May 17, 2007

The Arizona Baseball Coaches Association has announced its All State teams. Here are the 5A and 4A selections

5A Conference
Player of the Year -Tim Alderson (Horizon)
Coach of the Year - Jeff Baumgartner (Sandra Day O'Connor)

Field of the Year - Paradise Valley
Most Improved Field of the Year - Boulder Creek 

4A Conference
Player of the Year - Jake Schlander (Chaparral)
Coach of the Year - Todd Naskedov (Amphitheater)

Field of the Year - Chaparral
Most Improved Field of the Year - Sunnyslope

Congratulations to Central Arizona College, who won the Region I Championship Friday sweeping Cochise in a best of three series. The Vaqueros advance to play the winner of the Region 9 and the Region 18 winner on May 17-19 in Colorado, with the winner moving on to the Division I World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. This is the sixth Region I Championship in the last nine years for Central Arizona.

Lets also give some props to Coach Ron Bergman and the Wickenberg Wranglers for coming out on top in the 3A State Tournament. This was the first year for Coach Bergman as head coach, but he has coached many of these players since little league. The Wranglers topped Holbrook 7-3 in the final on Saturday.

From the meaningless tidbits department: this marks the second year in a row that a first year coach hoisted the 3A trophy. Seton head man Jon Malgradi took home the hardware in his first season at the helm in 2006.

In other 3A news, Sahuarita head coach Brian Huie is stepping down and taking a teaching job with the new Rio Rico High School. He will continue to work as a scout with the Chicago White Sox and will remain as the Head Coach of the White Sox scout team in the fall. Brian is a big help to me with  southern Arizona players.

In 2A, it was refreshing to see a White Mountain area team claim the title as St. John's defeated Winkleman Hayden in the final.

In 1A, it was Superior winning the state title with a 6-3 win over Bagdad.

Horizon reclaimed the 5AI title from archrival Brophy with a 9-6 victory at Tempe Diablo. Tim Alderson tossed a complete game for the win, but the Broncs gave him all he could handle. Alderson was in trouble in first inning, in large part due to a pair of defensive miscues. With the bases loaded and one out, Josh Garcia lashed a foul ball laser beam shot over the foliage atop the left field berm. One pitch later Alderson K'ed him with low 90s cheese. In the 3rd, Horizon busted open a scoreless affair with 5 spot, courtesy of 3 hit batters and a 2 RBI knock by Steven Defreitas. Brophy would respond with a 3 run 4th inning, but the Huskies offense kept the pressure on. Brophy stater RJ Preach struggled with command and left the game after 2 1/3 innings. Alderson wasn't his sharpest, allowing 13 hits to a powerful Bronco lineup. Still, he battled when he had to and ended the evening with 13 Ks, many in critical situations. Joey Bristyan had a pair of hits and 3 RBIs for Horizon. Thomas Valenza had 2 knocks as well. For Brophy, Riccio Torrez and Evan White were both 3-4.

Marcos De Niza junior Alex Moreno cranked a solo shot in the top of the 8th inning to propel the padres to a 5-4 win and the 5AII title over Desert5 Mountain. Kyle Brule went the distance for MDN, allowing only four hits and striking out 10. He added a pair of hits and an RBI. Moreno, who was been absolutely wearing out local pitching for the past coupe of weeks, was 3-4 with 3 RBIs including the game wining homer. Jason Butler cam on in relief of Merrill Kelly in the 5th and was saddled with the loss.

In 4A1, McClintock had their backs to the wall on a pair of occasions, but came through at the end for a 9-8 1O inning victory over Tucson Sahuaro. The teams went into extra innings tied at 5 when the wackiness began. In the top of the 8th, Sahuaro pitcher Kyle Waddell led off with a base hit. The courtesy runner, Jeff Rainone, was promptly back picked at first by catcher Xorge Carillo, but Rainone broke straight for second and beat the throw. Alex ferguson followed with an RBI double down the left field line. In the Charger 8th with one out, Mark Anderson  reached with an infield hit to the hole deep at short. After Adam Foster flew out to left field,A wild pith would move Anderson to second. McClintock would send pinch hitter Kelly Kurzman to the plate as their last chance. Kurzman topped a routine grounder to second, but a brutally bad hop sent the ball over second baseman Dan Arrington's head and the game was tied. Sahuaro would tally twice more in their half of the ninth, and Waddell would go back out to try to close the deal again. Kyle Heckathorn would lead off with a single, bringing Jimmy Patterson to the dish. Patterson would crush a backspin line drive over the center field wall, mere feet away from a similar shot he'd  hit less than 24 hours before against Chaparral. In the bottom of 10, Heckathorn would drive in the game winner with a sac fly to claim the hardware. Mark Anderson relieved Heckathorn in the sixth and got the win.

