By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Joseph Garcia -coached No. 10 Morenci Wildcats (12-6 seeding, 6.0457 rating) host the No. 23 Florence American Leadership – Anthem Prep Titans (6-10, minus 5.1253) on Wednesday, April 29. It is a Play-In Round contest with a 4 p.m. start.
The Wildcats are 2-0 for Play-in Round games, 7-7 for state meet games, 65-20 in region pairings, 104-34 for seeding games, and 142-73-1 overall during 10 seasons under Garcia.
Four other South Region members are involved in the Play-In Round, and one has a bye for being in the Top 8.
Willcox awaits the results of the Play-In Round as No. 11 Tombstone (9-7, 3.9958) hosts No. 22 Keams Canyon Hopi (9-8, minus 4.55456-11, minus 5.7008), No. 15 Benson (7-9, minus 0.8635) hosts No. 18 Chandler Prep, while No. 17 Bisbee (7-8, minus 2.0639) visits No. 16 Wickenburg (9-9, minus 1.3440) and No. 24 Tucson Desert Christian (6-11, minus 5.7008) visits No. 9 Phoenix Christian (14-4, 7.8931).
No. 23 ALA – Anthem South Titans (6-10 seeding, minus 5.1253 rating)
ALA – Anthem South (10-14 overall, 6-10 seeding, 0-8 region) is averaging a 12-11 (295-252) score per game or a 1-run margin through 24 games.
The Raymond Joyce-coached Titans have seeding wins over Gilbert Classical (25-2, Feb. 25), Apache Junction (19-1, March 9), Tucson San Miguel (21-7 in 3 inn, March 30), San Tan Foothills (20-9, April 17), ALA – Mesa North (26-12, April 20), and Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (20-7 in 5 inn, April 22) along with losses to Benjamin Franklin (6-13, March 3), Globe (7-10, March 5), Eloy Santa Cruz (2-16 in 5 inn, March 25), Laveen Heritage (0-21 in 4 inn, March 31), Arizona Lutheran (13-14, April 1), Arizona Lutheran (1-11 in 5 inn, April 7), Horizon Honors (0-15 in 4 inn, April 9), Horizon Honors (3-13 in 5 inn, April 13, Santa Cruz (3-13 in 5 inn, April 15), and Heritage (1-23 in 4 inn, April 23).
In addition, the Titans went 3-1 during the 3-day Benjamin Franklin tourney and 1-3 during the Tolleson tourney. The wins were over Tuba City (29-5, Feb. 26), Tucson Catalina (25-0, Feb. 27), Kearny Ray (9-4 in 6 inn, Feb. 28), and Desert Heights Prep (17-2, March 11) along with losses to Combs (2-10, Feb. 26), Payson (3-10, March 11), Chino Valley (7-10, March 12), and Tonopah Valley (10-12, March 13).
A 13-member roster has two seniors, six juniors, and five sophomores. The seniors are Hannah Blakeslee (6), and Bella Watson (12); juniors Savannah Davis (5), Kylie Dean (17), Ariadly Maximo (16), Ellie Miller (8), and Miley Rice (9); and sophomores Jazlyn Banks (1), Hazel Barton (19), Presley Barton (3), Annie Brown (10), and Kinley Dillon (13).
ALA – Anthem South competed in the 6-member 2A Valley Region with the Laveen Heritage Heroes, the Eloy Santa Cruz Dust Devils, the Phoenix Arizona Lutheran Coyotes, and the Phoenix Horizon Honors Eagles.
No. 10 Morenci Wildcats (12-6 seeding, 5.1228 rating)
Morenci (17-9 overall, 12-6 seeding, 5-1 region) is averaging a 12-6 (319-167) score per game or a 6-run margin through 26 games.
The Joseph Garcia-coached Wildcats have seeding wins over Miami (9-4, March 4), Pima (14-0 in 5 inn, March 11), Bisbee (18-3 in 5 inn, March 13), Tombstone (8-7, March 23), San Carlos (25-1, April 7), and Desert Christian (14-3, April 10), Chandler Prep (27-1 in 4 inn, April 13), San Miguel (29-9 in 5inn, April 15), Pima (6-5, April 16), Benson (7-5, April 20), Saint Augustine (24-0 in 4 inn, April 24), and Fort Thomas (23-3 in 4 inn, April 27) along with losses to Saint Johns (4-5 in 8 inn, March 17), Empire (5-11, March 25), Willcox (1-12 in 6 inn, March 26), Round Valley (1-19 in 4 inn, March 30), Willcox (1-11, April 2), and Horizon Honors (11-14, April 17).
Additionally, the Wildcats went 1-3 during the 3-day Benjamin Franklin tourney and 4-0 during the 2-day Horizon Honors tourney. The wins were over Kearny Ray (15-9 in 4 inn, Feb. 26), North Phoenix (20-2 in 3 inn, March 19), Kayenta Monument Valley (17-13 in 4 inn, March 19), Parker (14-6 in 4 inn, March 20), and Winkelman Hayden (10-2 in 5 inn, March 20). The losses were to Snowflake (9-11 in 4 inn, Feb. 26), Queen Creek Crismon (6-10 in 4 inn, Feb. 26), and Douglas (1-11 in 4 inn, Feb. 28).
A 14-member roster has two seniors, five juniors, three sophomores, and two freshmen. The seniors are Jaliyah Hernandez (14), and Shaylee Wichmann (13); juniors Tiara Jones (15), Kieralyn Madrigal (6), Malina Martinez (3), Mayeli Salazar (5), and Kailee Sandoval (8); sophomores Ava Basteen (2), Khloee Kouts (11), and Leiah Strong (17); and freshmen Angelina Chavez (9) and Lyla Ferrell (16).
