Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: A padded backstop is placed before being secured. Morenci hosts Pima for a region contest on Wednesday, March 27. The first pitch is slated for 6 p.m. with a junior varsity game preceding at 4 p.m.
Seventh-ranked Roughriders face No. 12 Wildcats
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Christopher Aguallo-coached No. 12 Morenci Wildcats face the No. 7 Pima Roughriders on Wednesday, March 27. The baseball pairing is a region contest, pitting East No. 2 Pima (8-4-1 overall, 3-2 seeding, 3-1 region) at East No. 6 Morenci (6-5, 4-3, 2-4), and the first on the recently completed artificial playing surface. Although the historic first pitch is slated for 6 p.m., a junior varsity game begins at 4 p.m.
Morenci has won eight of 10 pairings with Pima over the previous three seasons, going 5-1 in Francis Waldorf Stadium, 2-1 in Pima, and 1-0 on a neutral field. Morenci averaged a score of 10-6 (102-62) per game or a 4-run margin.
The Wildcats prevailed 13-5 in five innings during the 43rd Lions tourney (April 20, 2023), 9-3 (March 28, 2023), 7-1 (March 11, 2022), 12-8 (April 27, 2021), and 11-7 (March 23, 2021) in Morenci; 11-5 (April 24, 2023) and 18-2 during five innings (April 9, 2021) in Pima; and 7-6 during the state tourney first round (May 5, 2023) in Tempe Diablo Stadium as No. 10 over No. 7. The Roughriders won 5-4 (March 22, 2022) in Pima and 20-10 in five innings during the Morenci Lions tourney (April 22, 2023).
In other region pairings this week (March 25-30), Tombstone visits Benson on Thursday, March 28; and Santa Rita visits Bisbee on Friday, March 29.
Non-region pairings include Benson at Eagar Round Valley on March 27; Pima at Phoenix Christian on March 29; and Bisbee at Tucson Tanque Verde on Saturday, March 30.
No. 7 Pima Roughriders (8-4-1 overall)
The Tim DeCrow-coached Pima Roughriders (8-4-1 overall, 3-2 seeding, 3-1 East Region for second) are averaging a score of 7-3 (88-39) per game or a 4-run margin through 13 games.
Pima has seeding wins over Benson (8-0, March 8), Bisbee (3-0, March 13), and Willcox (16-3 in 5 inn., March 11). The losses are to Tombstone (2-4, March 5) and Round Valley (0-10 in 5 inn., March 23).
The Roughriders also went a combined 5-2-1 during two tourneys, 3-1 in the Phoenix Christian tourney and 2-1-1 in the Phoenix Country Day School tourney. The wins were over Parker (15-3, Feb. 23), Chino Valley (2-1, Feb. 23), Phoenix North Valley Christian (14-6, Feb. 24), Joseph City (10-1, March 2), and Camp Verde (14-0, March 2). The losses were to Buckeye Youngker (0-6, Feb. 24) and Phoenix Horizon Honors (3-4, March 1). A 1-1 tie resulted with Fountain Hills (March 1).
A 15-member roster includes seniors Riley Alder (5), Devon Hewitt (22), Jaxon John (1), and R.J. Morales (00); juniors Rhett Hughes (8), Jeremiah Martinez (12), and Preston Russell (33); sophomores Rooster Alder (7), Ramone Hernandez (13), Colter Kempton (10), and Wade Peterson (2); and freshmen Adrian Castro (23), Riley Good (15), Dedrick Grimes (25), and Tanner Smith (18).
No. 12 Morenci Wildcats (8-7 overall)
The Christopher Aguallo-coached Morenci Wildcats (8-7 overall, 6-5 seeding, 2-4 East Region for sixth) are averaging a score of 7-5 (97-80) per game or a 2-run margin through 15 games.
Morenci has seeding wins over Miami (14-3, March 4), Santa Rita (March 5), Bisbee (6-5, March 8), San Carlos (18-2, March 14), Round Valley (8-7, March 20), and Saint Johns (6-3, March 22). The losses are to Willcox (5-6, March 11), Winkelman Hayden (9-10, March 13), Tombstone (1-4, March 15), Willcox (0-11, March 18), and Benson (1-10, March 25).
The Wildcats also went 2-2 during the 3-day Benjamin Franklin tourney on Feb. 22-24, with wins over Miami (6-1, Feb. 29) and Superior (2-1, March 1) along with losses to Thatcher (0-4, Feb. 29) and Show Low (10-11, March 2).
At the plate, the team batting average is .302 (114-378) with 80 of 96 runs batted in, 18 doubles, four triples, and seven home runs. It also includes 113 strikeouts, 54 bases on balls, and being beaned 20 times.
The Wildcats have used a pitching corps of eight, with a combined earned run average of 3.45, struck out 96, yielded 84 hits and 71 walks, and beaned nine while facing 439 batters during 87 1/3 innings.
