starting pitcher, Johnny Strickland got off to a rocky start but maintained composure by pitching out of several jams in the first three
innings. In the top of the fourth, senior left fielder Nick Stein came up throwing to put-out Hamilton's Justin Rosales attempting to reach second
base to end the inning.
In the fifth, junior pitcher Tommy Beeso, relieved Strickland with two outs and the bases loaded and only needed three pitches to strikeout the next
Hamilton batter and end the inning. In the sixth, Beeso gave up a two-run homer to left-center as Hamilton advanced the score to 5 to 3 and appeared to put the game away. But Horizon was not ready to give up and managed to put up three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the game 6 to 5.
Horizon's offense was led by senior right fielder Dillon Scott who went 4 for 4 with two home runs, a triple, and single yielding 3 RBIs and senior
third baseman Colby Everett who went 2 for 4 with an RBI triple in the fourth and a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to end the
game.

Highland outlasted Chandler 4-1 in 9 innings. Jmes Farris and Jason Kalber locked up in a pitchers duel. Kalber went all 9 and took the hard luck loss. Farris tossed 7 and was relieved by Jeremy Blare who earned the win.

James Farris on the bump (L) Marcus Kalber grabs a high hopper

March 26,  2009

North Canyon took advantage of six Ashland, OR errors to power to a 9-2 victory Tuesday in the Coach Bob Invitational. Sophomore Andrew Felix was outstanding - going six innings and allowing only two hits and striking out four. Miles Moeller walked twice and scored three runs while Dillon Moeller scored twice and had an RBI. Dominic Portocarrero, Matt Rosowitz, Jay Boardman, and Jake Jantzen each contributed an RBI for North Canyon, which improved to 8-3 on the season. Garrett Tygerson homered for Ashland.

North Canyon advanced to the semi-finals of the Coach Bob Invitational with a 6-3 victory over Wilson, OR on Wednesday, March 25. Senior Miles Moeller pitched a complete game, scattering 7 hits and walking one. He helped himself at the plate, going for 2 for 3, with two RBIs and scoring once. Junior Kevin Baumgartner broke open a 3-3 tie in the 5th inning with a 2-run double and then scored for the final tally. The Rattler's defense was outstanding - completing their second straight game without an error.

The Tucson Sahuaro Cougars defeated Flowing Wells 11 - 2 this afternoon with a dominant pitching performance by Josh Weyker. Weyker allowed no runs on 2 hits and struck out 9 Caballeros in 6 innings for the win. Matt Hamm was 2 - 3 and scored 3 runs, Drew McKeever was 2 - 4 with a double, Mike Rodriguez was 2 - 4 with a sac fly, a triple and 2 RBI's and Sophomore Colby Webb was 1 - 1 with an RBI.

Preston VanBuren hit a go ahead single in the bottom of the 5th and the North Mustangs rallied for a 6-5 win over valley Vista . Roberto Alejo got the win in relief, and also had 3 hits and an RBI. Steven Montieth hit his 6th homerun of the season. The Mustangs improved to 9-5.

Pinnacle's Steve Casey outdueled Deer Valley's Josh Dahl for a tough 3 to 2 win at Pinnacle High. Casey Pitched 6&1/3 solid innings for the Pioneers. Dahl left after 6 innings with the Score tied at 2. Justin Winters knocked in the winning run off Deer Valley Pitcher Tyler Cohen to end the game. Dahl also homered for Deer Valley.

Desert Ridge beat San Luis in 5 innings 11-1. Desert Ridge was lead by pitchers Kris Ashby and Grant Kempton who combined to hold San Luis to 3 hits. Offensively Desert Ridge was lead by Jerry Kleman who was 2-2 with a double and 4 stolen bases. Brandon Raidy was 2-3 while both Travis Flores and Steven Bier were 2-3 with HR's.

Skyline-------------------22
South Mountain--------6

Skyline pounded out 22 hits in four innings. Trey Lang hit his 7 dinger. Kyle Pietryga and Trevor Benjamin each hit their 3rd.
Darian Johnson (3-3), Kyle Schoonover (4-4), and Benjamin (4-4) combined to go 11-11, scored 11 runs, and knocked in 9.
PJ Mendoza picked up his third win of the year.
South Mountain was led by Marshall (2-3), Ramirez (2-3), and Varela (2-3).

Austin Carr's 4th homer of the season helped lead Mesquite to a 6-3 win over Mountain Pointe.

Skyline------2
Highland----3
8 innings

Darian Johnson (4-1) went the distance for Skyline. He was tagged with his first loss of the season, but definitely deserved a better fate. He fanned 12 Hawks while walking only one.
Cody Moffett was equally impressive for Highland. He continually made the pitches when he needed to. He gave up only one run through six innings. Tyler Wilson came in to pitch the seventh and eighth for the Hawks and earned the victory. Moffett and Wilson combined to strand 12 Coyotes.

Skyline broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh on a run-scoring single by Trey Lang.
Highland was able to claw back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame on a Trey Maldonado ringing single to right.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Highland's Tanner Johnson hit a rocket off the fence in left for the game winner.

Skyline had their chances early. A base running gaffe cost the Coyotes in the first when a runner was ruled out for not stepping on third on a no-out double into the left field corner. Instead of posting a crooked number, the Coyotes had to settle for a single run on a Kyle Schoonover RBI groundout. Highland answered that in the home half of the second on a dead-centerfield bomb by Taylor Whatcott.

Offensively the Coyotes were led by:
Trevor Benjamin 3-4, 2 doubles
Kyle Pietryga 2-2, 1 double
Hawks:
Tanner Johnson 3-4, run scored, GW RBI
James Farris 2-4, scored winning run
Taylor Whatcott 1-3, HR, BB
Defensively:
Darian Johnson (Skyline) flashed the leather on three different occasions from the bump on balls destined for center. The Coyote catcher, Kyle Lewis, was a monster behind the dish. A lot of those 12 K's were either tipped or in the dirt and not one got away. Great job, young man!
Trey Maldonado (Hawks) made an outstanding, full extension gem with two on and two out in right-center to end the Coyote sixth.
 

Marcos de Niza defeated Mesa High 6 -2 behind a 10 strikeout complete game performance by Brian King. The win was preserved by 2 outstanding
outfield plays; the first a layout by Kendall Konopka with 2 on and the 2nd a fine running catch by Max Sankey to end the contest. Jeff Anderson and Casey Maloney paced the Padres with 2 hits.
 

March 25, 2009

Desert Ridge beat Dobson 10-7. Desert Ridge senior pitcher Zach Odom came on in relief to strike out 7 in 3 2/3 innings including 4 K's in the 7th. Kyle Raidy was 2-4 with a 2B, Brandon Raidy was 2-3, Jake Barrett was 1-2 with a 2B and two Intl. walks, and Steven Bier was 2-3 with a 2B and a 3B.

James Pazos tossed a complete game 4 hitter with 12 Ks as Highland defeated Mountain View 3-1. Zach Gulley was 2-3 with a double.

Andrew Walter threw a 3 hit complete game to lead Cactus to a 7-1 win over Millennium in a match up of 2 of the state's top 4AI  clubs. Walter struck out 14 on the day. Tyler Booth's first inning homer was the only run scored by the Tigers. For Cactus, Eric Goetz, Austin Brunke, Skylar Maestas and John Schott all had 2 hit games.

Andrew Walter (L, above) Skylar Maestas corrals a pop up

Cactus Shadows defeats Chaparral 14-4 in the 4A-I Desert Sky Region opener. The 10 run rule came in effect in the 5th inning. Ismael Castro picked up the win for Cactus Shadows. Ismael struck out 8 Firebirds to move his record to 3 and 1. The hitting stars for Cactus Shadows were Austin Edwards - 2 for 4 with a homerun, Jackson Goulder - 3 for 4 with a double, and Chris Sabanosh - 2 for 2 with 2 doubles. Mike Basco had the game winning hit in the bottom of the fifth with a 2 out, 2 rbi single. Cactus Shadows moves their overall record to 10 and 3.

  James McDonald throws across for Chap

With Ryan Downs dominant on the mound and Quinton Perry providing a Grand Slam, Mesa was able to beat Goldwater in an 11-1, 5 inning run
rule. Downs threw all 5 innings only giving up 2 hits and fanning 4, Perry smashed his grand slam in 3rd, adding a double for a 2-4 day. Michael Horton was also big for the Jackrabbits going 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI's, Dallin Parker chipped in with a 2-4 day and 2 RBI's. Jessie Feininger had a good day at the plate with a 2-3 game, a double and an RBI.

Jake Andrews tossed a complete game, allowing only  5 hits as Hamilton beat Mountain Pointe 6-1. Ryan Casillas homered for Hamilton. Nick Mancuso had a pair of hits for MP.

Blaine Schmidt's 2 RBI knock in the bottom of the 7th sent Deer Valley to an 11-10 win over Basha. The Bears, after trailing most of the game, rallied in the top of the 7th with 5 runs to take the lead before Schmidt settled things. Tyler Cohen was 3-4 for Deer Valley.

The Brophy Broncos defeated the Horizon Huskies last night in the form of a 7-2 victory. The Broncos offense got a boost early-on with a Brandon Bayardi 2-run bomb in the top of the 1st inning. Jake Williams toed the rubber for the Broncos delivering 6 strong innings. Joey Danner started for the Huskies and had to work out of jams early in the game due to some walks and errors. Tommy Joseph hit another blast but the Horizon bats never got going due to great pitching and no errors by the Broncos defense. Brophy continued to add runs in every inning but one. The two teams split their season series of games to continue what is one of the best diamond rivalries in Arizona.
 

Taylor Lindsey and Michael Janikis homered as Desert Mountain dropped Centennial 8-4. Janikis was 3-4 on the day for the Wolves. Kyle Tokasey was solid in relief for DM.

