By Don Ketchum

A few observers might have thought that Phoenix Brophy Prep’s baseball team was wasting some of its firepower when it hit four home runs on the way to an 11-0 lead after four innings against visiting Phoenix Desert Vista on Tuesday (May 1) in the second round of the Division I state tournament.

Long-time Brophy coach Tom Succow knew better.

“I’ve been coaching against Stan Luketich (Desert Vista coach) for about 30 years, even when he was at (Phoenix) Moon Valley,’’ Succow said. “His teams play really hard and they always go down fighting.’’

That, combined with the fact that the ball jumps out of the yard at Brophy, made things interesting late in the game.

Brophy appeared to be headed for a five-inning, 10-run-rule victory, but Desert Vista got a grand slam from Colby Woodmansee in the fifth and scored three more runs in the seventh before falling 13-7.

The loss eliminated No. 20 seed Deer Valley (16-14) – the first two rounds were single-elimination.

Fourth-seeded Brophy (22-8), meanwhile, advanced to the double-elimination portion of the tourney and will face No. 5 seed Mesa Desert Ridge on Thursday at Camelback Ranch Stadium, spring home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. Game time is 4 p.m. Desert Ridge advanced with a 14-5 victory over No. 12 Phoenix St. Mary’s.

“Today, we swung the bats the best we have in weeks,’’ said Succow, whose team had 12 hits.

He thought the first-round bye helped his team to relax and focus on the business at hand against Desert Vista.

“We didn’t have that pressure on Saturday , so we were able to come back to work on Monday,’’ he said.

Three of the home runs came in a six-run third inning. Connecting for the Broncos were David Graybill, Chris Beall and Connor Messman. Ryan Castellani hit a home run to highlight a four-run fourth inning.

Brophy’s No. 1 pitcher , Jake Steffens, had given up just two hits, both in the second inning. Desert Vista loaded the bases in the fifth in an error and a pair of walks to set up Woodmansee’s slam.

Hunter Rodriguez, who quarterbacked Desert Vista to the state championship in football, hit a homer in the seventh off reliever Isaiah Deutsch.