By Raymundo Frasquillo
JOSEPH CITY – Top-ranked Joseph City (12-3 seeding, 13.3017 rating) meets the Shane Dunagan-coached No. 8 Duncan Wildkats (12-5, minus 0.4064) on Wednesday, May 7. The pairing is for the second or quarterfinal round of the 1A state tourney.
The winner will be one of four teams advancing to the semifinals on Friday, May 9. The Phoenix Papago Softball Complex, 1802 N. 64th St., is the site with 4:30 p.m. starts. The championship game will be held in Arizona State University’s Farrington Stadium at 3 p.m. on May 12.
1A State Tourney Quarterfinals
The second or quarterfinal round of the 1A state tourney continues with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds at 4 p.m. on May 7.
Top-ranked Joseph City (12-3 seeding, 13.3017 rating) No. 1 hosts No. 8 Duncan (12-5, minus 0.4064), and No. 12 San Manuel (5-8, minus 5.1752) hosts Winkelman Hayden (6-10, minus 5.2440) No. 13 in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket has No. 3 Williams (10-6, 4.2450) hosting No. 6 Anthem Prep (12-3, 1.7370), and No. 2 Saint David (15-1, 9.7095) hosting No. 10 Ash Fork / Seligman (5-7, minus 3.5370) No. 10.
1A State Tourney Round 1
The first round of the 1A state tourney saw three upsets: the lower seed defeated the higher seeds, two in the upper bracket, and one in the lower bracket.
Top seed Joseph City shutout No. 16 Glendale Desert Heights Prep (6-7, 6.6604) 23-0 (5 inn), No. 8 Duncan defeated No. 9 Heber Mogollon (7-9, minus 1.3917) 13-7, No. 12 San Manuel upset No. 5 Bagdad (11-4, 3.0288) 18-14, and No. 13 Winkelman Hayden upset No. 4 Superior (14-2, 4.1509) 14-8.
The lower bracket had No. 3 Williams blanking No. 14 Kearny Ray (6-11, minus 5.4378) 10-0, No. 6 Anthem Prep eliminating No. 11 Wellton Antelope Union (10-6, minus 4.2294) 20-1 (5 inn), No. 10 Ash Fork / Seligman upsetting No. 7 Colorado City El Capitan / Fredonia (8-4, 0.2409) 16-4, and No. 2 Saint David ousting No. 15 Salome (6-7, minus 6.6396) 12-0.
1A State Final Rankings
The Class 1A final rankings for the top 16 of 27 teams as of 8 p.m. on April 29 were Joseph City (12-3 seeding, 13.3017 rating) No. 1, Saint David (15-1, 9.7095) No. 2, Williams (10-6, 4.2450) No. 3, Superior (14-2, 4.1509) No. 4, Bagdad (11-4, 3.0288) No. 5, Anthem Prep (12-3, 1.7370) No. 6, El Capitan / Fredonia (8-4, 0.2409) No. 7, and Duncan (12-5, minus 0.4064) No. 8.
Mogollon (7-9, minus 1.3917) was No. 9, Ash Fork / Seligman (5-7, minus 3.5370) No. 10, Antelope Union (10-6, minus 4.2294) No. 11, San Manuel (5-8, minus 5.1752) No. 12, Hayden (6-10, minus 5.2440) No. 13, Ray (6-11, minus 5.4378) No. 14, Salome (6-7, minus 6.6396) No. 15, and Desert Heights Prep (6-7, 6.6604) No. 16.
The initial rankings on April 2 were Saint David (7-1 seeding, 9.4081 rating) No. 1, Joseph City (5-1, 8.0617) No. 2, Bagdad (6-1, 7.1661) No. 3, Williams (5-2, 5.8755) No. 4, Duncan (4-1, 4.0840) No. 5, Hayden (5-2, 5.9600) No. 6, Superior (3-2, 2.5614) No. 7, and Salome (3-2, 1.9095) No. 8.
El Capitan / Fredonia (3-2, 1.7646) was No. 9, Fort Thomas (5-2, 1.6424) No. 10, Antelope Union (7-3, 1.4780) No. 11, Ash Fork / Seligman (1-1, 1.3432) No. 12, Anthem Prep (3-2, 1.3144) No. 13, Mayer (7-4, minus 1.5783) No. 14, Ray (3-4, minus 1.6119) No. 15, and San Manuel (2-4, minus 1.9402) No. 16.
Final rankings for the other four of six South Region member teams were Fort Thomas (8-10, minus 8.0414) No. 18, Valley Union (5-8, minus 10.8073) No. 20, San Simon (2-15, minus 20.9536) No. 22, and Sells Baboquivari (2-13, minus 22.3379) No. 24.