Kyle Heckathorn (L) and McClintock claimed the 4AI title despite a gutsy performance by Kyle Waddell

Chris Gering just beats Andrew McKeever's tag as Mark Anderson gathers in a grounder

Coronado flexed some south Scottsdale muscle and laid out their neighbors to the north with a 20-8 hammering of Notre Dame Prep. The Dons would jump out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning and wouldn't stop there. After a 4 run second and a 2 run third inning, the Dons would hang a seven spot on the board in the 4th and this thing was over. To NDP's credit, they didn't quit, responding with six of their own in the 4th. But this was Coronado's day, led by Tyler Bair, who was 4-6  with 4 RBIs. Josh Arthur added 3 knocks and 3 RBIs. Notre Dame ace Craig Kinneberg started and got the loss, and the Saints ended up using 5 pitchers in the game. Bryan Dunlavey started and went 3 1/3 innings, Tyler Bair 2/3 of inning and Joe Teagen went 3.

Tyler Bair did it with the bat and the arm (L) as the Dons celebrate the 5AII crown

 McClintock Chargers ended the repeat hopes of Chaparral on Friday with a 9-4 victory, earning the Chargers a spot in the 4A1 final on Saturday. Jimmy Patterson proved to be too much on the mound and at the plate, as the senior tossed a complete game, allowing only 7 hits and keeping the Firebirds off balance all day. In addition, Patterson was 3-3 at the plate, with a game changing solo shot off the batter's eye When it appeared that Chap had the momentum on their side. The "birds battled back from an early 6-0 deficit to pull within two at 6-4. Patterson's sixth inning blast breathed new life into the Chargers, who added a pair of runs in the 7th to seal the deal .Chaparral went threw 5 pitchers on the night. Dan Milner was 3-4 for McClintock.

Jimmy Patterson grounds the 'birds (L) while Xorge Carrillo forces a runner at the plate

Pat McCoy was dominant as Tucson Sahuaro advanced to the 4AI title game with a 2-1 victory over Canyon Del Oro. McCoy struck out 10 en route to a 5 hitter.Matt Fierro had a solo shot to open the scoring for Sahuaro.

Notre Dame came off the mat late to beat Cactus Shadows 8-6 to advance to the 4A II championship game Saturday, 4pm at Maryvale.

Mike Greco led the Saints with 2 solo BOMBS and a double for 3 RBIs. Nick Sanich provided a huge 2 run single in the bottom of the 6th to put the Saints ahead for good. Other notables for the Saints were Torrey Jacoby 3-4 with 1 RBI, Sean Lafferty 2-4 1 RBI, Andy Wilder 2-3, and Drew Ozanne 1-3 with  1 RBI.

Kyle Conroy went 4 1/3 innings before leaving with the game tied at 5. Brandon Hirneise closed it out for the Saints, allowing only 1 hit and getting the win.

Mike Basco makes the throw for Shadows as Kyle Conroy deals for the Saints

Coronado made it an all Scottsdale final in 4AII with a 10-6 win over Cottonwood Mingus. Cody Fortney got the win in relief.  Tyler Bair homered twice for the Dons. Justin Laurent homered, tripled and knocked in 4 runs.

The 5A finals are set, with all four winner's bracket teams taking care of business in the early games and avoiding possible elimination matchups in the evening.