Morenci competed in the 9-member 2A South Region with the Benson Bobcats, the Bisbee Pumas, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets, the Willcox Cowboys, along with the Tucson schools Desert Christian Eagles, Saint Augustine Catholic Wolves, the San Miguel Catholic Vipers, and the Santa Rita Eagles.
2A South Region Standings
The South Region standings on April 27 had Willcox (21-6 overall, 14-3 seeding, 7-0 region), Morenci (17-9, 12-6, 6-1), Tombstone (17-12, 10-7, 5-2), Benson (8-18, 8-9, 4-3), Bisbee (11-8*, 7-8, 3-4), Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (8-8, 8-8, 1-5), Tucson Desert Christian (6-11, 6-11, 2-5), Tucson San Miguel Catholic (2-14, 2-14, 0-7), and Tucson Santa Rita (0-1, 0-1, 0-0).
Twenty-eight region pairings resulted in Willcox over San Miguel (21-0 in 4 inn, March 23), Morenci (12-1 in 6 inn, March 26), Benson (11-0 in 6 inn, April 7), Saint Augustine (20-0 in 4 inn, April 8), Desert Christian (18-0 in 4 inn, April 15), Bisbee (14-0 in 5 inn, April 21), and Tombstone (4-2, April 23); Morenci over Bisbee (18-3 in 5 inn, March 13), Tombstone (8-7, March 23), Desert Christian (14-3 in 5 inn, April 10), San Miguel (29-0 in 5 inn, April 15), Benson (7-5, April 20), and Saint Augustine (24-0 in 4 inn, April 27); Tombstone over Desert Christian (29-0 in 5 inn, April 7), Benson (14-0 in 5 inn, April 9), Saint Augustine (1-0, April 16), Bisbee (19-2 in 5 inn, April 17), and San Miguel (19-0 in 5 inn, April 20); Benson over San Miguel (20-0 in 5 inn, March 26), Desert Christian (25-11 in 5 inn, April 2), Saint Augustine (15-0 in 4 inn, April 15), and Bisbee (18-13, April 24); Bisbee over Desert Christian (21-7 in 5 inn, March 23), Saint Augustine (17-1, April 7), and San Miguel (24-1 in 4 inn, April 27); Desert Christian over San Miguel (18-7 in 5 inn, March 31) and Saint Augustine (17-7 in 5 inn, April 21); Saint Augustine over San Miguel (13-0 in 5 inn, April 10).
2A State Rankings
The statewide rankings as of 8 a.m. on April 28 had the Top 8 as Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated (15-2 seeding, rating unavailable), Laveen Heritage (16-1, unavailable), Eagar Round Valley (15-2, unavailable), Kingman Academy (11-2, unavailable), Camp Verde (16-2, unavailable), Willcox (14-3, unavailable), Phoenix Horizon Honors (13-4, unavailable) No. 7, and Saint Johns (12-6, 5.9267).
Teams ranked 9-24 were Phoenix Christian (14-4, 7.89381) as No. 9, Morenci (12-6, 6.0457) No. 10, Tombstone (9-7, 3.9958) No. 11, Eloy Santa Cruz (9-8, 3.9447) No. 12, Miami (13-6, 1.8343) No. 13, Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (8-10, minus 0.5540) No. 14, Benson (7-9, minus 0.8635) No. 15, and Wickenburg (9-9, minus 1.3440) No. 16.
Bisbee (7-8, minus 2.0639) was No. 17, Chandler Prep (7-7, minus 2.2309) No. 18, Pima (11-7, minus 2.4189) No. 19, Scottsdale Christian (8-7, minus 3.5206) No. 20, Flagstaff Northland Prep (7-7, minus 4.2694) No. 21, Keams Canyon Hopi (9-8, minus 4.5545) No. 22, Florence American Leadership – Anthem South (6-10, minus 5.1253) No. 23, and Tucson Desert Christian (6-11, minus 5.7008) No. 24.
The initial statewide rankings on March 31 had Laveen Heritage (8-0 seeding, 19.7269 rating) No. 1, Mohave Accelerated (7-0, 17.3985) No. 2, Kingman Academy (6-0, 13.9699) No. 3, Phoenix Christian (7-1, 11.4504) No. 4, Willcox (7-2, 9.9163) No. 5, Round Valley (6-1, 9.5268) No. 6, Horizon Honors (4-1, 8.6530) No. 7, and Camp Verde (7-1, 7.3431) No. 8.
Saint Johns (2-2, 4.0511) was No. 9, Morenci (4-4, 4.0008) No. 10, Santa Cruz (5-3, 3.2720) No. 11, Northland Prep (3-0, 3.1470) No. 12, Scottsdale Christian (3-2, 2.9238) No. 13, Pima (4-2, 1.3682) No. 14, Miami (6-4, 0.9640) No. 15, and Tombstone (3-6, minus 0.1453) No. 16.
Arizona Lutheran (4-3, minus 0.1823) was No. 17, Saint John Paul II (6-3, minus 0.2444) No. 18, Highland Prep West (3-3, minus 0.5963) No. 19, Fountain Hills (3-2, minus 0.6405) No. 20, Bisbee (3-4, minus 1.3000) No. 21, Sanders Valley (3-3, minus 2.1024) No. 22, Chandler Prep (2-4, minus 2.6695) No. 23, and Wickenburg (3-5, minus 2.7197) No. 24.