In what proved to be sort of a sloppy region game, Queen Creek took down Williamsfield in a 7-4 game. Matt Schmit ran his record to 3-0 by getting the complete game win. Although Schmitty didn't have his best stuff, he had a solid outing allowing 5 hits over 7 innings and finished with 8 Ks and 3 BB. Matt helped himself out by going 3-3 with 2 RBI. Also contributing for the Bulldogs, were Julian Sandoval 2-3, 2B and 2 RBI and Adam Brzeczek 2-2 with a Sac Bunt.
 

The Aztecs Copper Canyon and Agua Fria played yesterday in week 2 of region play. Both teams had their big guns on the mound, as Agua Fria started Senior Aaron Altherr and Copper Canyon started Junior Rudy Gutierrez. The Aztecs defeated Agua Fria 9-1. Altherr went 3 innings, striking out 2 allowing 2 runs. Junior Rudy Gutierrez dominated the Owls offensive attack by throwing a complete game, allowing 5 hits, and striking out 12. Copper Canyon was aided by Senior Kevin Livermore who went 3-4 with 2 HR’s, 4 RBIs, and 3 runs scored. Senior Danny Ramirez went 3-3 with 2 runs and a RBI. Copper Canyon also got some help from Junior C Ruben Hernandez who went 2-3 with a RBI. Copper Canyon got ahead early, and continued to put the ball in play. Both teams face each other again on Thursday at Agua Fria.

Kevin Livermore unloads (L) as Aaron Altherr delivers for AF

Marcos Gomez laces a base hit for Copper Canyon

Mtn Ridge beat Ceasar Chavez by the score of 13-3 yesterday. Parker Markel was on the hill for the Mtn Lions, he went six innings striking out 8 batters and only allowing 4 hits. Travis Hutchinson and Ryan Freberg both had multi hit games.

 Marcos de Niza defeated North 16-5 on Monday. Marcos was led by Jeff Anderson and Max Sankey with 4 hits. Kendall Konopka chipped in 3 hits and 4 RBIs. Casey Maloney homered for the Padres. Anderson, Konopka, and Donavan Evashenko scored 3 runs each. Phil Timm threw 3 strong innings with 5 K's. Mike Kenneth closed out the game for the Padres. Preston Van Buren went yard for the Mustangs.

March 24, 2009

Mountain Pointe made a statement yesterday, thrashing Gilbert 19-2 in  Power Points matchup. Kevin Cron went off, blasting a pair of homers, including a grand slam, and knocking in 6 runs for the Pride. Nick Mancuso was 3-4 for Pointe. Jake Waldren was lights out on the hill, tossing 4 shutout innings and allowing only 2 hits to a solid Gilbert lineup. The Pride scored in the first 4 innings including a 12 run marathon in the 4th where Pointe sent 18 hitters to the plate.

North Canyon moved to 7-3 on the year with an 8-4 victory over Ponderosa, CO in the first game of the Coach Bob Invitational. Tony Spiesman broke open a close game with a two-run double in the 3rd inning. Jason Walker followed with a three-run home run to provide the margin of victory. Eric Wise threw 5 solid innings, scattering 7 hits and striking out 7. Dominic Portocarrero went 2 for 3 with an RBI. For Ponderosa, Austin Kaasch went deep twice and while Brandon Mikolka and Jordan Maynard each had multi-hit games.
 

March 20, 2009

North defeated LaJoya 13-1 in a non conference game.
North's Steven Montieth hit 3 homers and drove in 4 runs. Roberto Alejo and Darey Gomez each collected 3 hits. Jonathan Cuellar had 2 hits and 2
rbi's. Andrew Romo had a bases clearing double. Luis Gamboa pitched all 5 innings, allowing 2 hits and punching out 8. North is now 8-4.

The Copper Canyon Aztecs defeated the Millennium Tigers Thursday by a score of 11-7. Canyon was led by the pitching of Junior Rudy Gutierrez who threw a complete game. After a shaky 3rd inning in which the Aztecs allowed 5 runs, Gutierrez settled down and shut down the bats of Millenium. Senior Andres Cisneros went deep for the 1st time this year. Senior Ramon Del Sol went 2-3 including a double to center. Sophomore Drew Douglas who was recently called up came threw again for Canyon going 1-1 with a sac fly.

March 20, 2009

Highland junior James Farris went toe to toe with Desert Ridge's Jake Barrett and came away with a 3-2 win on Thursday night in the title game of the Victory Classic. Both pitchers scattered 6 hits. Tyler Wilson knocked in 2 of the 3 Highland runs.

The Horizon Huskies handed Hamilton their first loss of the season in capturing the championship of the Big League Dugout tourney 5-4 on Thursday night. Brandon Snyder and Tommy Joseph both homered for Horizon. Hamilton outhit Horizon 11-6 in the losing effort.

 Horizon advanced to the Championship Game after defeating Chaparral Firebirds 1-0. Tommy Joseph put the Horizon Huskies ahead in the bottom of the first with a solo homerun. In the top of the third inning, with runners on first and third and no outs, the Chaparral batter hit a
sacrifice fly deep to left field but the Firebirds scoring attempt was extinguished when senior left-fielder Nick Stein made a perfect catch and
release throw home to Tommy Joseph for a double play. The rest was up to Horizon senior pitcher Dillon Scott who put on a commanding performance by scattering only 4 hits in the full game shut-out.

Mesquite edged Basha 5-4 in a solid picthing matchup with Zach davies getting the win over Matt Potter. Potter held the Wildcats to 4 hits but the Bear defense committed 4 errors on the day. Lane Doty and Jake Bamrick each had 2 hits for Mesquite. Josh Melendez had a pair of knocks for Basha.

Nick Rosales scores for Mesquite

Mesa Mountain View handed Corona Del Sol their first loss of the year 9-4 at the EX/Fiesta Tourney. Trent Stapley got the win on the mound. Brian Williams was 3-3 with a bomb. Ryan Moore went yard for the Aztecs.

Mesa concluded the Victory Classic with a 9-8 win over John Paul II High School (TX) giving the Jackrabbits a 3rd place finish. Chris Wert continued his red hot hitting going 3 for 4 with a double and his first HR of the season. Michael Horton had a very nice day at the plate driving in 3 runs with 2 doubles for a 2 for 3 day. Matt Delgado, who has been very consistent at the plate was 2 for 4 with a double, Bryant King crushed his first HR of the season for 3 RBI's.

Chris Wert & Bryant King drop opposite field bombs for Mesa

Cactus Shadows defeats Mingus in a non-region battle. Jackson Goulder moves his record to 4 and 0 for Cactus Shadows. Jackson threw the first 4 innings and Ismael Castro threw the last 3 to pick up the save. Tony Vocca pitched well for Mingus in a losing effort. Chris Sabanosh hit a 3 run homerun for Cactus Shadows in the first inning. Cactus Shadows is now 9 and 3 on the season.

The Queen Creek Bulldogs opened up region play with a 4-0 win over Tempe High School. Right-handed senior Travis Eggert continued his trend in baffling hitters this year, and was awesome on the bump- going 5 innings and giving up only two hits, while striking out 7. Matt Schmit picked up the save in relief surrendering no hits and striking out 2 in 2 innings.
 

March 19, 2009

Mountain Pointe edged Alhambra 4-3 in eight innings with Jordan Kipper tossing a strong 5 2/3 innings, going 2-4 at the plate and scoring the eventual winning run in the 8th inning. Joey Rocha had a double and 2 RBIs for Pointe. Jake Waldren earned the win in relief, tossing 2 1/3 innings and striking out 6 of the 7 batters he faced.

Desert Ridge beat Mesa 14-9 in the semi-final game of the Victory Classic Tournament played at Chandler-Gilbert Wednesday night. Desert Ridge was lead offensively by Steven Bier who was 4-4 with a 2 run HR over the scoreboard in left. Russell Vaughan, who caught a great game, was 2-3 with 2 RBI's, Kyle Raidy was 2-3 with a double, and Jerry Kleman was 2-4 with a triple and pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to preserve the win. Chris Wert, who pitched the first 5 innings for Mesa, was 4-5 with 2 RBI's and Cory Niten was 3-4.

March 18, 2009

Mtn Ridge beat Pinnacle yesterday by the score of 10-4. Cody Gray pitched 6 innings and gave up two runs. Mikey Reynolds,Ryan Skube,Cameron Paschke, Ryan Freberg, Kyle McCormick and Brett Wilkey all had multiple hit games. Ridge Will take on Union High out of Oklahoma today in the semi finals at noon at Pinnacle.

The big inning was decisive for Chaparral on Tuesday when the Firebirds were the visiting team on their own field against Tucson Canyon Del Oro. The Firebirds erupted for three runs in the third inning, four runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and five more in the sixth to race to a 17-3
victory in a Horizon Invitational Tournament game. Senior Trey Ford led the Chaparral onslaught with four hits, including two doubles, and four RBIs. Jordan Weymouth, who also had four RBIs, Jack Diamond, Aaron Levy, Blake Spiekerman and Nate Sherman all had two hits for the Firebirds, who evened their record at 5-5. All told, Chaparral had 16 hits in their biggest offensive showing of the season.

Konner Wade, the starter, and Will Abram pitched effectively for Chaparral, scattering seven hits.
Ford started things off with an RBI double in the first inning after Weymouth had singled and the Firebirds never looked back. Spiekerman tripled
in the fourth and Weymouth hit a two-run, opposite field double in the fifth. In the sixth, Sherman hit a two-run bases-loaded single and Ford
followed with a two-run double.

The victory followed another heartbreaking loss for the Firebirds in their tournament opener on Monday. After surrendering an early lead, Chaparral battled back from an 8-3 deficit to tie it at 9 against Colorado power Rocky Mountain only to lose, 10-9, on a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. It was the third one-run loss for Chaparral this season.
Junior infielder Will Dyer led the way for Chaparral with a 3 for 4 performance at the plate with a pair of RBIs. Diamond also had two hits and
two RBIs and Weymouth had two hits.