In 5A1, Brophy rode a five run 4th inning to a 7-4 victory over Chandler. Chandler led 2-0 going into the 4th, courtesy of doubles by starting pitcher Landis Ware and Kevin Hennessey in the first, and a solo shot by Jose (Hoser) Bracamonte in the third. Brophy had managed only 3 hits off  Ware through the first three innings. In the 4th, Riccio Torrez would be hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and a deep fly ball from Josh Garcia was misplayed in center for an error. Harlyn Griffiths would tie the game with a 2 RBI single. Three batters later with a man aboard, catcher Jordan Guida would crank a shot deep to left center for his first bomb of the year. Matt Newman tossed five innings for the win and got relief help from Matt Chaffee.

Brophy and Chandler shake hands after the Broncos 7-4 victory

At Tempe Diablo, Horizon broke up a scoreless affair with a six run fifth en route to a 6-2 win over Desert Vista. Kevin Rhoderick and Roy Metter went toe to toe through four. In the Horizon fifth, Derek Smiegel would be hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Brandon Snyder would single sharply to left. Rhoderick would then send a high chopper through the left side to load the bases. Joey Bristyan's attempted squeeze bunt went sharply back to Metter, whose throw home hit the sliding Smiegel and went back to the screen, scoring a pair of runs and leaving runners at second and third. Then came the key moment in the game. With first base open, needing a double play badly, DV elected to pitch to the best player on the field. Tim Alderson, with the baseball gods planted firmly by his side, would promptly tattoo a towering double off the top of the wall in left center, plating 2 more runs. He would score  moments later on a Steve Defreitas grounder through the middle and it was good night now.

Horizon and Brophy will tee it up in a rematch of last year's affair Saturday night at 8:00 at Diablo for the 5A1 title.

Roy Metter was solid for DV (L) but Kevin Rhoderick and Horizon advance

Derek Smiegel slides in with the game's first run (L) DV's Billy Bowler corrals a high hopper

In 5AII, Lars Liguori tripled and scored the game's only run on a Skylar Helmbeck sac fly, as Desert Mountain eliminated Sunrise Mountain 1-0. Left Brad Douthit outdueled Sunrise ace Jaff Decker for the win. Jason Butler came on to close the deal in the seventh. Sunrise appeared to have tied the game in the sixth when, with one out and Decker on third, Javi Molina would be called for interference on a double play turn at second and DM was awarded the inning ending twin killing.

At Maryvale, Shaun Deisler set the tone early with a 2 run tape measure shot in the first as Marcos De Niza prevailed over Deer Valley 9-3. Deisler's blast on a Josh Dahl curveball was a towering shot down the line in left, carrying over the berm, past the walk way and into the trees. Sirens wailed and women and children ran for cover. Padre junior righty Jacob Morales went the distance, allowing 8 hits. The Padres got multi hit games from Kyle Brule, Rudy Jaramillo, Billy Place and Doug Snover.

Marcos and Desert Mountain will play Saturday night at 8:00 at Maryvale for the state title in 5AII.

In 5A1 action:

Desert Vista continue their late season resurgence as the Thunder eliminated Gilbert 3-1 in an 11 inning pitchers duel. Sophomore righthander Trent Wilson went head to head with Tiger ace Devin Fuller for 10 innings before the pair sat down with the scored tied at 1. DV rallied in the top of the eleventh with a pair of runs courtesy of 4 consecutive base hits. Bub Delos closed the deal for the Thunder. Cole Pembroke had the hot stick, going 4-5 on the day while Andrew Allen chipped in 3 hits.

The Thunder face Horizon on Thursday at Tempe Diablo, needing to beat the Huskies twice to advance to the title game.

Trailing 1-0 in the fifth inning, Chandler's Landis Ware and Kevin Hennessey cranked back to back homers to give the Wolves a 3-1 lead en route to a 4-1 elimination win over Mountain View. Hennessey scattered 5 hits in a complete game performance on the mound.

Chandler sees Brophy on Thursday at Phoenix Muni needing to sweep a pair to advance to Saturday's action.

In 5A2, Sunrise Mountain scored a pair of runs late to eliminate Flowing Wells 11-9, setting up a Thursday rematch with Desert Mountain at Scottsdale Stadium.

