No. 3 Salpointe beat No. 14 Boulder Creek 5-0 in the first round of the Division I Beach Volleyball playoffs on Wednesday. The Lancers will host No. 11 Mesquite in the quarterfinal round next Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 4:30 p.m.
April 26. That’s the official start of the baseball and softball playoffs but, for a few teams on the edge, the postseason started this week.
The final score might indicate football but that’s months away. No, we had a pair of top ten teams battling it out in 5A action Monday night with Ironwood Ridge coming back from a 7-1 deficit to defeat Mountain View Marana 14-8.
No. 3 Salpointe (10-1) and No. 6 Ironwood Ridge (10-2) are the Southern Arizona representatives to the Division I state tournament slated to begin on Wednesday, Apr. 19. Salpointe will host No. 14 Boulder Creek (6-5) at 4:30 p.m. and Ironwood Ridge will host No. 11 Mesquite (8-3) at 4 p.m.
SOFTBALL: Pusch Ridge beat Catalina, looking towards playoffs
Domination is winning a state championship 13 out of the last 17 years. Even better, the four “off” years for the girls of Catalina Foothills since 2000 included a third-place finish and three runner-up trophies. But, when you are used to being the last team standing, a runner-up finish is hard to accept.
Cienega went 5-0 to win the Salpointe Lancer Volleyball Invitational. The Bobcats dominated play, dropping only one set along the way, and that lone loss came in the championship match against Salpointe on Saturday afternoon.
Catalina Foothills scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, and had the tying run at the plate, but Sahuaro held on to defeat the Falcons 7-5 Friday night, one day after the Cougars built up a 10-1 lead at Buena, only to lose the game 11-10.
No. 7 Cienega held off No. 26 Marana Mountain View 5-0 on Thursday to keep pace with No. 10 Sahuaro in the 5A Southern Region standings.
Ironwood Ridge (10-1 overall, 8-0 in Section III), became playoff eligible for the first time in program history on Wednesday by virtue of competing in the 11th game of the year. The 5-0 win over section opponent Queen Creek (2-6, 2-5) also put in the Nighthawks in the driver’s seat for the section title.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Salpointe Lancer Invitational Schedule
Ian Mejia had been through 87 at bats in his high school career without a home run. Only a junior, the University of Arizona commit finally put one over the fence to help Sahuarita defeat Catalina 15-1 on Monday. Even better, it was a grand slam.
Sandy Novak will be exploring Europe in a few months. It’s a place she has never been. One of her former players has a temporary home in Germany and she offered her former coach a place to stay, a car and freedom to explore. Who could say no to freedom?
It’s been a roller coaster season all around but Sahuaro has taken over the top spot in Southern Arizona thanks to a 5-2 win over Ironwood Ridge on Thursday. The Cougars started the day ranked No. 1 in 5A action according to the AIA/MaxPreps rankings, thanks to an 8-6 win at No. 2 Cienega on Tuesday, but the team also has big losses to Canyon del Oro, Marana and Desert View on their record.
SPRING GOLF: State Tournament Picture
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Tucson outlasts CDO 3-2 (25-19, 25-10, 15-25, 19-25, 15-9)
BASEBALL: Chris Moon Memorial Baseball Tournament schedule
BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Macy Gordon and Cierra Flood win CatBox Classic
Pusch Ridge beat Ironwood Ridge 8-1 Thursday, two days after beating Salpointe 5-4. For the Lions, it appears to be business as usual.
Chris Moon was an All-State pitcher and outfielder from Tucson High who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2007 but he chose to stay home and play for the University Arizona instead but Moon, like Pat Tillman before him, felt a higher calling during his freshman year with the Wildcats and he left baseball and the obvious path to a promising professional career to join the military so he could serve our country.
Pitching, hitting and speed. Cienega appears to have everything clicking at this stage of the season and much of that progress was on display Tuesday at Salpointe when the Lancers beat the Bobcats 7-4 in an important nonconference game.
Willie Williams High School Invitational
March 15-18: UA Drachman Stadium
Tucson went 6-0 at the Badger Classic held at Cherry Field this past week to improve to 13-3 on the year. The Badgers beat Empire 7-4 on Saturday morning to advance to the title game later in the day where the team defeated Marana 16-6 in five innings.
The Plainsmen returned to Tucson this past week and left with a 4-1 record and an 8-4 championship over Scottsdale Saguaro Friday night. When the team bus rolls into Enid sometime Saturday afternoon, the Plainsmen will return with a 7-3 record and the hardware and bragging rights that goes along with winning a championship in one of the high school baseball capitals of the world.
The semifinals of the Lancer Baseball Classic are all set. Enid, Oklahoma will face Sunnyside in one semifinal and Salpointe will take on Saguaro in the other. The invitational is being played at the Reid Park Annex and will conclude on Friday night.
1910 articles by Andy Morales
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