Five games left for the Wildcats, four in region play
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Christopher Aguallo-coached Morenci Wildcats (8-13 overall) host Santa Rita (0-6) on Tuesday, April 8, and Miami (1-13) on Saturday, April 12.
Other seeding pairings for South Region members this week (April 8-12) include Saint Augustine (3-9) at Bisbee (16-3), Tombstone (14-5-1) at Desert Christian (4-8), and Benson (9-9-1) at Willcox (7-9-1) on April 8; Tombstone at Benson and Saint Augustine at San Miguel on Thursday, April 10; and Santa Rita at Willcox on Friday, April 11.
Region pairings for East Region members are Gilbert Classical at Pima, San Carlos at Chandler Prep on April 9, and Pima at Miami on April 11.
Non-region pairings include Gilbert San Tan Charter at Phoenix North Valley Christian and Miami at Kearny Ray on April 8; Chandler Lincoln Prep at Anthem Prep on April 9; and Saint John Paul II at Chandler Prep and Gilbert Classical at Laveen Heritage on April 11;
2A South Region Standings
South Region standings through April 7 have Bisbee (16-3 overall, 11-0 seeding, 3-0 region) first, Tombstone (14-5-1, 10-2, 3-0) second, Benson (9-9-1, 7-2, 3-0) third, Willcox (7-9-1, 6-4, 3-0) fourth, Tucson Desert Christian (4-8, 4-8, 2-2) fifth, Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (3-12, 3-9, 1-2) sixth, Morenci (6-13, 3-8, 0-3) seventh, Tucson San Miguel Catholic (1-9, 1-9, 0-4) eighth, and Tucson Santa Rita (0-6, 0-6, 0-4) ninth.
Region game results to date include Bisbee over Desert Christian (15-5 in 5 inn, March 24), Morenci (13-1, April 1), and Santa Rita (27-1 in 5 inn, April 4); Tombstone over Morenci (14-1 in 5 inn, March 24), Saint Augustine (16-2 in 5 inn, April 1), and San Miguel (15-0 in 5 inn, April 4); Benson over San Miguel (16-1 in 5 inn, March 27), Santa Rita (21-1 in 5 inn, April 1), and Desert Christian (12-4, April 4); Willcox over Morenci (11-2, March 27), San Miguel (13-0 in 5 inn, April 3), and Saint Augustine (4-2, April 4); Desert Christian 0ver Santa Rita (18-1 in 4 inn, March 27) and San Miguel (25-4 in 5 inn, April 1); and Saint Augustine over Santa Rita (19-2 in 5 inn, March 24).
2A East Region Standings
East Region standings through April 7 had Gilbert San Tan Charter (11-1 overall, 8-1 seeding, 2-0 region) first, Chandler Lincoln Prep (6-6-1, 5-5, 2-0) second, Chandler Prep (8-4, 5-4, 2-1) third, Gilbert Classical (4-8, 4-7, 2-1) fourth, Pima (4-7-1, 2-5-1, 0-1) fifth, Miami (1-13, 0-10, 0-3) sixth, and San Carlos (0-8, 0-8, 0-2) seventh.
Results of region games to date are San Tan Charter over San Carlos (17-0 in 4 inn, March 24) and Chandler Prep (3-1, April 3); Lincoln Prep over Miami (10-0 in 6 inn, March 21) on March 21 and Gilbert Classical (1-0, April 1); Chandler Prep over Miami (14-1 in 5 inn, March 19) and Pima (3-1, March 28); and Gilbert Classical over Miami (14-4 in 5 inn, March 28) and San Carlos (19-6 in 5 inn, April 3).
2A State Rankings
The state rankings for South Region members as of noon on April 4 had Bisbee (10-0 seeding, 18.4873 rating) No. 1, Tombstone (8-2, 9.4265) No. 2, Benson (6-2, 7.3494) No. 6, Willcox (3-4, 0.8234) No, 15, Morenci (2-7, minus 0.3728) No. 18, Tucson Desert Christian (4-7, minus 1.7248) No. 24, Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (3-7, minus 4.3407) No. 30, Tucson San Miguel Catholic (1-6, minus 11.0782) No. 41, and Tucson Santa Rita (0-5, minus 12.3222) No. 42.
Rankings for East Region members had Gilbert San Tan Charter (8-1 seeding, 8.7298 rating) No. 3, Chandler Prep (4-4, minus 0.9800) No. 20, Gilbert Classical (4-4, minus 3.5179) No. 28, Pima (1-4, minus 3.6944) No. 29, Chandler Lincoln Prep (2-5, minus 4.5439) No. 31, Miami (0-8, minus 12.7052) No. 43, and San Carlos (0-8, minus 13.4721) No. 45.
No. 42 Santa Rita Eagles (0-6 overall)
The John Chandler-coached 2A South Region Eagles (0-6 overall, 0-6 seeding, 0-4 region) are averaging a 9-6 (155-109) score per game or a 3-run margin through eight games.