Sandra Day O'Connor imploded defensively, and Deer Valley took advantage of every miscue en route to an 18-2 thrashing. With one out in the top of the first, Johnny Maldonado singled and the next four batters reached on 3 infield errors and a fly ball lost in the sun...voila 3-0 DV and the route was on. Big junior lefty Kevin Burbank went the distance, allowing only six hits for the Hawks. Maldonado, Josh Dahl and Dustin Grande each knocked in a pair of runs. DV faces Marcos De Niza Thursday at Maryvale needing a pair of wins.

In 4AI action, Chaparral scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take a wild 14-13 win over Agua Fria. Chap jumped out to an 8-3 second inning lead, bringing on Agua Fria ace Sammy Solis in relief. The Owls stormed back with 4 runs in  the third and 5 in the fifth to take a 12-8 advantage, but the Firebirds chipped away. Jake Schlander got the game winning knock in the ninth to score Chase Rose. Agua Fria catcher Roy Perez was a madman, homering 3 times for the Owls in the losing effort. Ernesto Ortiz had  a mammoth homer off Solis. Chaparral's Danny Coulombe was excellent in relief.

Senior lefty Kyle Heckathorn went the distance, allowing only 1 run on seven hits as the Chargers ousted a scrappy Prescott squad 7-1. With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the sixth, Heckathorn delivered an RBI single to ignite a 6 run 2 out rally that proved to be the difference. Dan Milner had 2 RBIs and Adam Foster was 3-4 for the Chargers.

Canyon Del Oro rallied from a 7-4  4th inning deficit to eliminate Amphitheater and advance to the semifinals with a 9-8 victory. CDO brought in  ace Rick Patton in the fourth inning with 2 on and 2 outs , and Amphi's Rafael Neda promptly greeted him with a 3run blast on the first pitch to give Amphi the 7-4 lead. Patton had thrown a complete game on Saturday but he was up to the task the rest of the way, holding the Panthers to only one run the rest of the way. Ray Nettling had  a  2 RBI double that keyed a 3 run 5th for the Dorados. Patton got out of a bases loaded pickle in the seventh to seal the deal. CDO faces Tucson Sahuaro on Friday in the semis.

Sahuaro advanced with a 13-3 mercy rule win over Ironwood Ridge. Pat McCoy homered and was 2-2.

In 4AII, Notre Dame beat Arcadia 12-7. Both teams showed signs of nerves in the first inning. Arcadia opened up with 5 runs in the first. Notre Dame answered with 6 runs in the bottom of the first. After that both teams settled down. Craig Kinneberg started for Notre Dame and only threw 1 inning before leaving with a pulled muscle in his back. Brandon Hirnise took over in the 2nd inning and was solid for the rest of the game getting the win, allowing only 2 runs, 1 earned, 6k's and 1 walk.

For Notre Dame, Nick Sanich was 3/4 with 4 rbi's, Matt Ozanne was 1/3, with a 3 run bomb and a sac fly for 4 rbi's, Sean Lafferty was 2/4 with 2 rbi's, Torrey Jacoby was 2/3 with 1 rbi, and Tony Piazza was 2/4 with 1 rbi to round out the scoring for the Saints

For Arcadia, Joey Demichele went 2/4 with a solo shot to tie the game at 6-6 and 2 rbi's.. Jack Regan was 2/2 with a walk and 2 rbi's. Chris Murphy was 2/4 with a double.

Notre Dame will face Cactus Shadows Friday at Phoenix Muni at 4pm to see who goes on to the championship game Saturday.

Coronado sent Queen Creek packing with a 9-4 victory. Tyler Bair went six innings for the win. Joey Jacobson was 3-4 for the Dons.

Cottonwood Mingus dropped Higley 5-4. The Knights mounted a charge in the top of the 7th but left runners at second and third to end the game. Justin McDavid had 2 hits and a pir of RBIs for Higley.

Mingus and Coronado will lace 'em up on Friday in the semifinals

As we prepare for the 4A and 5A playoffs to resume tomorrow here's a few observations.