For Chaparral Konner Wade (L) delivers Trey Ford connects and Ryan Cota on the hill for CDO

Desert Ridge beat Tucson Sahuaro 11-1 in 6 innings. Grant Kempton pitched his first game of the season. He threw 5 innings allowing 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 5. Jake Barrett was 2-3 and hit his 11th HR. Steven Bier hit his 4th HR in the first. Kyle Raidy was 2-3 with a double and DW Warner was 2-3 driving in the last run to end the game. Jake Cole was 2-3 with a double for Sahuaro.

Deer Valley beat Jenks HS from Tulsa, Oklahoma Tuesday morning 7 to  5. DV scored twice in the top of the 7th from a senior Steven
Sakata rbi single. Soph Zack Richter got his first varsity win pitching the 6th and 7th with last out relief from Chris Capper.  Senior catcher
Blaine Schmidt ripped 2 homeruns to provide most of the offense.
Deer Valley played another Tulsa team, Union High School and lost 4 to 3 in 9 innings.  Josh Dahl pitched 7 complete innings for the Deer Valley scored all their runs in the 3rd inning with junior Tyler Cohen getting 2 rbi's.

Cactus Shadows moves to 8 and 2 on the season after sweeping a doubleheader. The Cactus Shadows defeated Prescott 14-4 and in the nightcap Cactus Shadows defeated Queen Creek 14-1. Cactus Shadows wins their bracket that they hosted in the Spring Classic and play in the Semi-finals of the 20 team Spring Classic.

North Canyon Senior Miles Moeller pitched 4 1/3 strong innings en route to an 11-5 victory Monday 3/16 over North High School. For North Canyon, Jay Boardman contributed 3 RBIs while Dillon Moeller and Matt Rosowitz each had two hits and two RBI's. North Canyon improved to 6-2 on the season. For North High School, Steven Monteith had two hits and scored twice.

Brophy beat Wilson (OR) in the Big League Dugout tournament at Brophy. The score was 15-3 and finished after 6 innings. Trent Stevenson threw five solid innings. There was once again solid representation from several major league teams. Kasey Coffman hit two homeruns. Beau Maggi homered. AJ Steimel homered.

Tolleson beat North Canyon 5-2. Austin Trujillo went 3-4 with a homer and 4 RBIs for the Wolverines.
 

Mesa continued to improve after a slow start this season with a strong 9-3 victory over Sunnyside in the Victory Classic Tournament. Senior Matt
Delgado had a big day at the plate going 2 for 2 with a 3 run blast to opposite field and adding a double. Jordan Adair was 2 for 4 with a solo shot and 3 RBI's, Dallin Parker continued his hot hitting going 2 for 4 with an RBI. Ryan Downs got the win for the Jackrabbits going a very strong 5 innings, also contributing was Jessie Feininger who was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's and Juniors Cory Niten and Michael Horton both going 1 for 3 with a double a
piece. The win gave Mesa the #1 seed in pool D due to tie-breaker rules in a 3 way tie, they will face Desert Ridge in the semi's tonight at Chandler
Gilbert Community College at 6 pm.
 

March 17, 2009

Sunrise Mountain, Centennial, Pinnacle, Deer Valley and Mtn Ridge all finish at the top of their pools in Best of West Tournament.
Quarter Finals begin Tuesday:
Sunrise Mtn V. Yukon, OK 1:00 @ Sunrise Mtn
Centennial V Stillwater, OK 4:00 @ Centennial
Deer Valley V Union, Ok 4:00 @ Deer Valley
Mtn Ridge V Pinnacle 4:00 @ Mtn Ridge

Scores from Monday's Best of West Pool Play
Casa Grande 8 Edmond 6
Stillwater 4 Casa Grande 3
Sunrise Mtn 14 Edmond 4
Sunrise Mtn 14 Stillwater 0
Yukon 4 Goldwater 3
Goldwater 7 Sabino 3
Yukon 5 Centennial 0
Centennial 11 Sabino 10
Pinnacle 5 Jenks 1
Pinnacle 10 Deer Valley 5
Deer Valley 12 South 2
Union 5 Ironwood 1
Ironwood 8 Nogales 3
Mtn Ridge 18 Nogales 8
Union 9 Mtn Ridge 3

Horizon's Joey Danner outdueled Las Vegas' Jeff Malm as the Huskies edged Bishop Gorman 2-1 on Monday night at Husky Field. Gorman scored their run in the first inning and it was goose eggs the rest of the way. Horizon was actually outhit 4-2 in the contest but scratched across a pair of runs in the 5th.

In the first game of the Victory Classic Mesa fell behind early to Enid(OK), giving up 5 first inning runs. The Jackrabbits would scratch and claw their way to tie the game in the top of the 7th only to give up a walk off single with the bases loaded to lose 8-7.
With the earlier loss still stinging Mesa, they once again gave up a big 1st inning looking at a 6 run deficit to Moore(OK). This time the Jackrabbits
would come back swinging, after the first Mesa would pound out 15 runs on 14 hits and outscore Moore 15-1 for a 15-7 victory. Mesa had many
contributors, lead by Ryan Downs 3-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, Chris Wert 2-4, 2 3B, 4 RBI's, Quinton Perry 3-3, RBI, Jordan Adair 2-2, 2 2B, 2 BB, RBI & Cory
Niten 1-2, 3B. Dallin Parker settled in nicely after a rough start going 5 strong innings.

Copper Canyon- 3
Agua Fria- 2
In there final game of the Spring Classic Tournament, Copper Canyon defeated the Agua Fria Owls by a score of 3-2.. The Aztecs were led by Senior Ramon Del Sol who threw 6 2/3 innings, striking out 6 and allowing 2 earned runs. Ramon also went 3-4 with a double and a RBI. Junior Marcos Gomez continued to increase his on base percentage by walking 3 times. Senior Kevin Livermore hit a shot of the deep centerfield wall that brought in 2 RBI’s. Junior Rudy Gutierrez came in with 2 outs in the 7th to close out the potential late inning threat by Agua Fria. The Aztecs now sit at 5-8 on the season and are now headed into region play.

Skyline----10

Basha------6



Darian Johnson continued his torrid start on the hill and at the plate. Johnson improved to 4-0 tossing a complete game and giving up only two
earned runs. At the dish, he was 3-4 with a pair of doubles. Trey Lang went 4-4 and hit his fifth jack of the year. Trevor Benjamin went 2-4 as did Michael Wesolowski.
Today, the Coyotes and PJ Mendoza look for some better results (they lost 10-2 the first time they met) in a re-match against a tough Corona
club.
 

Junior lefty Brian McNulty tossed 3 solid innings in relief, allowing one run and keeping Mountain Ridge in the game as the Lions rallied for an 18-8 win in the Sunrise Tourney. Ryan Freberg's grand slam ended things. He earlier had a 2 RBI triple.

Later, Ridge dropped an 8-3 decision to Union (OK).

Desert Ridge began the Highland Victory Tournament by Defeating Fort Collins Colorado 4-1 Monday. With the score tied at one in the 5th Steven Bier hit a 2 run HR to left. Jake Barrett then followed with his 9th HR of the season. Sophomore pitcher Scott Hoffman pitched a complete game allowing only 3 hits.

Later Monday night Desert Ridge beat Muskogee Oklahoma 11-6. Senior pitcher Zach Odom pitched 4 solid inning allowing 1 run and striking out 6. Everyone in the Desert Ridge starting line-up had at least one hit. Jake Barret was 3-4 with his 10th HR of the season. Austin Cain was 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. Jerry Kleman, Kyle Raidy, and Steven Bier also had doubles for Desert Ridge.

March 15, 2009

Ridge started the Sunrise Mnt. tourney yesterday against Ironwood at their field. Result was 14-2 win. Austin Buelow pitched a great game with Cam
Paschke closing out the 6th. Mike Reynolds hit two home runs, a solo shot his first at bat and a 3 run shot the next time. Ryan Skube hammered the last nail in with a grand slam shot in the 5th.

In less than 24 hours, the Bulldogs of Queen Creek completed the trifecta- taking out Prescott 7-6 in 13 innings, Copper Canyon 6-5, and Agua Fria 6-4. Winning pitchers were Zane Garcia, Brandon Jackson and Dillon Freeman. This was the first varsity win for each of the three rookie hurlers. Pierce Arnett led the way against the Badgers of Prescott, going 5-6 with 2 SB. In the battle between the two big men (Aaron Altherr of Agua Fria and Queen Creek's Eddie Malone), Malone proved victorious, launching 2 rockets into the night capping a 4-4 performance at the plate with 2 HR, 2 RBI and 3 Runs. Altherr was extremely tough on the rest of the "Pound," surrendering only 3 other hits respectively.

Cactus Shadows moves to 6 and 2 on the season with a 7-0 victory over Agua Fria. Jackson Goulder threw 5 innings to move his record to 2 and 0. Mike Basco threw 2 innings of scoreless relief. Steffen Miner, Logan Davis, Austin Edwards, and Ismael Castro each had 2 hits for Cactus Shadows.

In the Greenway Spring Classic Tourney Valley Vista lefthander Chris Welch ran his season record to 3 - 0 pitching 5 complete innings in the Monsoon 5 - 3 victory over the Matadors of Shadow Mountain. V V senior Arron Burchette hit his 3rd homerun over a 2 game span to run his total to 5 for the season. Monsoon junior pitcher Justin Pothier pitched the 6th inning holding the Matadors scoreless, while V V freshman Matt Garringer came on in the 7th to earn the save. Valley Vista sits at 2 - 0 in the tourney with two games to be played on Monday.

Corona took home a pair of victories on Saturday at the EV/Fiesta tourney at Mesquite

The Aztecs run ruled Mesquite 11-1 with Tyler Giannonatti making his first start on the mound and tossing 4 shutout innings. Kirby Pellant was 3-4 with a double, triple and 3 RBIs. Ryan Moore also had a 3 hit game. Austin Carr's 5th inning solo shot accounted for Mesquite's lone run.