A 17-member roster includes seniors Anthony Ballesteros (6), Andrew Chavez (5), Austin Hudman (24), Aaron Mason (23), Austyn Nelson (10), Emilio Roybal (1), and Tristan Sanchez (22); juniors Peyton Basteen (16), Christopher Carbajal (8), Christopher Lopez (3), Jordan Romero (20), Shane Seballos (7), Raymond Segobia (12), and Jacob Verdugo (13); and sophomores Bryant Figueroa (2), Jaymz Guzzo (4), and Anthony Roybal (34).
2A East Region Standings
The region standings through March 26 are Tombstone (9-4 overall, 6-3 seeding, 3-1 region) first, Pima (8-4-1, 3-2, 3-1) second, Bisbee (13-3, 6-2, 4-2) third, Benson (7-10-1, 4-5, 2-2) fourth, Willcox (8-8, 4-5, 3-3) fifth, Morenci (8-7, 6-5, 2-4) sixth, and Tucson Santa Rita (0-5, 0-5, 0-4) seventh.
To date in region pairings, Tombstone (3-1) has region wins over Pima (4-2, March 5), Santa Rita (22-0, March 12), and Morenci (4-1, March 15). The Jamie Milligan-coached No. 1 Yellow Jackets are averaging an 8-5 (102-62) score per game or a 3-run margin through 13 games.
Pima (3-1) has region wins over Benson (8-0, March 8), Bisbee (3-0, March 13), and Willcox (16-3, March 15). The Tim DeCrow-coached No. 7 Roughriders are averaging a score of 7-3 (88-39) per game or a 4-run margin through 13 games.
Bisbee (4-2) has region wins over Santa Rita (43-0, Feb. 21), Benson (6-3, March 5), Willcox (13-6, March 21), and Tombstone (7-0, March 26). The Todd Hammett-coached No. 9 Pumas are averaging a score of 14-3 (222-47) per game or an 11-run margin through 16 games.
Benson (2-2) has region wins over Willcox (9-2, March 23) and Morenci (10-1, March 25). The Fred Trujillo-coached No. 11 Bobcats are averaging a score of 7-7 (119-112) per game or a 1-run tie through 17 games.
Willcox (3-3) has region wins over Morenci (6-5, March 11), Morenci (11-0, March 18), and Santa Rita (16-3 in 5 inn., March 26). The Adrian Fuentes-coached No. 15 Cowboys are averaging a score of 6-7 (98-109) per game or a 1-run deficit through 16 games.
Morenci (2-4) has region wins over Santa Rita (12-2, March 6) and Bisbee (6-5, March 8). The Christopher Aguallo-coached No. 12 Wildcats are averaging a score of 7-5 (97-80) per game or a 2-run margin through 15 games.
The John Chandler-coached No. 30 Santa Rita Eagles (0-4) are averaging a score of 1-24 (6-120) per game or a 23-run deficit through five games.
2A State Rankings
The initial 2A Top 24 rankings for the 39 teams, released at noon on March 26, numbered 6-7 (.857) from the East Region, 4-5 (.800) from the Metro Region, 3-4 from the Valley Region, 4-6 (.667) from both the South and West Regions, 2-7 (.286) from the North Region, and 1-4 (.125) from the Central Region.
Tombstone (6-2 seeding, 7.2646 rating) was No. 1, Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (6-0, 7.1968) No. 2, Phoenix Horizon Honors (6-1, 6.6858) No. 3, Phoenix Christian (4-1, 6.6542) No. 4, Gilbert San Tan Charter (7-1, 5.1376) No. 5, Saint Johns (7-1, 4.3401) No. 6, Pima (3-2, 4.2091) No. 7, and Kingman Academy (5-2, 4.0814) No. 8.
Bisbee (5-2, 3.9109) was No. 9, Eagar Round Valley (6-3, 3.0212) No. 10, Benson (4-4, 2.2872) No. 11, Morenci (6-5, 1.4563) No. 12, Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (4-4, 0.3579) No. 13, Chandler Prep (5-3, minus 0.7186) No. 14, Willcox (3-5, minus 0.8944) No. 15, and Gilbert Classical (5-4, minus 1.1758) No. 16.
Phoenix Veritas Prep (4-3, minus 1.5039) was No. 17, Eloy Santa Cruz (3-4, minus 2.2056) No. 18, Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (7-6, minus 2.6792) No. 19, Phoenix Madison Highland Prep (4-4, minus 2.9997) No. 20, Phoenix Country Day School (2-4, minus 3.7281) No. 21, Scottsdale Prep (3-4, minus 3.9674) No. 22, Glendale Trivium Prep (1-3, minus 5.0780) No. 23, and Miami (2-7, minus 5.1383) No. 24.