The 4AI bracket was decimated with a big time upset of  #3 seeded Catalina Foothills by # 14 seed Prescott, and by the #4 seed Sabino drawing a first round matchup with a tough arm, Pat McCoy of Sahuaro. Not that we needed further evidence, but this is exactly why 4A must go to a double elimination format. Personally, I think Sabino had perhaps the top team in 4A1. They were hurt in power points by only playing 22 games in the regular season. For Foothills, this may have been their best chance to get over the hump that is Chaparral. The Prescott loss had to hurt.

So now the top of the bracket gets interesting. Amphi and CDO square off tomorrow, and both teams will be pulling for Ironwood Ridge to knock off Sahuaro to avoid seeing McCoy on Thursday. The Amphi/CDO winner can come back with Richie Sandoval or Rick Patton on Thursday.

On the bottom side, the big decision comes from Agua Fria, who must decide whether to try to run Sammy Solis back out after a reasonably heavy Saturday outing...the opponent is 4 time champ Chaparral, who eliminated the Owls a year ago.  McClintock appears to be the beneficiary of the Foothills loss as they play the # 14 seed Prescott, but the Foothills experience should serve as an example for the Chargers.

The 4AII matchups aren't quite as compelling to me. East Sky region foes Queen Creek and Coronado square off, as do Wells Fargo teams Sunnyslope and Cactus Shadows. Notre Dame draws Arcadia, and their pitching seems much deeper. Watch out for Mingus as a sleeper. The 3 seed Marauders  get Higley tomorrow and may be lining up for a run to the semis and perhaps beyond.

In 5AII, Sunrise Mountain used TJ Geith and Jaff Decker heavily on Saturday in the 16 inning marathon with Desert Mountain. Mike Barro tossed 2 innings and could conceivably go for at least awhile tomorrow. Woody Nisbett may be the man to start against Flowing Wells. A rematch with Desert Mountain is the prize that awaits.

O'Connor has the luxury of rolling out Maverick Lasker if they want to against Deer valley and bringing him back in the Saturday final if they get there. The Eagles have the most pitching depth in the bracket, with Nick Carrillo and Brian Carr yet to throw. Marcos de Niza awaits on Thursday.

 In 5AI, Brophy and Horizon are, predictably, perched atop their respective pools and waiting for Thursday matchups.

Gilbert can start Devin Fuller tomorrow against Desert Vista, who will probably go with sophomore Trent Wilson. The winner gets to try to knock off Horizon twice to reach the final on Saturday.

In pool B, a rematch of last weeks Chandler/ Mountain View clash will determine who gets to matchup with Brophy and win a pair.

In other words, anything other than a Brophy/Horizon final will be a huge surprise.

Skylar Helmbeck hooked a double into the left field corner to score Cameron Boysen and give Desert Mountain a  16 inning 4-3 win over Sunrise Mountain. 

It was an epic game. We laughed, we cried...we begged for a run to be scored as the hours dragged on. The drama was increased by the on field chippiness that reared its head early and lasted most of the game. In fact, the on field antics of several players will be hard for any evaluator who was in the park to forget.

Sunrise scratched an early second inning run off DM starter Merrill Kelly to take a 1-0 lead . Jason Butler knotted things up in the fourth with a solo blast high off the batter's eye in center.  In the fifth, Jaff Decker would launch a cannon shot onto the top of the berm in right to give the Mustangs a one run lead.

Decker would come in to relieve T.J. Geith in the sixth and the Wolves would tie the game when Mike Galterio doubled and scored on a wild pitch with 2 outs. Butler had replaced Kelly as well, and two of the state's top lefties went head to head for most of the rest of the evening.

Decker would score a go ahead run in the 10th after doubling and scoring on a base hit. In the bottom half, Matt Galterio doubled and reached third with two outs. Decker appeared on the verge of closing things out when a balk was called, scoring Galterio from third.

Decker was lifted in the 15th for Mike Barro, and Butler was relieved by Riley Welch in the 16th. The Mustangs would load the bases with one before Mike Marsillo came on to relieve Welch. Gilbert Galindo would send a medium depth fly ball to center, where Matt Galterio gathered it in and threw a strike to the plate to nail the tagging Ryan Oesterle.

The Wolves would end it in the bottom half of the inning.

