Don Ketchum
Former Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com

D-II baseball: First-round games offer evenly matched teams

May 2, 2014 by Don Ketchum, AZPreps365


The Division II baseball tournament gets under way on Saturday (May 3) with eight games.

The top eight teams in Arizona Interscholastic Association power points have received byes and will begin play on Tuesday (May 6).

They are No. 1 Phoenix Greenway, No. 2 Tucson Sahuaro, No. 3 Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain, No. 4 Nogales, No. 5 Cottonwood Mingus, No. 6 Flagstaff Coconino, No. 7 Buckeye Verrado and No. 8 Flagstaff.

Saturday’s games, all at 11 a.m. unless noted . . .

No. 17 San Luis (17-4) at No. 16 Douglas (16-10). These schools have fundamentally sound teams and are very competitive. The winner of this one gets the opportunity to see if it can knock off Greenway on Tuesday.

No. 24 Sierra Vista Buena (16-10) at No. 9 Tucson Sunnyside (18-9). Buena has two wins over Sunnyside this season. Can the Colts do it again? Sunnyside is led by third baseman-pitcher Jesus Bracamontes, who is hitting .400 with 29 RBIs. The winner gets a road trip to cool Flagstaff and will face Flagstaff High.

No. 21 Queen Creek (20-8) at No. 12 Yuma Gila Ridge (22-4). Pitcher-outfielder Josh Andrews leads the way for Queen Creek with a .424 average, 36 hits and 27 RBIs. Catcher Alfonso Barragan is among Gila Ridge’s top players with a .388 average, 26 hits and 25 RBIs. The winner travels to face Mingus.

No. 20 Gilbert Campo Verde (21-6) at No. 13 Phoenix Moon Valley (18-8). Campo Verde is building a strong foundation with players like catcher Dylan Rosoff. He is hitting .481 with seven homers and 32 RBIs. For Moon Valley, outfielder-pitcher Ryne Skeen and infielder-outfielder Cole Novak have combined for 59 RBIs. The winner travels to face Nogales.

No. 19 Vail Cienega (17-10) at No. 14 Tucson Catalina Foothills (20-6). Catalina has a 3-2 win over Cienega in its pocket and will try to come out on top again with center fielder-pitcher Luis Gonzalez as one of the top run-producers, with 27. The winner travels to face Bradshaw Mountain.

No. 22 Glendale Apollo (20-8) at No. 11 Cave Creek Cactus Shadows (18-10). These two teams played a wild one on April 19, with Cactus Shadows coming away with a 12-10 win, so expect more of the same here. Pitcher-outfielder Kyle Kleissle has 32 RBIs for Apollo. The winner travels to face Coconino.

No. 23 Tucson (22-9) at No. 10 Tucson Canyon del Oro (21-6). This should be another tight game like the one on April 19 in which Tucson had a 2-1 edge. CDO pitcher-outfielder Erick Migueles is one of the division’s top all-around players with a .500 average, 10 homers and 42 RBIs. The winner travels to face Verrado.

No. 18 Tucson Salpointe Catholic (21-7) at No. 13 Scottsdale Saguaro (22-7), 1 p.m. Versatile Marcus Catalano is all over the field for Salpointe and has 40 RBIs. Saguaro is led by catcher Brett Adams, who is hitting .486 with 34 hits, six homers and 29 RBIs. The winner travels to face Sahuaro.