Later, it was Gilbert's turn and the Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a long homer by DJ Peterson, but the Aztecs answered with 3 in the first and 4 in the second en route to a 14-7 win. Mike Felton was 3-5 for the Aztecs. Peterson was 2-3 with a pair of 2 run blasts.

Kirby Pellant is safe at third (L) as Austin Carr goes deep

DJ Peterson (L) and Tyler Giannonatti

CopperCanyon-8
Prescott-2
The Aztecs began Saturday’s double header against the Prescott Badgers. Sophomore Alex Gutierrez got the early start for Canyon and had a 5 hit complete game win. The sticks started to awake, as the Aztecs scored 8 runs and scattered 10 hits. Copper Canyon came away victorious in game one by the score of 8-2. Alex got his 2nd victory of the season. Sophomore Drew Douglas, who was called up for the tournament, got his first career varsity hit with a double down the line.

CopperCanyon-5
Queen Creek- 6
In the second game of the day, Copper Canyon squared off against Queen Creek. The Aztecs got off to an early lead and continued to swing the bats. Junior Rudy Gutierrez through a complete game, striking out 2 and allowing 2 earned runs. At the plate Junior Marcos Gomez went 2-2 with a double and 2 walks. Rudy Gutierrez helped himself by going 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI’s. Canyon played great, but late errors resulted in Queen Creek taking a late lead. Queen Creek held the Aztecs in the top of the 7th and won by the score of 6-5.

Rudy Gutierrez on the hill

March 14, 2009

Taylor Lindsey went 3-4 with a pair of bombs, a double and 5 RBIs as Desert Mountain defeated Pinnacle 12-6. Cam Teich got the win on the mound. Adam Sonabend was also 3-4 for the Wolves. Steve Casey and Alex Real were 3-4 for Pinnacle. Real added a homer.

Desert Ridge defeated Basha 14-4 in 6 innings Friday at Basha. Desert Ridge received a strong pitching performance from Kris Ashby who struck out 8 in 5 innings. Desert Ridge was lead offensively by Jake Barrett who hit 2 more HR's and had 5 RBI's. Taylor Kaczmarek was 3-4 with a 2B and and a Grand Slam. Alex Villar continued his hot hitting finishing 3-4.

Skyline------------16
Casa Grande----4

Skyline pounded out 17 hits----including 5 home runs.
PJ Mendoza worked the first three innings and improved to 2-1 on the season. Will Bassler took over in the fourth and worked three innings of
scoreless relief.
Skyline was led offensively by Darian Johnson 3-5, 2 HR'S (4), 4 RBIS----Trey Lang 2-4, 2 HR'S (4), 4 RBI'S----Trevor Benjamin 2-4, 1 HR
(2), 2 RBI'S----
Kyle Schoonover 3-4, 3 runs scored-----and Cale Calderon 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI'S.
Casa Grande was led by Tucker Esmay 2-3, 2B, 3B, 1 RBI and Perales 1-2, 2B, 2 runs scored.
The center fielder for Casa Grande, Rodriquez, made several sparkling defensive plays.
The Skyline Coyotes improved to 5-1 on the season.
Casa Grande is now 2-6.
 

Sahuaro's Jake Cole went the distance on the mound and doubled and tripled to lead Sahuaro to a 12-9 victory over Ironwood Ridge on Thursday. Sahuaro jumped on IR starter Dereck Boris with runs in each of the first 3 innings to take a 7-0 lead in the 3rd and then hung on for the win. Alex Worden was 4-4 with a triple in a losing effort for the Nighthawks.

CDO's Ryan Retz moved to 2-0 on the year as the Dorados defeated Flowing Wells 12-1 in 5 innings. CDO juniors Hayden Cota-Robles and Ryan Gerber doubled to lead the CDO attack. CDO will travel to Phoenix next week as the only Tucson team to compete in the 8-Team Big League Dugout Invitational hosted by Horizon H.S.

CDO will compete in the B-Bracket with Hamilton, Chaparral, and Rocky Mtn. (CO). The A-Bracket will feature Horizon, Brophy, Wilson (Portland, OR) and last year's Champ Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) The tournament begins on Monday with the Championship scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 PM at Horizon.

March 13, 2009

James Farris tossed 5 strong innings and Max Rossiter was 3-4 with a homer and double as Highland edged North Canyon 3-3. Trey Maldonado was 2-3 and knocked in the decisive run in the 6th. Jaime Garrido also had 2 hits for Highland. Cody Moffett tossed 2 innings of relief and earned the win. For Canyon, Connor Bowen was 3-4 with a double and triple. Kevin Baumgartner threw very well for NC, allowing only 2 runs through 5 innings.

James Farris (above left) Connor Bowen puts the tag on Sam Cortina

Max Rossiter goes deep

Basha and Mesa battled to an 11-11 score after 8 innings. The game was called due to darkness and will be completed at a later date. The game
was highly contested and seesawed back and forth. With 2 outs and trailing by 3 runs in the bottom 7th Mesa put together a nice rally capped off by
Ryan Downs stealing home to tie the game.

On Tuesday, Thunderbird traveled to Vail, AZ to take on a tough Cienega team coming off a big win over then, unbeaten Mingus. Thunderbird got on the board first with a solo homerun from freshman Marcus Wheeler in the top of the 2nd inning. By the 5th inning Thunderbird took 4-1 lead only to see it erased in the bottom half of the inning. With score tied at 4 in the top of the 7th Kaleb Huerta came up with a big 2 out double with runners on 2nd and 3rd to give Thunderbird a 6-4 lead. Sophomore Matt Hobel came on and closed the game giving Thunderbird their first win of the season.

On Thursday, Thunderbird was again on the road this time at Shadow Mountain. Thunderbird scored early and often, getting timely hits and a strong pitching performance from junior Kaleb Huerta who went 5 innings giving up 3 runs, as Thunderbird clobbered Shadow Mountain 14-3.

Cactus Shadows moves to 4 and 2 with a 23-3 victory over Peoria. The Falcons were led by Jackson Goulder who had 2 homeruns and 7 RBI's. Sophomore Brent Nurre also connected for Cactus Shadows with a solo shot.

On Wednesday, Mountain Pointe defeated McClintock 11-6. Jake Waldren threw 5 2/3 innings for the win, allowing  3 hits and striking out 6. Kevin Cron, Joey Rocha and OJ Quinonez had 2 hits apiece.

Mtn Pointe dropped Saguaro 12-4 with Jake Dzubczynski getting the win. Kevin Cron and Ryan Klem both went deep. Jake Waldren had 3 hits for Pointe. Pointe scored 6 times in the opening inning.

Ryan Klem and Jake Waldren blasted back to back homers in the third inning as Mtn. Pointe defeated Bradshaw Mountain 5-2. Joey Rocha and Kevin Cron each had 2 hits for Pointe. Tyler Sherman earned the win with relief help from JT Marino.

Mountain Ridge struck early, nabbing a run in the top of the first as Travis Hutchinson reached on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Sunrise Mountain starter David Hall. Hutchinson scored on a two-out single by Ryan Freberg and the Mountain Lions led 1-0. With two outs in the bottom of the first, designated hitter Austin Byler hit an opposite-field solo home run to knot the game at 1-1. Both pitchers settled in until Mountain Ridge took the lead in the third. Mike Reynolds walked to lead off and eventually came home to score on a misplay in left field. Hall bounced back to retire Aaron Hines with two runners on base to keep the score 2-1. Matt Bummer singled and Danny Schlief followed with a well-executed bunt. Schlief was safe at first but Bummer was cut down trying to advance to third on the play. A.J. Robinson singled to left and Byler was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tyler Crawford then singled to right to plate Schlief and tie the game at 2-2. In the fifth, Steven Kane relieved Hall and surrendered a run to give Mountain Ridge the lead. Ryan Skube singled to lead off the frame and eventually scored on a balk. Kane got out the inning but Sunrise went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Byler continued his memorable day with a double to right to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Crawford and Wolff were then retired by McNulty, setting the stage for Gillies' two-out heroics. Vince Gillies hit 3-2 fastball out to left field to give Sunrise Mtn a 4-3 lead. Using a variety of off-speed pitches, Jerad McDaniel closed the game for the Mustangs. He struck out Skube and Freberg and retired Gray on a grounder to end the game.

Notre Dame 7
Arcadia 1

Kevin Ryan went the distance in his first varsity appearance striking out 12 to pick up his first win and help keep the Saints undefeated. Tony Piazza went 3-4 at the plate while Jordan Luvisi added a 2 run homer and Drew Ozanne added a solo homer to lead Notre Dame's offense in the victory.

Desert Ridge defeated Trevor Brown Thursday 17-7. Offensively Desert Ridge was lead by Jake Barrett who hit 2 HR's and had 5 RBI's. Alex Villar was 4-4 with a Triple, Connor Daly 2-3 with a Triple, and Jerry Kleman was 3-4 with a HR. Kleman also pitched 3 innings and struckout 5.

Deer Valley beat Ironwood 12 to 2 in six innings at Deer Valley. Josh Dahl got the victory pitching into the 4th. Senior Steven Sakata hit a homerun in the 2nd inning and relieved Dahl in the 4th and finished for DV. Blaine Schmidt homered for DV. The game ended with Kyle Herrington hitting a grand slam to put DV up by 10. Other Skyhawks having good days at the plate were Chris Capper and Daniel Schneider.

Senior Matt Rosowitz hit a grand slam and had 6 RBIs on the afternoon to power North Canyon to a 17-12 victory over Kingman on Tuesday 3/10 in Kingman. Kevin Baumgartner, Connor Bowen, Peyton Deiters and Dominic Portocarrero also had multi-hit games as North Canyon improved to 4-1 on the season. Sophomore Andrew Felix struck out six en route to his first varsity win, while Kingman's Travis Kellum took the loss. For Kingman, Corey Litzinger hit a two-run homer. Tyler Huffer and John Hulsey each had 3 RBIs.
 