Left to Right: DM's Merrill Kelly deals, Ryan Oesterle bounces off second and Mike Marsillo throws across the diamond

As the early game drama at Maryvale was playing out, the players, coaches, fans and families of Sandra day O'Connor and Marcos de Niza were forced to sit and wait for the marathon to end. After the almost five hour affair, the SDO/MDN clash started almost 2 hours late.

Luckily for the Marcos faithful, starter Kyle Brule brought the A game, and tossed a quick three hit shutout to send the Padres to a Thursday winner's bracket matchup. Michael Kenneth delivered 2 doubles for the Padres with the game winning RBI. Josh Moody went the distance for the Eagles striking out 11 Padres in the loss. Nick Carrillo had 2 of the 3 hits for the Eagles with a double. Brule allowed only one hit until the seventh and struck out six with only 2 walks. He got out of trouble in the seventh after a Zak MacPhee triple by picking the SDO shortstop off third with no one out.

Flowing Wells stayed alive in the loser's bracket of 5AII by smoking Desert Ridge 15-2.

Deer Valley eliminated Goldwater 3-2.

In 5AI, Horizon sent Desert Vista to the loser's bracket with a 4-2 victory. Kevin Rhoderick tossed a 3 hitter and had 2 hits for the Huskies. Derek Smiegel went oppo for a solo homer.

Brophy run ruled Mesa Mountain View 11-1 behind RJ Preach. Matt Newman , Evan White and Josh Garcia all had 2 hits.

Gilbert eliminated Mountain Pointe 14-5. Thomas Guttierez got the win on the mound with Jake Swift tossing 3 1/3 innings of impressive relief. Swift entered with the tying runs on in the fourth and got out of the jam before tossing 3 innings of shutout ball. Jake Corpron, Riley Hooks and Kenny Hatch all had 3 hits for the Tigers

Landis Ware scattered 4 hits as Chandler beat Mountain Ridge 2-0. Kevin Hennessey was 3-3 for Chandler.

In 4AI action, Agua Fria rallied late to defeat Millenium 9-6 . Mitch Wolfe delivered a bases loaded double for the game winner. Kenny Houser got the win in relief of Sammy Solis

Danny Peralta tries to lay one down as Sammy Solis works for the Owls

Millennium starter Bryan Poland was solid on Saturday

Tucson Sahuaro eliminated Sabino 7-3 with a strong effort by Pat McCoy on the hill.

Chaparral advanced with a 9-1 win over Apollo. Danny Coulombe got the win.

Tucson Ironwood Ridge upset 4th seeded Pinnacle 12-3.

Adam Foster's 3 run homer lifted McClintock to a 5-4 win over Nogales. Jimmy Patterson tossed a 5  hitter.

Canyon Del Oros' Rick Patton shut down Cactus with a 4 hit complete game as the Dorados advanced 5-1.

Prescott pulled off the upset of the day, sending  3rd seeded Catalina Foothills packing with a 7-6 victory.

Richie Sandoval tossed 5 shutout innings as top seeded Amphi cruised to a 7-0 win over Lake Havasu. Brothers Rafael and Ricardo Neda each homered.

In 5AII

Cactus Shadows won 13-5 over Page. Zach Pelfry threw a complete game with 6 strikeouts. Zach Wilhelmi was 3-4 with a double of the wall, 2 Homeruns and 8 RBI's. Chris Manship was 3 for 4 as well.

Notre Dame cruised 10-0 over Cortez as Kyle Conroy threw 4 innings of 2 hit ball.

Arcadia squeeked past Douglas 6-5.

Higley dropped Tucson Desert View 9-7.

Coronado creamed Coconino 22-5.

There was a full afternoon and evening of action around the valley yesterday with 8  elimination games in 5AI and 5AII.

In the 5AI loser's bracket, Chandler broke open a one run game with 6 runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 13-6 win over Mesquite. Mesquite pitchers helped the cause with 13 walks. Kevin Hennessey went the distance for Chandler. Landis Ware was 4-4 with 3 RBIs and Michael Handel was 3-4 for the Wolves. Casey Rana was 2 for 3, and Rocky High was 2 for 4 for the
Wildcats.

