The Tucson Salpointe Lancers softball team finished the regular season 25-6 and will most likely earn the top seed in the Division II playoffs but that is just part of the bigger story.
Southern Arizona boy's team tennis roundup
Playoffs: May 15-16
Prescott Antelope Hills Golf Course
Tucson Catalina Foothills has been a consistent presence in postseason play. Except for the 2012 season where the Falcons dropped eight of their last nine games to fall out of contention, one would be hard pressed to point to a "bad" season over the last decade or so.
Payson is the top-ranked team in Division III and Tanque Verde is ranked second. The Hawks know a rematch in the state playoffs is possible if they can remain unbeaten and they took another step with a 16-8 victory over D-IV power Tucson Desert Christian on Thursday.
Ranked third in Division II softball, Tucson Sahuaro will gladly accept the Section II title they earned by beating Sierra Vista Buena 9-0 on Wednesday but the Cougars have much loftier goals. Once the most powerful softball program in the state, Sahuaro has not won a state championship since 2001.
Tucson St. Augustine (9-5 in power-rankings games and 5-2 in section) and Pima (9-6, 3-3) are part of a group of teams fighting for an at-large invitation to the Division IV state playoffs.
We can learn a lot from Amphitheater's Marie Nzeyimana
Tucson Catalina Foothills wrapped up another perfect regular season Thursday night with a 7-1 win at rival Division II power Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge. At 14-0 overall and 8-0 in Section V, the Falcons have only given up 10 points all year but only three since March 9.
Based only on games that matter, Tucson Salpointe is the top-ranked D-II team with an 11-1 record in power-rankings games and a 7-0 record in Section VI battles. The Lancers can clinch a section title if the beat Tucson Catalina Foothills (3-8, 2-2) next Monday or if Ironwood Ridge (11-3, 4-2) and Canyon del Oro (9-3, 5-2) both lose before that.
The state playoffs for individual and doubles are scheduled to start next Friday, Apr. 24 while the team portion is set for the following Wednesday, Apr. 29.
16 teams will qualify from each of the three divisions with the top two teams from each section earning an automatic berth.
Baseball: Spotlight on Division II section races
Boys Volleyball: Ironwood Ridge defeats Canyon del Oro to remain undefeated with the grandfather of boy;s volleyball in the stands.
Cole Kowalski arrived on the Tucson Catalina campus one year after the Trojans won their second straight Division II boy's volleyball state championship. It was the spring of 2012 and the freshman setter and found himself on a team without all-state players Ryan Graham, Josh DeYoung, Lorenzo Gonzales, Ethan Mangosing and his brother Cooper Kowalski.
Here is the list of athletes from Arizona who have a time that qualifies for a top-three spot nationally.
Baseball: Amphitheater's Devon Pilgrim leads off the spring signing period
Oro Valley Pusch Ridge defeated St. David 19-4 Wednesday night in a five-inning game featuring two Southern Arizona Division IV powers. As the score might indicate, most of the runs were unearned.
Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge baseball coach Dennis Toia earned his 100th career victory Monday night with a 9-2 win over Tucson Pueblo at home.
Softball: Ironwood Ridge gets past Red Mountain 10-0, rankings coming soon
Bishop Gorman defeated Tucson 5-1.
Chris Moon was the consensus 2007 Southern Arizona baseball player of the year. The Tucson High pitcher/outfielder got the attention of the Atlanta Braves and was drafted in the 35th round.
Moon chose to play for the University of Arizona instead and signed up with Andy Lopez that fall. It was that class of commitments that eventually won the NCAA championship for the Wildcats in 2012 but Moon would not be one of them.
The Rangers visited Section III favorite Tucson (4-1, 0-1) on Tuesday night in an important divisional match with early ranking implications with Tucson coming out on top 3-1 ( 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20).
Legendary St. David coach Jim Crawford passes away at the age of 85
Session two of the Willie Williams Track & Field Classic is in the books and 13 high school events were decided along with the prelims of several running and relay events. A few college events were also decided at the University of Arizona Drachman Stadium because the meet is composed of both high school and collegiate competition.
The 8th Annual Salpointe Lancer Baseball Classic is taking place this week at the Reid Park Complex in midtown Tucson. Besides teams from all over Arizona, squads from Oklahoma, Texas and California are also taking part.
1813 articles by Andy Morales
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