Santa Rita has seeding game losses to Saint Augustine (0-21 in 4 inn, March 3), Saint Augustine (2-19 in 5 inn, March 24), Fort Thomas (2-18 in 4 inn, March 25), Desert Christian (1-18 in 4 inn, March 27), Benson (1-21 in 5 inn, April 1), and Bisbee (1-27 in 5 inn, April 4).
The Eagles have a 13-member team, with a roster of nine seniors, a sophomore, and three freshmen. The roster includes seniors Alex Flores (7), Angel Flores (1), Erasmo Hernandez (17), Frank Hernandez (25), Jerome Martinez (14), Cole Porter (23), Michael Ross (21), Pablo Suarez (10), and Joseph Talamante (22); sophomore Joey Gannuscio (2); and freshmen Huseyin Jomah (15), Coljrin Molina (18), and Emmeric Smith (9).
Santa Rita competes in the nine-member 2A South Region with Benson, Bisbee, Morenci, Tombstone, Willcox, and Tucson schools Desert Christian, Saint Augustine Catholic, and San Miguel Catholic.
No. 43 Miami Vandals (1-13 overall)
The Rico Lorona-coached 2A East Region Vandals (1-13 overall, 0-10 seeding, 0-3 region) are averaging a 2-12 (32-164) score per game or a 10-run deficit through 14 games.
Miami has seeding game losses to Winkelman Hayden (0-12 in 5 inn, March 4), Wickenburg (1-13 in 5 inn, March 10), Superior (1-11 in 6 inn, March 18), Chandler Prep (1-14 in 5 inn, March 19), Lincoln Prep (0-10 in 5 inn, March 19), Avondale John Paul II (0-10 in 6 inn, March 24), Globe (3-20 in 5 inn, March 26), Gilbert Classical (4-14 in 5 inn, March 28), Duncan (2-10, April 4), and Arizona Lutheran (3-15, April 7).
The Vandals went 1-3 during the 3-day Florence tourney, topping Show Low (8-4 in 4 inn, Feb. 28) and falling to Hayden (0-8 in 4 inn, Feb. 26), Holbrook (8-11 in 5 inn, Feb. 27), and San Tan Foothills (1-12 in 4 inn, Feb. 28).
Miami has a 14-member team with one senior, three juniors, five sophomores, and five freshmen. The roster includes senior Cooper Gore (9); juniors Mason Gore (9), Nathan Madrid (12), and Mathew Zamora (4); sophomores Emiliano Brewer (7), Ethan Guthrey (20), Donald Noel (19), Damian Romero (2), and Kris Tarango (13); and freshmen Dreyton Dickson (3), Alex Doss (1), Kaiden Goss (6), Sebastian Montano (5), and Bradley Tarango (11).
The Vandals compete in the seven-member 2A East Region with Chandler Lincoln Prep, Chandler Prep, Gilbert Classical, Gilbert San Tan Charter, Pima, and San Carlos.
No. 18 Morenci Wildcats (8-13 overall)
The Christopher Aguallo-coached 2A South Region Wildcats (6-13 overall, 3-8 seeding, 0-3 region) are averaging a 4-8 (90-162) score per game or a 4-run deficit through 21 games.
Morenci has seeding game wins over Pima (5-2, March 11), Eagar Round Valley (19-18, March 19), and Phoenix Country Day School (10-9, April 5) along with losses to Saint Johns (5-6, March 17), Eloy Santa Cruz (2-12 in 6 inn, March 20), Tombstone (1-14 in 5 inn, March 24), Willcox (2-11, March 27), Bisbee (1-11 in 6 inn, April 1), Bisbee (1-13 in 5 inn, April 1), Winkelman Hayden (3-12, April 3), and Pima (7-8, April 7).
The Wildcats went 2-3 during the 3-day Florence tourney and 3-2 during their own 3-day tourney. Morenci defeated San Tan Valley San Tan Foothills (4-3 in 5 inn, Feb. 27), Holbrook (3-2 in 5 inn, March 1), Holbrook (2-1 in 5 inn, March 6), Heber Mogollon (6-5 in 5 inn, March 6), and Saint Johns (9-4 in 4 inn, March 7), and fell to Safford (0-9 in 4 inn, Feb. 27), Superior (1-7 in 4 inn, Feb. 28), San Manuel (1-2 in 5 inn, March 1), Mogollon (6-7 in 5 inn, March 7), and Holbrook (2-6 in 6 inn, March 8).
A 17-member roster includes seniors Peyton Basteen (25), Christopher Carbajal (8), Bryant Figueroa (2), Alejandro Gonzalez (24), Jeremy Knutsen (16), Christopher Lopez (3), Jordan Romero (20), Shane Seballos (7), Omar Torres (10), Marques Varela (23), Jonathan Vasquez (22), and Jacob Verdugo (1); juniors Michael Chavez (33), Jaymz Guzzo (4), Manuel Medina (12), and Anthony Roybal (34); and sophomore Matthew Aguilar (5).
The Wildcats compete in the nine-member 2A South Region with Benson, Bisbee, Tombstone, Willcox, and Tucson schools Desert Christian, Saint Augustine Catholic, San Miguel Catholic, and Santa Rita.
