By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Christopher Aguallo-coached Morenci Wildcats (1-7 overall, 1-3 seeding, 0-0 region) head to 2A North Region Eagar Round Valley (7-1, 4-0, 0-0) on Wednesday, March 18. The pairing will have a 2 p.m. start.
This week (March 16-21):
This week in the 2A South Region, Desert Christian hosts 2A Central Region Phoenix Christian on Monday, March 16; Saint Augustine visits 1A East Region San Manuel, Willcox visits 3A South Region Safford, Bisbee visits 1A South Region Elfrida Valley Union, San Miguel hosts 3A South Region Palo Verde Magnet, and Morenci hosts 2A North Region Saint Johns on Tuesday, March 17; Morenci visits 2A North Region Eagar Round Valley on Wednesday, March 18; Bisbee visits 1A South Region Saint David on Thursday, March 19; Saint Augustine visits 2A East Region Chandler Prep, Tombstone hosts Desert Christian, and San Miguel hosts 1A East Region Kearny Ray on Friday, March 20; and Benson will participate in the 5-day, 28-team SalpointeCatholic tourney on March 16-20.
Desert Christian succumbed 0-17 to Phoenix Christian and Benson 0-10 to Vail Mica Mountain on March 16, and Morenci defeated Saint Johns 13-6 on March 17.
The 2A East Region member pairings include Miami visiting Lincoln Prep on March 16; San Tan Charter visiting 2A Wrest Region Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic, Miami hosting 1A East Region Superior, and San Carlos visiting 1A East Region Kearny Ray on March 17; Chandler Prep visiting 2A Valley Region Eloy Santa Cruz on March 18; San Tan Charter hosting 2A Valley Region Phoenix Horizon Honors, Lincoln Prep hosting 2A Central Region Phoenix Christian, and San Carlos hosting 3A South Region Tucson Palo Verde Magnet on March 19; Chandler Prep hosting 2A South Region Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic and Pima hosting Horizon Honors on March 20; and Miami heading to the 2-day, 10-team Show Low tourney on March 20-21.
Miami downed Chandler Lincoln Prep 10-3 on March 16.
2A South Region Standings
The South Region standings on March 17 had Benson (6-3-1 overall, 5-0 seeding, 0-0 region), Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (2-7, 2-3, 0-0), Tombstone (5-7, 2-2, 0-0), Willcox (7-4, 2-2, 0-0), Tucson Desert Christian (2-7, 2-4, 0-0), Bisbee (4-2, 1-1, 0-0), Tucson San Miguel Catholic (1-5, 0-3, 0-0), Morenci (1-7, 1-3, 0-0), and Tucson Santa Rita (0-0, 0-0, 0-0).
2A East Region Standings
The East Region standings on March 17 had Miami (4-6 overall, 2-4 seeding, 1-0 region), Gilbert San Tan Charter (3-0, 3-0, 0-0), Chandler Prep (4-0, 2-0, 0-0), Pima (5-5, 2-1, 0-0), Gilbert Classical (2-2, 2-2, 0-0), Chandler Lincoln Prep (1-4, 1-3, 0-1), and San Carlos (1-4, 1-4, 0-0).
To date in region pairings, it was Miami over Lincoln Prep (10-3, March 16).
Morenci – 12, Saint Johns – 6 (March 17)
Morenci snapped a 7-game losing streak with a 12-6 win over the visiting Saint Johns Redskins in Francis Waldorf Stadium on March 17.
Trailing 5-1 after 3 ½ innings, the Wildcats outscored the Redskins 11-1 over the ensuing three innings to secure their initial win in eight games.
Sophomore Arick Martinez singled on in the bottom of the fourth, a pair of walks loaded the bases, freshman Rhyler Wyatt’s single drove in a run, and successive ground outs cleared the bases (5-6).
Three consecutive fifth inning walks loaded the bases, a fourth walk to senior Manuel Medina drove in a run, and a Wyatt sacrifice fly scored a second run to give Morenci a 7-6 advantage.