Jose Bracamonte takes a lead (L) as Kevin Hennessey gets the sign for Chandler

Mountain Ridge battled back from an early 5-0 deficit and eliminated Red Mountain 10-9. The Lions, trailing 9-4 at the time, hung a six spot on the board in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. Kenneth Schembari was solid in relief, tossing the final 3 innings for the win. Cameron Paschke, Ryan Cobb and Aaron Hines all had 2 hits. Dean Espy was 3-4 for RM.

Juuuust a little inside....Alex Schultz avoids an inside pitch for Red Mountain

Gilbert exploded for an 11 run 1st inning and cruised to a 14-4 win over Highland. Nolan Church was 3-4 with 4 RBIs to lead the attack.

Mountain Pointe ended Hamilton's season with a 5-4 victory at Diablo. CJ Cron went the distance for the Pride, allowing only 4 hits. David Darnell knocked in 3 runs and was 2-3. Jon Stitzinger was 2-3 with 2 steaks. Hamilton got a pair of 2 run bombs from Marco Mosquiera and Jake Saylor in the losing cause.

In 5AII

Jake Barrett tossed a 5 inning complete game 3 hit shutout as Desert Ridge sent Paradise Valley packing 11-0. Barrett also hammered a grand slam to complete the mercy rule victory. Ethan Chavez was 3-3 with 3 RBIs.

Big Jake Barrett dealin' for the Jags

Tucson Flowing Wells scored in the bottom of the seventh to eliminate Tolleson 4-3.

 Tolleson's Alfredo Guevara looks in for the sign 

Deer Valley defeated San Luis 4-2. Josh Dahl got the win for the Hawks.

Goldwater eliminated Centennial 7-4.

Chaparral came from behind to take the best two out of three in the Desert Sky tournament vs Pinnacle on Wednsday afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Chap got a run in the first and Pinnacle came back with four runs in the fourth inning. John Jones tied the score with an RBI single followed by RBI singles by Colin Lowe, Bryan Karraker and Ash McCoy.

Cody Yount started for Chap, Lowe for Pinnacle. Tyler Blanchard came in for Yount in the 6th and got himself out of a jam after singles by Ryan Makis and Danny Troup. Garrison Hensley, who relieved Lowe in the bottom of the fourth, took a line shot to the head from Ernesto Ortiz in the bottom of the sixth. Hensley came out and was replaced by soph Paul Peevyhouse. Hensley was taken to the hospital for a precautionary exam after the game.
Chap took the lead in the top of the 7th. In the bottom half with one out and the tying run on first, Jake Schlander picked off the runner and ended the game with a K.

Coronado took down Arcadia 13-4. Colby Eaton had a double, a homer and 5 RBIs for the Dons. Tyler Bair earned the win on the mound and was 2-3 with 2 runs knocked in.

Tim Alderson outdueled Devin Fuller in one of the best pitching match ups in recent memory as Horizon sent Gilbert to the losers bracket of the 5A1 tourney 3-0. Alderson, in typical workmanlike fashion, allowed only 2 hits while striking out 8 with no walks. Fuller tossed a 4 hitter with 10 Ks, but when the Huskies jumped out to an early 1-0 first inning lead on a Tucker Rbino RBI single and added another tally in the second, it didn't look good for the Tigers. Fuller fell victim to some shaky defensive play that contributed to all 3 runs. The game almost hit the official AZDR over/under of 1 hour and 40 minutes, but came in slightly over due to some 7th inning friendly conversation between the Gilbert coaching staff and the umpiring crew.

Kenny Hatcher turns it for Gilbert

Desert Vista appears to be getting hot at the right time, as the Thunder smoked Mountain Pointe 10-1. Sophomore Trent Wilson tossed a 2 hitter for DV who will meet Horizon on Thursday.

Brophy defeated Mountain Ridge 7-4 in the second round at Phoenix Muni. Matt Newman got the win with relief help from matt Chaffee. Brophy jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the thrid courtesy of a Josh Garcia double and RBI knocks by Evan White and Jordan Guida. Ridge finally got to Newman in the 4th, tying the score on five hits. In the bottom half of the inning, Harlyn Griffiths RBI broke the tie and proved to be the game winner.

