Gilbert BB beats Basha, waits for Division I playoff fate

April 24, 2012 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Did Gilbert High's win Tuesday night save its baseball season? Tiger fans won't know until Wednesday night.

Gilbert cranked out a 10-5  triumph over Basha on Senior Night at the Tigers' final regular-season game for 2011-2012. It leaves Gilbert with an 11-7 power-point game record. Early indications are the win probably earned it a spot at state.

Gilbert  was 22nd in the power-rankings prior to Tuesday night's game. The win vaulted them a handful of spots to a more comfortable, but still uneasy 20th. Four teams even or just behind Gilbert have one game left on their schedules on Wednesday -- Mesa Mountain View (11-6), Horizon (10-7), Desert Vista (11-6) and Cibola (11-6).

A late-season slide made the last two weeks anxious ones for Gilbert coach Matt Gutierrez. Gilbert had dropped three of its last four games, including contests to Pinnacle and Mesquite, who are headed for first-round state tournament byes.

"Our schedule was back-loaded," Gutierrez said. "We've had some tough games. We've been hitting the ball well, but  defense has let us down in a couple of those. Tonight was better. We got off to good start."

Actually, a great start. Gilbert put up six runs in the bottom of the first. The big blow was a three-run homer by shortstop Dustin Peterson -- just three batters into the game. Peterson finished with four RBIs. The Tigers sent 12 batters to the plate and collected seven hits in the inning. That served to knock out Basha starter Zach Torriente after 1/3 of an inning of work.

Gilbert totaled 16 hits to back six good innings from senior lefty Justin McAllister. McAllister labored a bit in a couple innings, but his offense restored what he gave up. McAllister allowed eight hits, walked five and struck out nine. Senior Taylor Stapley, who had three hits along with teammates Jack Zoellner and Jake Pettitt,  pitched the seventh and struck out the side to give the Tigers a win they had to have.

Along with teams just behind or even with Gilbert, 13 teams above the Tigers in the power rankings prior to Tuesday won on Tuesday (Pinnacle, Brophy, Chaparral, Mesquite, Desert Ridge, Hamilton, Trevor Browne, Valley Vista, Millennium, Tolleson, Red Mountain, Cienega and Centennial). Each of those teams has at least 11 wins. Mountain View, Desert Vista, Horizon and Cibola all can reach 12 wins if they prevail on Wednesday. Mountain View plays host to Skyline, Horizon is at Chaparral, Cibola is at home to Gila Ridge and Desert Vista takes on Westwood at HoHoKam Park in Mesa.