Junior Matthew Aguilar singled on in the sixth, freshman Marcus Morgan singled, and junior Joel Baca was beaned to load the bases, Martinez singled in a run (8-6) to keep the bases loaded, sophomore Brennen Burkhead was walked to drive in a run (9-6) and keep the bases loaded, Manuel Medina drove in a run (10-6) on a walk and kept the bases loaded, and a Wyatt ground out allowed two more runs to score (12-6),
On the afternoon, Morenci batted .438 (7-16), made an error, and stranded eight runners compared to .296 (8-27), one error, and six runners left on by Saint Johns.
Wyatt (3 RBIs) and Martinez (RBI) both batted .667 (2-3), senior Jaymz Guzzo and Morgan both .333 (1-3), Aguilar .250 (1-4, double, RBI), Burkhead 0-1 (RBI), and Manuel Medina 0-1 (RBI).
On the mound, Martinez struck out eight, walked three, beaned one, and yielded eight hits while facing 31 batters during seven innings.
For Saint Johns, senior Treharn Platt batted 1.000 (3-3), senior Sam Winters (2-4) and freshman Brant Hammond (1-2) both .500, junior Gabe Castillo .333 (1-3), and senior Oscar Jaramillo .250 (1-4, triple).
Junior Kaden Waite, Platt, and Castillo combined their mound skills to strike out one, walk nine, bean five, and allow seven hits while facing 27 batters during six innings.
Santa Cruz – 15, Morenci – 4 (March 12)
The visiting Dust Devils went ahead to stay in the second inning with a walk, a pair of fielding errors, and a wild pitch allowing three runs to cross the plate before the third out was recorded.
Santa Cruz added three fourth inning runs, on a one-out walk and a two-out walk that both scored on a throwing error, and another two-out walk singled in by D. Ibarra. A fly out left two runners on.
A pair of fifth fielding errors along with a wild pitch yielded a run and a ground out added another run (11-3).
Four seventh inning runs, on a doubled runner, three consecutive walks drove in one, a single drove in another run, a beaned batter drove in a third run, and a fielder’s choice allowed the fourth run to score with two outs. An unassisted putout ended the scoring for the visitors.
Successive Morenci seventh inning singles along with a fielding error allowed the final run to score. A fly out, ground out, and strikeout ended the game.
The Dust Devils had gone ahead 3-0 following their initial at bat, junior Richard Reyes doubled on and scored on a wild pitch, junior Zeke Lopez was walked and driven in by a bases loaded sophomore Matthew Montijo walk, and junior Nathan Ruiz reached first on an outfield error and was driven in on sophomore GabeOlveda’s sacrifice fly. A strikeout left two runners on.
After the first complete inning of play, the score was tied 3-3. Morenci did so on three unearned runs as senior lead-off batter Jaymz Guzzo was beaned to get on and came in on a wild pitch, junior Matthew Aguilar got a base on balls, and senior Anthony Roybal also drew a walk and scored on a throwing error. A pair of one-out strikeouts stranded a lone runner.
For the game, Morenci batted .167 (4-24), committed 10 errors, and left six runners on while Santa Cruz batted .172 (5-29), made six errors, and stranded 11 runners.
Wyatt and Nathan Medina both batted .667 (2-3).
On the mound, starter Aguilar struck out three, walked five, beaned one, and yielded two hits while facing 20 batters during three innings. Reliever Guzzo struck out two, walked six, beaned one, and allowed three hits while facing 27 batters during four innings.
For Santa Cruz, Reyes batted .333 (1-3, double), Ruiz 1-4 (double), Olvedo 1-4 (2 RBIs), and senior MalteJasper 1-4 (2 RBIs) .250 (1-4) apiece, and Lopez .200 (1-5).
On the mound, a trio of pitchers combined to strikeout 11, walk two, bean two, allow two hits, and yielded a sacrifice while facing 31 batters during seven innings.