The game was delayed for almost 30 minutes due to a serious injury suffered by Mountain Ridge catcher Mike Wales. On a play at the plate, Wales spun and reached out to tag Josh Garcia, and his glove arm took a serious hit. The early diagnosis was a broken humerus bone. Join me in wishing Mike a speedy recovery.

Brophy's Matt Chaffee

Mesa Mountain View's Russ Tuemmler keyed a 3 run fifth inning with a 2 RBI single to  vault the Toros to a 4-1 win over Chandler. Aaron Rhodes went the distance allowing only 8 hits. Jose Bracamonte was 3-4 for Chandler.

Hamilton Justin Lindsey allowed only 4 hits as the Huskies eliminated Alhambra 4-1 in a losers bracket game. Lindsey also homered and Jake Saylor had 2 RBIs.

Highland put an end to a great season at Corona del Sol with an 8-5 win over the Aztecs. Sophomore lefty James Pazos got the win for the Hawks. Philip Redfield, Jake Bowyer and Colton Zebe all had 2 hits for Highland.

Red Mountain eliminated Yuma Cibola as Mark Hawkenson tossed a 2 hitter.

Chris Jensen pitched a complete game improving his record to (8-3)as Mesquite sent Tucson High packing 7-2. Garrett Gale hit a 3 run home run in the first inning, his 6 of the year. Rocky high was 2 for 4 with a double for Mesquite. Mesquite  will play Chandler on Thursday.

In 5AII play:

Sandra day O'Connor won a second round playoff game over a stubborn San Luis team by the score of 9-5. Maverick Lasker was the starting pitcher and winning pitcher with relief from Josh Moody in the 7th. Lasker homered for the Eagles too. Brian Carr went 3-4 with two doubles for the Eagles, Ryan Skube went 2-3, Travis Lane 2-3. The Eagles take on Marcos de Niza on Saturday at 7:30 at Maryvale.

Marcos De Niza advanced with an 8-2 win over Goldwater. KC Boyles had a pair of doubles and 3 RBIs. Jacob Morales went the distance for the win.

Sunrise Mountain edged Desert Ridge 3-2. Mike Barro outdueled Ben Veach for the win. TJ Geith had a pair of doubles for Sunrise.

Desert Mountain laid the wood to Flowing Wells with a 12-1 pounding. Brad Douthit took the win with relief help from Jason Butler. Lars Liquori, Skylar Helmbeck, Jason Butler and Mike Galterio all had 2 hits for the Wolves.

Other scores:

Deer Valley 8 Kofa 2

Centennial 3 Peoria 1

Tolleson 4 Boulder Creek 3

Paradise Valley 14 Sunnyside 12

Chap's Casey Lytle slides in under Ash McCoy (L) as Brett Nicholas circles up for Pinnacle

Chaparral battled back from a 5-0 first inning deficit to take a 7-6 win over Pinnacle at Tempe Diablo. Casey Lytle scored the winning run on a Cody Yount infield chopper that was misplayed in the top of the seventh to break a 6-6 tie. Yount and Chase Rose were both 2-4 for the Firebirds. Garrison Henlsey and Justin Winters each had 2 knocks for Pinnacle. Zak Hayden got the win out of the bullpen with a very solid effort. This sets up a Wednesday meeting for the #1 seed in the 4A Desert Sky region

Royce Bollinger beats the throw to Garrison Hensley

Elsewhere in the Desert Sky, on Saturday McClintock defeated Thunderbird 4-0 in game 1 of their series.
Jimmy Patterson (8-3) threw a 3 hit shutout, striking out 9 (bringing his season total to 101 K's), while going 2 for 3 with a 2B. Daniel Milner and Xorge Carrillo both drove in runs with basehits.

On Monday, Kyle Heckathorn took a no-hitter into the 7th as McClintock beat Thunderbird 3-1.  Jimmy Patterson tripled in the first and scored on Xorge Carrillo's single to right. Eric Urry would knock in the second run with his single to center. Carrillo was 2-3, and Patterson was 1-2, with a triple and 2 walks.

Cortez edged Mohave 2-1, Rick Fee threw a complete game for Cortez and Mike King drove in the game winning run.