No. 1 Joseph City Wildcats (24-4 overall)
The Daniel Hutchens-coached 1A North Region Wildcats (24-4 overall, 12-3 seeding, 5-0 region for first of six) are averaging an 11-4 (301-104) score per game or a 7-run margin through 28 games.
Joseph City had seeding game wins over Colorado City El Capitan/Fredonia (13-1 in 5 inn, March 6), Saint Michael (16-1 in 5 inn, March 18), Fort Defiance Window Rock (12-2, March 19), Heber Mogollon (12-2 in 5 inn, March 25), Eagar Round Valley (13-5, March 27), Anthem Prep (16-1 in 4 inn, March 29), Holbrook (22-0 in 4 inn, April 3), Phoenix Christian (9-7, April 7), Saint Johns (12-3, April 10), Mayer (15-0), Williams (13-1 in 5 inn, April 24), and Ash Fork/Seligman (15-3, April 28) along with losses to Kingman Academy (6-8, March 29), Phoenix Horizon Honors (2-12, April 12), and Show Low (6-8, April 26).
Additionally, the Wildcats went 6-0 during their 3-day tourney and 5-1 during the 2-day Payson tourney. The wins were over Ganado (8-0 in 4 inn, March 6), El Capitan (13-1 in 5 inn, March 6), Many Farms (17-0 in 4 inn, March 7), Kingman (14-3 in 3 inn, March 7), Ganado (19-1 in 4 inn, March 8), Saint Johns (11-3, March 8), Payson (13-1 in 3 inn, March 21), Tucson Tanque Verde (6-3 in 4 inn, March 21), Queen Creek Crismon (7-6 in 5 inn), Benson (10-9 in 4 inn, March 22), and Show Low (11-9 in 6 inn, March 22) along with a loss to Sahuarita (0-9 in 4 inn, March 22).
The Wildcats have a 16-member team, with a roster of six seniors, seven juniors, and three sophomores. The roster includes seniors Jorja Hutchens (14), Gabby Jesmer (23), Samantha Jesmer (13), Staisha Murdock (7), April Neill (2), and Andrea Petersen (4); juniors Raylee Fish (20), Ryah Frost (5), McKenzie Jesmer (21), Amber Neill (11), Audrey Neill (10), Brooklyn Petersen (17), and Lorelai Sander (25); and sophomores Tori Beatty (24), Jackie Richards (1) and Shahzira Scoby (3).
Joseph City competes in the six-member 1A North Region with Ash Fork/Seligman, Colorado City, El Capitan/Fredonia, Mayer, Saint Michael, and Williams.
No. 9 Duncan Wildkats (14-6 overall)
The Shane Dunagan-coached 1A South Region Wildkats (14-6 overall, 12-5 seeding, 8-2 region for second of six) are averaging a 10-6 (202-121) score per game or a 4-run margin through 20 games.
Duncan has seeding game wins over Valley Union (21-4 in 6 inn, March 3), San Carlos (1-0, March 5), Pima (9-1, March 14), Baboquivari (11-1, March 24), Winkelman Hayden (16-1, March 26), San Simon (18-4, April 7), San Simon (17-2, April 14), Valley Union (13-0, April 15), Fort Thomas (11-6, April 17), San Carlos (22-4, April 18), Pima (13-2, April 23), Baboquivari (26-5, April 25), Fort Thomas (9-5, April 29) along with losses to along with losses to Superior (1-12 in 5 inn, March 10), Miami (3-16, April 4), New Mexico Lordsburg (7-18, April 8), Saint David (4-24, April 10), Kearny Ray (0-1, April 26), and Saint David (0-15, April 28).
The Wildkats have an 11-member roster, with five seniors, three juniors, two sophomores, and a freshman. The roster includes seniors Elizabeth Basteen (10), Kayla Contreras, Reymia Contreras (9), Echo Lane (6), and Shaylynn Rhoton (5); juniors Khloe Brown (7), Sierra Chamberlin (1), and Zoley Lane (11); sophomores Sofia Harris (4) and Paisley Patton (14); and freshman Jocelyn Palomino.
Duncan competed in the 6-member South Region with Elfrida Valley Union, Fort Thomas, Saint David, San Simon, and Sells Baboquivari.
1A South Region Final Standings
The 1A South Region final standings as of April 12 were Saint David (19-5 overall, 15-1 seeding, 10-0 region) first, Duncan (14-6, 12-5, 8-2) second, Fort Thomas (8-10, 6-4) third, Valley Union (5-8, 4-6) fourth, San Simon (2-15, 1-9) fifth, and Sells Baboquivari (2-13, 1-9) sixth.