March 12, 2009

Bradshaw Mountain 0-0-0-0-0 = 0 R / 1 H / 4 E
Saguaro                     7-0-0-6    = 13 R / 11 H / 0 E

Josh Chapman pitched 4 1/3 innings of 1 hit shut out baseball against Bradshaw Mountain. Saguaro had 11 hits against Togerst and Audsley for the Bears. Austin Anderson was 2-3 with a double and 2 runs scored. Eddie Hufford was 1-2, with a double, RBI, HBP  and 2 runs scored. Kauppi had the lone hit for Bradshaw Mountain.
 
Saguaro: Josh Chapman 4 1/3 IP / 1 H, Nick Neslund 1 IP
Bradshaw Togerst 1/3 IP, Ausley 3/ 23 IP
 

March 11, 2009

Deer Valley defeated Mountain Ridge 2-1 in 7 innings.  Junior  Jacob Doyle pitched 6 innings of great baseball giving up 1 run and then Doyle drove in what turned out to be the winning run when he drove in Chris Capper from second on a single up the middle in the 6th,   Josh Dahl had a massive homerun in the 3rd to start the scoring.
Ridge scored when Ryan Skube  scored from 2nd on a single by Ryan Freberg and then an error and Freberg  was thrown out at the plate trying to score.
Parker Markel threw a great game for Ridge, allowing only 5 hits.
Chris Capper pitched the 7th  for DV, getting Skube to fly out deep to left with a runner on second to end the game.
DV avenged a loss in the Corona tourney to Ridge  by winning this regular season game.

Tucson Sahuaro traveled to Paradise Valley and came away with a 9-3 victory. Josh Weyker (Jr) pitched a complete game for Sahuaro, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 9. Sahuaro had 3 hits and 7 walks in the 2nd inning scoring 8 runs. Leading Sahuaro offensively, Jake Cole had a 3 RBI Double, Drew McKeever was 2-4 with a Double, Josh Weyker was 2-4 with a Double and Chris Browne added an RBI. For PV, Catcher Pat Emmons had a 2 Run HR in the bottom of the 1st inning. CF Johnny Galvez had a Triple and scored on an interference call on Sahuaro Catcher Jake Cole during a run down in the 3rd inning.

Malcolm Purdy fouls one back for PV (L) as Mike Rodriguez flashes the leather for the Sabercats

Josh Weyker toeing the slab for Sahuaro

Darian Johnson scattered 7 hits while improving his record to 3-0 in a complete game, 72-pitch effort.
Darian retired the first nine hitters he faced while Skyline jumped to a 7-0 lead.
Goldwater scored 4 runs (3 earned) over the next two innings. Smith and Schultz each had RBI doubles. Gatewood then had an RBI
groundout to pull the Bulldogs within three before Johnson settled back in and retired seven of the last nine hitters he faced.
Offensively, Skyline was led by Michael Wesolowski (3-4), Davin Mitchell (2-4, 2 runs), Johnson (2-4, 2 RBI'S), Kyle Schoonover (2-4, RBI), and Trey Lang (2-4, RBI).
The Skyline Coyotes improved to 4-1 on the season.
The Goldwater Bulldogs are now 5-3.
 

Marcos de Niza 0-0-0-0-0-6-0 = 6 R / 7 H / 1E
Saguaro            2-0-1-0-4-5 =  12 R / 11 H / 2E

Dylan Beam shut out the Marcos de Niza batters through 5 innings work. Henry Sanchez surrendered 9 hits and 8 runs to Saguaro through 5 1/3 innings. Chris Akmon capped a 5 run sixth inning with a 3 run double. Josh Chapman & Kyle Young each had a home run for Saguaro.
Saguaro: Chris Akmon 3-4, 2-B, 3 RBI, 3 R, SB / Wes Smith 2-4, 3 RBI / Kyle Young 1-2 - HR, 3 RBI,2-BB, 2 R. Dylan Beam 4-1/3 IP, Brian Faucher 1-2/3.
Marcos de Niza: Zach Schira 2-3 / John R Botelho 1-3, 2-B, 3 RBI. Henry Sanchez 5 1/3 IP, P Philip Timm 1 IP.

Mountain Pointe defeated Queen Creek 4-1. Tyer Studt tossed 5 innings for the win and got relief help from Daniel Corwin and Josh Alexander. Kyle Wallace threw 5 1/3 strong innings for QC. Jordan Kipper was 2-3 with a double for Pointe. Eddie Malone went deep for Creek.

Taylor Lindsey and Lance Harper homered and Brian Foster  got the win on the hill as Desert Mountain dropped Cesar Chavez 15-5. Cam Teich was 4-4 with a pair of doubles for DM>

Cody Repenning tossed a complete game 5 hit shutout as Gilbert blanked Mesa 10-0. Hunter Herdt and Nathaniel Causey both had 2 hits for Gilbert.

Desert Ridge's Jake Barrett and James Pazos of Highland faced off on Tuesday, with Ridge coming away with a 4-2 win. Both aces threw well for their clubs, with Barrett tossing a complete game 6 hitter with 12 Ks and Pazos looking the best he's looked this spring. Highland suffered a case of leather allergy, kicking the ball 5 times. A mistake to Steven Bier resulted in a  long 2 run blast that put Ridge up 4-1 and proved to be the difference maker. Bier was 2-3 for the day and Taylor Whatcott was 2-2 with a double for Highland

Joey Danner tossed 5 scoreless innings as Horizon blasted Mesa Mountain View 11-1. Dylan Scott was 3-4 with a double. Reese Kanter knocked in 3 runs for the Huskies.

Notre Dame 12
Queen Creek 7

Andy Wilder had 4 rbi's going 4 for 4 including a home run and Tayler Scott added 3 rbi's with a 2 for 3 night at the plate to help improve the Saints to a record of 5-0. Queen Creek jumped to a 3-0 lead and outhit Notre Dame 14-12 but never could recover once they fell behind the undefeated Saints. Eric Knight picked up the win and Austin Edwards looked sharp in his 2nd relief appearance of the season.

Glendale- 0
Copper Canyon- 16

Yesterday, the Glendale HS baseball team traveled to Copper Canyon to play the Aztecs. The game ended in 5 innings as the Aztecs defeated the Cardinals 16-0. The game was dominated by Sophomore Alex Gutierrez of Copper Canyon who threw a complete game shutout. Alex allowed only 1 hit which came with 2 outs in the 1st. He also finished the game with 5 strikeouts. At the plate Junior SS Marcos Gomez went 3-4 scoring 3 runs and 3 RBI’s. He also added his first HR of the season. Senior Kevin Livermore went 2-3 with a double, 2 runs, and 2 RBI’s. Another great performance was added by Junior 3B Rudy Gutierrez who went 3-3 with a walk, 2 runs and 2 RBI’s. The Aztecs got some support from the bottom of the lineup with Senior Andres Cisneros who went 2-3 with a RBI and Junior C Ruben Hernandez who went 2-3 with a double and RBI
 

March 9, 2009

Brian King threw 4 strong innings leading Marcos de Niza over Mountain Pointe 9-8 on Monday. John Botelho, Max Sankey and Mike Kenneth had two hits. Kenneth closed out the game for the Padres.

Despite below freezing temperatures and powerful winds, the Aztecs were able to get a full game completed against the Sinagua High School Mustangs yesterday. Copper Canyon was defeated 8-7 despite great pitching by Senior Ramon Del Sol. Junior 3B Rudy Gutierrez added another stellar performance by going 4-4 with 2 RBI’s and a Triple. Sophomore Alex Gutierrez went 2-3 with a BB. The Aztecs put a great effort by scoring 3 in the top of the 7th, but it wasn’t enough for the victory

Notre Dame 8
Mountain Pointe 6

Jordan Luvisi improved his record to 2-0 with 4 solid innings striking out 7 and relief pitchers Taylor Scott and Nick Barber held the Pride moving Notre Dame to 4-0 on the season. The Saints took a 6-0 lead against the red hot Mountain Pointe team who had already defeated  Highland, Horizon, Gilbert and Chaparral in this young season. Jordan Luvisi homered for the second consecutive game and just missed another home run with a double off the top of the tall centerfield wall finishing with 2 rbi's for the night. Matt Ozanne also homered and Tony Piazza drove in 3 runs with a big bases loaded triple. Kevin Kron had a 2 run homer for the Mountain Pointe Pride who fell short in their comeback.

Gilbert got a pair of quality wins on Saturday. The Tigers dropped Horizon 4-2 with Cody Repenning getting the win on the mound.

Later, Gilbert defeated Mesa 8-6 with Cody Thompson going deep and Nolan Skowronek getting the win in relief.

Also on Satrday, Aaron Altherr hammered a walk off grand slam to clminate a wild comeback for Agua Fria in a win over Greenway. The Owls trailed 13-7 going into the 7th before Altherr's heroics.

March 8, 2009

Canyon Del Oro defeated Sunnyside 6-3 to win the Championship of the Cactus Classic in Tucson on Sat. night at Amphi Stadium. CDO reached the finals by defeating Cactus Shadows earlier in the day 8-2. Sunnyside had defeated Ironwood Ridge 3-2 in 8 innings to reach the finals.
Sunnyside's Santiago Romero homered for the Blue Devils in the loss. Hayden Cota-Robles homered for CDO.
In the consolation game, Ironwood Ridge defeated Cactus Shadows 6-4.
CDO starts the season 4-0 and will travel to Glendale Cactus on Tuesday.

Mesquite beat Desert Ridge 11-10 Saturday. This game was a seesaw battle throughout. Mesquite was lead by Austin Carr's grandslam, Gonzales was 2-3 with a 2B and Zack Davies closed out the 7th. Desert Ridge was lead by Jerry Kleman 4-5, Steven Bier 2-3 with a 3 run HR, Travis Flores and Jake Barrett also Homered.

Pinnacle improved to 7-1 with at 12-5 win over Tollison. Pinnacle’s Ryan Buck picks up the win on the mound with Tolleson’s Lester Lugo taking the loss. For Pinnacle Jake Peevyhouse, T C Mark, Justin Winters and Alex Real all had multiple hits. Steve Casey homered in the first and Ashton McCoy put an exclamation point on the Pinnacle offense with a line drive jack to left center in the 7th  (McCoy has homered in three consecutive games). For Tolleson Lester Lugo and Jose Sierra both homered.

Mtn Ridge took on Dobson Yesterday and beat them by the score of 12-1. Sophmore Dan Will got his first varsity start yeaterday going 4 shutout innings with no walks. Mike Reynolds, Ryan Skube, Ryan Freberg and Aaron Hines had multiple hit games.
 

Notre Dame 13
Marcos de Niza 3

Casey Upperman picked up his first win of the season working 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 4 hits.Tony Piazza went 3 for 3 driving in 3 runs and Jordan Luvisi was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI's including belting a long opposite field home run for the Saints who improved their record to 3-0. Mike Kenneth homered for the losing Padres.

Junior right-hander Matt Schmit (2-0) was excellent on the bump for the Bulldogs of Queen Creek in a non-region win, 7-1, against the Padres of Marcos De Niza. Shmitty went 6 innings only to surrender 2 hits, for the second consecutive outing. Matt struck out 7 Padres while walking only 2. The junior also helped his own cause by going 3-4 with 2 2B, and drove in 3 runs. He also got help from senior Eddie Malone who was 2-2, 2B, 2 HBP and 2 RBI.

Bradshaw Mountain 0-0-0-0-2-1-0 = 3 R / 8 H / 3 E
Saguaro                     6-0-5-0-0-0-   = 11 R / 8 H / 0 E

Saguaro jumped out early, taking a 6 run lead at the end of one inning.  The Sabercats added 5 runs in the fifth. Through 6 1/2 innings 21 Sabercats competed in the game. Brian Faucher pitched 4 shut out innings allowing just 2 hits. The Bears opened the fifth inning with 5 consecutive hits scoring 2 runs, and extending the game.  Saguaro had 5 doubles off the bats of Ryan Comford, Chase Watts, Tucker Frazier, Kurt Jahnke and Josh Chapman. Ryan Comford closed out the game for Saguaro including 2 K's both batters caught looking.

Saguaro: Brain Faucher 4 IP / Zach Gibbons 2 IP / Ryan Comford 1 IP

Bradshaw Mountain: Kauppi 1-3 HR / Jogerst & Jewell each had 1 RBI.
Logan Housner 2 2/3 IP / Garcia 1/3 IP / Clifford 1 IP / Audsley 1 IP

Sunrise Mountain: 0-0-0-0-0-2-0 = 2 R / 5H / 4 E
Saguaro                  1-0-2-1-0-2     = 6 R /  9H / 1E

Chris Salazar shut out Sunrise Mountain through 5 innings allowing only 4 hits and 2 runs through 5 1/3. Saguaro hitters applied pressure throughout the game registering at least one hit in every inning except the 5th. Zach Gibbons has an outfield assist to Ryan Comford for a double play to end a 5th inning rally for Sunrise Mountain.

Saguaro: Kyle Young 2-3 / R / RBI/ BB; Chris Vasquez 2-3, 2B, RBI / R
Chris Salazar 5 1/3 IP/ Chase Watts 2/3 IP / Dylan Beam 1 IP.

Sunrise Mountain: Tyler Crawford 1-2 / 2B / R Matt Bummer 2-2 / 2B / RBI
Danny Schlief 2 IP / Bryce Wolff 2 IP / Jerard McDaniel 2 IP
 

Mountain Pointe beat Highland 10-2 in the championship game of the Scottsdale Invitational Tournament completing a week in which they also beat Horizon, Gilbert, and Chaparral. Pointe scored 5 runs in the first, 2 in the second, and 3 in the third to put the game out of reach. Jake Dziubcynski got the win for the Pride and Jarod Carter took the loss for the Hawks. Kevin Cron, Jake Waldren, Joey Rocha, and Ross O’Callaghan all recorded 2 hits a piece for the winners. For Highland, Max Rossiter and Taylor Whatcott each went 2 for 3.

O'Connor defeated Seton Catholic 6-5 today. Devin Turner who was 3-3 hit a 3 run jack in the top of the 7th to put OC up by 1. Anthony willm recorded his first varsity win and Aaron Copfer pick up his 2nd save with a scoreless 7th.

Devin Turner had the game winner for O'Connor (L) Casey Simmerman on the hill for Seton

Kirby Pellant homered and had 4 RBIs and Tyler Gianonatti went deep and knocked in 3 as Corona defeated Skyline 10-2 in the final of the Aztez-Warrior Classic. Trever Allen tossed 6 strong innings for the win. Trey Lang and Darian Johnson went yard for Skyline.

Tyler Giannonatti (L) and PJ Mendoza on Saturday

Williams Field defeated Perry 6-5 at the McClintock Classic.

Williams Field's Dylon Koch puts the leather on JT Jobusch

 McClintock Classic (L to R): Casa Grande's Tucker Esmay, Mingus' Hunter Zwart, McClintock's Chaz Contreras and Cienega's Cody Johnson

March 6, 2009

Mtn Ridge and Corona Del Sol squared off on friday. This was a rough game early for both teams as several errors led to many runs for both teams. Mtn Ridge led by the score of 9-2 before Corona began to scatch back. Corona did a great job of adding a run in each of the following innings. Which lead to the bottom of the 7th, and Corona Del Sol pulling out the victory by the score of 10-9. Brock Abadinni came in the second inning and did not allow a run. Mike Felton, Trever Allen and Evan Ritchey all had multiple hit games. Ryan Skube also had a multi hit game for the Lions. Cameron Paschke went deep for Ridge.

Chris Lopez scores the game winner for CDS (L) Austin Buelow delivers for Ridge

Matt Potter tossed a complete game as Basha dropped Marco De Niza 3-1. Potter allowed a single first inning run before settling in and shutting down the Padres the rest of the way.

Matt Potter dealin' for Basha

Mountain Point used a four-run first inning and a seven-run fourth along with three home runs to run away from Chaparral, 14-7, Friday in a
Scottsdale Invitational Tournament game at Mountain Point. Josh Alexander, Joey Rocha and Nick Mancuso all drove in runs in the first for the Pride, who then put it away in the fourth with a two-out rally powered by a pair of three-run homers by Kevin Kron and Jordan Kipper. Alexander also homered for Mountain Pointe.
Jake Waldron kept the Firebirds at bay with effective pitching through the top of the fourth, when James McDonald and Jack Diamond reached on hits and Trey Ford walked setting the stage for a two-run, two out single up the middle by Blake Spiekerman. Chaparral made it respectable with four runs in the fifth, with Ford driving in a pair with a sharp single to the gap in right-center.
Nick Mancuso, who drove in three runs with a double and a single, and Alexander, each had three hits and 3 RBIs for Mountain Point. Ford, who drove in three runs and had a double, McDonald, and Jack Diamond had two hits each for Chaparral.

O'Connor beat Deer Valley 2-0 in a pitchers duel. Kyle Slattery (Boomer) threw 5 innings allowing no runs and striking out 3. Boomer was relieved by Aaron Copfer for the final two innings picking up the save. Chris Capper was equally impressive striking out 11. Devin Turner hit a two run dinger in the first inning for the only two runs of the game.

March 5, 2009

Saguaro 1-0-0-2-1-1-3 = 8 R / 11 H / 2 E
Coronado 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 = 0 R / 3 H / 3 E

Kurt Jahnke pitched a 3 hit complete shutout against Coronado. Josh Chapman was 2-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored. Ryan Comford and Chase Watts each had multiple hits for Saguaro including a double each for the sluggers. Saguaro strung together multiple hits in the 1, 4, 6 and 7th innings with Wes Smith driving in the winning run in the first inning. Saguaro turned 2 double plays in the game. Tim Stempkowski recorded the loss for Coronado. Stempkowski, Alfaro and Dickerson each had 1 hit for Coronado.

Valley Vista lefthander Chris Welch won his second game in as many starts scattering 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 earned run in a complete game 4 to 2 victory over the Sunnyslope Vikings. With was was becoming a pitchers dual and V V down 1 to 0 in the bottom of the 5th, Monsoon ss Carlos Murrieta hit a two out two strike double to right field scoring the runner from second to tie the game after 5. After holding the Vikings scoreless in the top of the 6th and with the bases loaded and 1 out V V leftfielder Damon Antillon executed a perfect squeeze bunt scoring catcher Arron Burchette from third with the go ahead run. The Monsoon added two more runs to take a 4 to 1 lead into the top of the 7th. Sunnslope would battle back in the top of the 7th with 2 outs and bases empty the Vikings put together back to back hits to close the gap to two. V V pitcher Welch with a runner on second induced the next Viking batter into a ground ball to SS for the
third out and a final score of 4-2.

O'Connor got their first win today 6-2 over Greenway Bryce Keffeler was the winning pitcher going 4 innings. Tyler Doolittle picked up a 3 inning save. Wes Sutton, Colton Avery, and Aaron Copfer both had two hits. Doolittle had an RBI single in the first. The rest of the scoring took place in the 4th inning three straight bunt hits and a 2 RBI double by Cody Kimes led to a 5 run 4th.

 The Bulldogs of Queen Creek won a non region battle at Apache Junction by the score of 11-7. Back to Back jacks in the 1st inning by Eddie Malone and Alonzo Martin set the pace in this game. Sophomore Kyle Wallace picked up the win in relief. Malone and Josh Fultz each had 3 hits apiece, with Eddie (2B, HR) knocking in 4 and Fultz knocking in 2. Shelton VanAllen (2B) also had 2 hits and 2 RBI.

Pinnacle improved to 5-1 with at 9-2 win over Trevor Browne on Wednesday. Pinnacle’s Justin Walker got the win pitching 6 innings with 8 Ks. For Pinnacle Eric Gauer, Marcus Jensen, Ashton McCoy and Justin Winters all had multiple hits with McCoy and Winters both picking up Jacks (Winters has homered in 4 straight games).

Yesterday, Pinnacle beat Boulder Creek 5-4 and improved to 6-1 overall. Matt McAllister went the distance for Pinnacle scattering 5 hits over 7 innings with 7 Ks. Pinnacle’s Jake Peevyhouse had multiple hits. Ashton McCoy and Justin Winters both went deep again doing it in consecutive games; the two 5^th inning jacks gave Pinnacle enough room to hold on for the win. Justin Winters has now homered in 5 straight games. Boulder Creek pitcher Bryan Word takes the loss with Jon Pawling picking up multiple hits.

Ash McCoy and Justin Winters

Horizon's Joey Danner held Sunrise Mountain in check for 5 innings allowing only 3 hits and no runs. Sunrise Mtns David Hall scattered 6 hits over 4 innings allowing 3 runs. Then things got interesting in the 6th inning. Horizon went to the bullpen and after 2 walks and an error the score was 3-2 Horizon with only 1 out in the bottom of the 6th. After another walk and a base hit by Vince Gillies the bases were loaded for Grady Oulton who took a 3-2 pitch deep over the left field fence for a grand slam. Sunrise Mtn sophomore Steven Kane pitched a perfect 7th to close out the game and seal the exciting victory for the Mustangs.

David Hall delivers for Sunrise (L) Grady Oulton slams the game winner

Corona Del Sol got homers from Trever Allen and Kirby Pellant as part of a 10 run 1st inning en route to a 19-1 victory over Central. Sophomore Tyler Garcia got the win with relief from Brian Kent.

Tyler Kem tossed a complete game and knocked in  3 runs as Hamilton dropped Cesar Chavez 7-3. Manuel Mancilla had 3 doubles and Justin Rosales homered for the Huskies.

Kenny Sigman got the win on the hill as Tucson High beat Basha 7-3. Allen Garcia homered for Tucson.

In Cactus Classic Pool Play From Tucson:

Ironwood Ridge defeated Cholla 12-1 in 5 innings. Brandon Matthews went the distance for the Nighthawks yielding only 2 hits for the victory. Ironwood Ridge pounded out 12 hits . Alex Worden tripled and Kyle Kilgore homered for the Nighthawks in the victory.

CDO opened the season with a 14-0, 5 inning victory over Douglas. Senior Doug Steele went the distance on the mound with a 1-hitter and doubled at the plate along with battery mate Corey Fujimoto who also doubled. As expected, Ryan Retz hit his 1st HR of the year.

El Paso Riverside defeated Amphi 11-4. Amphi had 9 hits and Riverside had 10, but Amphi committed 7 errors to give the game away.

Sunnyside defeated Palo Verde 9-4 (No Stats available)

Catalina Foothills defeated El Paso Eastwood 12-3. (No stats available)

Pool play continues Friday

In other Tucson Games Thursday

Pueblo shutout Sabino 3-0 with Robert Ravago going the distance for his second win of the season for Pueblo.

Sahuarita defeated Valley Union  7-5 

 Goldwater defeated South Mountain yesterday 11-2. Sophomore Matt Gustafson pitched 6 innings giving up only two runs. Gustafson also was two for three at the plate hitting a 2-run shot in the bottom of the first. Also having a 2-hit game was Cole Smith with a single and a double.
 

March 4, 2009

Goldwater's Bennett Schiltz won his fourth game this season throwing a complete game, scattering 4 runs. Corey Stone led the Bulldogs offensively going 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Highland beat Desert Ridge 6-4 Wednesday. James Pazos pitched 3 innings allowing only one run and escaping a bases loaded situation with one out by getting back to back strike outs. Highland was lead by Jeremy Blare who had 2 hits 1 RBI, Jaime Garrido and Max Rossiter also had 1 hit and an RBI. Desert Ridge was lead by Jerry Kleman who was 3-3 with a 2B and 2 RBI's and Travis Flores who was 2-3 with a HR. The two teams meet again Tuesday at Highland with power points on the line.

Mesa couldn't overcome an early 5-0 deficit to the powerful Desert Mountain offense losing 11-9. Matt Petello led the way for the Wolves, going 3 for 5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI's. Also contributing for DM was Lance Harper who was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's, Michael Janikis was 2 for 3 and
Cameron Teich was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI's. Teich also came on in the 7th to pick up the save. For the Jackrabbits, they battled and never
quite just coming up short. Quinton Perry had a big day at the plate with a 3 for 3 day, a Double and a HR and 3 RBI's, Ryan Coffelt(2 RBI's) and  Jordan Adair(2 for 4, 2 RBI's) also went deep for Mesa.
 

Chris Wert gets the sign as Lance Harper serves on into left field

Ryan Coffelt goes deep (L) Brian Foster on the hill for DM

Josh Dahl tossed 3 innings of hitless ball as Deer Valley dropped Central 12-1 in 5 innings. Dahl also cranked a 3 run blast and Andrew Kinsley went deep in his first varsity at bat.

Mtn Ridge beat Ironwood by the score of 10-1. This is the third game in a row that Ridge has scored double digit runs. They were led at the plate by Travis Hutchinson and Tanner Murphy who had 3 hits each. Parker Markel made his first start of the year throwing 5 innings striking out 6 and not allowing an earned run. Ryan Freberg came on to finish the game throwing 2 scoreless innings. Mikey Reynolds and Cody Gray both had a multiple hit games. Mtn Ridge takes on Corona Del Sol this friday at Corona.

On Tuesday Washington used a strong pitching performance from Angel Velasquez and timely hitting to beat Thunderbird in their season opener 5-3. Velasquez went the distance allowing 3 runs on just six hits.

The Flagstaff Eagles showed no ill effects from being locked up inside due to snow for the last month as they used 10 hits, 3 bombs and 13 runs to beat Thunderbird on Wednesday 13-9. Flagstaff improved to 2-0 after defeating Shadow Mtn. on Tuesday and Thunderbird dropped to 0-2.

Mountain Pointe dropped Gilbert 6-5 with Jordan Kipper picking up the win in relief of Joey Rocha. Kipper entered in the 2nd inning and tossed 5 scoreless innings. Josh Alexander was 3-4 with 2 RBIs, Ryan Klem homered and knocked in a  pair and Tyler Studt's 2 RBI triple in the 6th proved to be the game winner. For Gilbert, Tyler Kamtz and DJ Peterson both launched scuds.

March 4, 2009

Sunrise Mountain got its first victory of the season and an important one in a non-conference match up Tuesday afternoon at Deer Valley. The first 4 innings of the game were basically dominated by both pitchers as Jacob Doyle (Deer Valley)struck out 6 batters and Tyler Crawford (Sunrise Mtn) hadn't allowed a hit. That would continue for Sunrise Mtns Tyler Crawford as he would throw a complete game no hitter with the only real threat coming in the bottom of the 6th when two walks and an error would load the bases for Deer Valley but Crawford was able to get Daniel Schneider to pop out to center field to get out the the jam. Sunrise Mountain scored all three of its runs in the top of the 5th inning with two outs. Drew Wolff hit a double followed by a Crawford single to score Wolff, Danny Schlief doubled in Crawford and after and error at short Schlief scored to make it 3-0. Tyler Crawford's no- hitter was the 2nd no hitter in 2 years as Jaff Decker no hit Deer Valley last season at this time.

Notre Dame 8 Arcadia 4
Jordan Luvisi picked up the opening day win with 4 innings of solid work allowing 1 hit and 1 unearned run.Drew Ozanne had a huge day at the plate going 4-4 including a solo homerun.Andy Wilder had 2 hits,Taylor Scott added a big 2 out hit driving in a pair and Matt Ozanne joined his brothers hitting parade with a 2 run homer for the Saints. In the 6th inning Arcadia pulled to within 5-4 by erupting for 3 homeruns off the Saints middle relief as Hank Yates, Joey Demichele and Quaid Mckinnon went deep. The Saints added 3 insurance runs in the 7th inning and Nick Barber recorded his first save closing out the game with a scoreless inning of relief.

Copper Canyon 0-0-0-0-0 = 0 R / 2 H / 2 E
Saguaro HS 7-0-1-3 = 11R / 11H / 0E

Dylan Beam pitched a complete game 2 hit shutout against Copper Canyon.
Saguaro batted around in the bottom of the first inning sending 11 batters to the plate, and scoring 7 including a 3 RBI triple for freshman Zach
Gibbons. Rudy Gutierrez pitched 3 innings for Copper Canyon and was relieved by Ramon Del Sol. Saguaro greeting the pitching change with 4 consecutive base hits, bringing 8 batters to the plate and scoring 3.
Top batters for Saguaro Zach Gibbons 3-4, 3-B, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored, Wes Smith was 2-3 2-B, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Alex Gutierrez was 1-2 with a 2B and a walk for Copper Canyon. His brother Rudy was 1-1 with a walk.
Pitchers: Saguaro - Dylan Beam - 5 innings, Catcher - Wes Smith. Copper Canyon - Alex Gutierrez 3 innings, Ramon Del sol 1 inning, Catcher - Hernandez.

Marcos de Niza overcame a fine outing by Zach Davies on Tuesday, winning 5-4.Davies gave up 3 runs through 5 innings and hit a lead-off homer in the 5th.MdN was led by Andy Swan's 3 hits,including a triple in the 1st.Mike Kenneth chipped in with 2 hits and 2 runs scored and Kyle Becerra drove home the winning runs in the 5th with a single to right.Brian King threw 5 strong innings and Kenneth (4-0) closed out the game for the Padres.

Zach Davies (L) and Brian King squared off on Tuesday at Marcos

March  3, 2009

Pinnacle beat Brophy 16-0 in 5 innings in the final game of the tournament. Steve Casey (Sophomore) went the distance for Pinnacle throwing a 2 hit shutout. Casey was backed by stellar defensive play by Ashton McCoy, Marcus Jensen, Alex Real and Ryan Plantier. Sean Maxon took the loss for Brophy. Pinnacle continues to hit well up and down the lineup and picked up another 5 jacks in the game. Justin Winters, Alex Real, Marcus Jensen and T C Mark all left the yard with Mark going 4 for 4 with 2 jacks. Hats off to Brophy for putting on another quality tournament.

Basha went 5-0 in the Phoenix Union Tournament. Leading hitters for the tourney for were Colby Keicher 6-9 , Josh Melendez 9-14 6 rbi's 1hr, Trever Plautz 7-12,  and Jared McLaughlin had 4 hits including a hr.
Winning pitchers for the tourney were Val Galvan, Brent Hendy, Colby Keicher, and Matt Potter, who also had a save.

Desert Ridge beat Chandler 10-5 Monday at Chandler High. Desert Ridge was lead offensively by Jake Barrett who was 3-4 with his 3rd 3run HR of the season. Travis Flores was 2-2 with a double, and Scotty Hoffman came off the bench for a big 2run single. Desert Ridge received solid pitching from senior Zack Odom, sophomore Xavier Sotello, and closer Alex Villar.

Mesa got a complete game 5 hitter and 2 hits and an RBI out of Senior Ryan Downs to help them outlast Highland 2 -1. Downs was outstanding on the hill and at the plate, not allowing an earned run and going 2 for 3 with a triple. Matt Delgado contributed the go ahead sacrifice fly in the 4th.
The win marks the 4th straight game the Jackrabbits have played that was decided by 1 run. Jarod Carter and Tyler Wilson combined to give up 5 hits over 7 innings for Highland and Jaime Garrido was 2 for 2 with double.

The Queen Creek Bulldogs opened their 2009 season with an 8-0 win at home over Sinagua High School. The Bulldogs rode the right arm of Junior righty, Matt Schmit. Matt went 5 2/3 innings for the win and struck out 8 while only giving up 3 hits and 2 walks. Sophomore lefty, Dillon Freeman did the rest of the work while surrendering only 1 hit. Creek pounded out 6 extra base hits and 11 overall. Leading the way with two hits apiece were Pierce Arnett, Shelton VanAllen, Alonzo Martin and Jackson Wodiuk.

Senior Trey Ford and Junior Aaron Levy provided strength in the middle of the Chaparral batting order Monday in the form of four hits and nine RBIs to lead the Firebirds to their first victory of the season, 14-3 over visiting Sunrise Mountain.

Ford, the cleanup hitter, had two hits in two at bats, including a three-run double to drive in a total of four runs. He was good enough to compel Sunrise Mountain to walk him intentionally in Chaparral's six-run third inning to bring up Levy with the bases loaded. Levy responded with a grand slam to the deepest part of the park 390-feet away to end any remaining suspense. Levy also had another hit and five total RBIs.

Chaparral scored in the first on Ford's RBI single to drive in Joel Hayden and followed it up with seven more in the second with hits throughout the lineup. Sophomores Joey Bielek and Jordie Hein also had two hits apiece for Chaparral. Bielek had a double and Hein a triple.

Konner Wade and Will Abram, both juniors, and senior Oliver Craig, combined for the victory, which followed two tough one-run losses for the Firebirds against Gilbert and Horizon. Chaparral, now 1-2, continues play in the Scottsdale Invitational Tournament on Wednesday at Mesquite.

Zack Davies went deep twice, including a grand slam that broke a 5-5 tie and sent Mesquite to a 9-8 win over Gilbert. Davies drove in 7 runs. Freshman Garrett Jeffries got the win for Mesquite. Cody Repenning homered for Gilbert.

Desert Mountain, trailing 4-1, exploded for an 11 run third inning and cruised in with a 14-7 win against Saguaro. Adam Sonabend was 3-3 with a homer and 3 RBIs, Taylor Lindsey was 2-3 with a triple and 3 RBIs, and Lance Harper added a a pair of hits. Ryan Comford, Kyle Young, and Tucker Frazier all homered and had 2 hits for Saguaro.

DM's Adam Sonabend connects (L) while Kurt Jahnke corrals a throw for Saguaro

Joey Rocha cranked a 3 run blast to lead Mountain Pointe over Horizon. Jake Dziubczynski got the win on the mound with relief help from Josh Alexander. Brandon Snyder went deep for Horizon.

Jake Dziubczynski on the bump for Pointe

March 1, 2009

Marcos de Niza completed their 6 game run in the Universal Athletic Supply Tournament Saturday night with a 12-10 win over Ironwood High School in the Championship game.The game was capped by a walk-off 3 run blast in the bottom of the 7th by senior Casey Maloney.Mike Kenneth pitched a solid last two innings to record his 3rd win of the tournament.Kenneth also added a solo homer in the first.Jeff Anderson,Max Sankey,Andy Swan,Maloney and Kenneth had two hits for the 6-0 Padres.Eight different Padres have homered in the first six games.

In the early game,MdN defeated Tucson Rincon 10-6.Jr. Bias Alvarez threw 4 scoreless innings and Jr. Garrett Taggart finished off the game strong.Jr. Zach Schirra homered for the Padres,his 3rd of the tournament. Phil Timm and Jr. Kendall Konopka had 3 hits in the contest.

Mountain Ridge came away with two wins this weekend. On Friday they played Sandra Day Oconnor, Ridge beat Oconnor by the score of 13-3. Austin Buelow led the way on the mound pitching a complete game with no walks. Mike Reynolds led the ridge attack going 4-4 with 2 doubles. Ryan Freberg,Ryan Skube and Cody Gray homered for the Mountain Lions. Brett Wilkey, Tanner Murphy and Travis Hutchinson also had multiple hits. Devon Turner went 2-3 for the Eagles with a solo home run in the first.

Mike Reynolds connects for Ridge as Chris Capper deals

Corona del Sol defeated Deer Valley 5-4 in an 8 inning duel this Friday to kick off the Aztec invitational. Senior Brock Abbadini Started for the Aztecs, while Josh Dahl took the mound for the Sky Hawks. Tanner Tripp came in relief for the Aztecs throwing 4 scoreless innings to keep the Hawks at 4. Mike Felton finished it off for the Save. Evan Ritchie led the bats for the Aztecs going two for 3 with 2 RBI's. Both Greg Ryan and Trevor Allen had two hits for the Aztecs as well. For the Hawks Chris Capper went deep to left. Jacob Doyle also had two hits on the day.

"Rocket" Ryan Moore bounces off second for Corona (L) while SDO's Rueben Torres backhands the throw

On Saturday the Aztecs defeated O'Connor 11-3 using 4 pitchers. Mike Felton was 3-4 with a triple and 3 RBIs.

Despite two 2-run home runs by Kofa's Sergio Sanchez and a solo shot by teammate Jared Helms , North Canyon powered past the Kofa Kings 12-10 on Saturday at Brophy. Led by Senior Matt Rosowitz (3 for 4, 2 doubles, triple, 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored) and Sophomore Dominic Portocarrero (3 for 4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored), the Rattlers capitalized on a couple of late Kofa errors to cement the victory. Senior Damion Cons got the victory in relief. Kofa's Timmy Lee collected two hits.

On Friday, North Canyon Sophomore Dominic Portocarrero's 5th inning double ignited a four run outburst that broke up a pitcher's duel between Tucson Amphitheatre's Alan Sandoval and North Canyon Sophomore Andrew Felix. Three Amphitheatre runs in the top of the 6th inning tied things up at 4. North Canyon answered in the bottom of the 6th with seven runs in an 11-4 victory at North Canyon. Portocarrero finished the afternoon 3 for 4 with three doubles and 5 RBIs. Ralphie Delgado, Steven Brown and Alan Sandoval each collected two hits for Amphitheatre. Tony Spiesman notched the victory in relief for North Canyon.
 

Desert Ridge beat Mesa High in a close one 6-5 Saturday. Steven Bier drove in the go ahead run in the bottom of the 6th with a double to center. Travis Flores and Kyle Raidy each had a triples for desert Ridge. Mesa was ahead most of the game behind the pitching of Bryant King, unfortunately for Mesa he had to leave early with back pain. Dallin Parker had 3 hits and Ryan Downs had 2 for Mesa.

Hamilton outslugged Red Mountain at the Desert Vista tourney 13-12. Jorge Flores and Ryan Casillas had 3 run big flies for Hamilton. Cole Gleason was 3-5 with a bomb and 5 RBIs and Tyler Grant went deep as well.

Pinnacle beat Buena 17-6 in 6 innings. For Pinnacle T C Mark, Ryan Plantier, Connor Wessel, Michael Vaughn and Eric Gauer all had multiple hits with Justin Winters picking up another jack. Michael Vaughn (junior) ended the day 4 for 4 with a jack. Pinnacle plays Brophy on their field Monday night at 7:00 in the final game of this tournament. The Monday night game should be fun to watch as good pitching will meet up with good hitting in this early season match up.

Mingus played Perry in first game at McClintock Tourney. Sr. Trevor Sanderlein Started. He pitched 4 innings 5k with O runs scored. Tony Vocca went 3 for4 and Hunter Zwart and Shawn McCarty went 2 for 3. Mingus went on to win 6 to 4.

The Second game against Mc Clintock Tony Vocca got the start. He went 5 innings with 13k and 2 walks and giving up 2 hits for a 13 to 1 victory.

 Mingus 3rd game Saturday was against Williams- Field. Jr. Hunter Zwart got the start and pitched a complete game. 5 innings,5k's 2 walks giving up only 2 hits for a 13 to 0 victory. Mingus had 13 hits. Tony Vocca got his second triple for 3 more RBI's. Hunter Zwart, Shawn Mc Carty,Nick Alred and Todd Scalf all pitched in with RBI's. Mingus Starts 3-0 with the next game is against Agua Fria

Gilbert beat Sunrise Mountain 7-6 behind 5 home runs, including a pair by junior DJ Peterson. Colton Thompson got the start and threw well. Hunter Herdt earned the save.

Above From the DV tourney: Preston Jamison of Salpointe and Desert Vista's Trent Wilson deal while Shaun Chase scores for DV.

Mark Jarrett got the win as Red Mountain dropped Desert Vista 8-7