Arizona
Mesquite wins Scottsdale Invitational
Mesquite pulled off an impressive come-from-behind win on the road against rival Gilbert, to claim the Scottsdale QB Club Invitational Tournament title. Trailing 4-3 in the top of the 6th, Nick Rosales drove in the tying run on a double before coming around to score the winning run (and then closed out the game on the mound with in relief). Lane Doty went 3-for-4 with a Home Run to lead the way while Rosales finished 2-for-4.
The Wildcats are off to a very strong start this season, entering the week at 6-1. While they were in the conversation for best team in Arizona entering the season they looked to be more of a darkhorse. But seven games into the season they are looking like strong contenders and will be a fun team to watch the rest of the way.
In other Scottsdale QB Club Invitational action on Saturday Horizon bounced back from a regular season loss Friday and pulled out a come-from-behind victory at Mountain Pointe. Kevin Cron crushed a towering HR to left field in a losing effort, his 3rd of the season. Boulder Creek hammered a very good Saguaro squad 10-4, and at 4-2 has a chance to make a big statement with a pair of tough games this week against Brophy Prep (tomorrow) and at Hamilton on Wednesday.
Pinnacle wins Cleats 101 Classic
Pinnacle remained undefeated as they knocked off Liberty 14-6 in the Cleats 101 Classic championship game on Saturday. The Pioneers broke it open with a 9-run 3rd inning to move to 7-0 on the season and have outscored their opponents this season 73-24 thus far. RHP/OF Steve Casey had a big day, going 2-for-3 with his 4th Home Run of the season, and drove in 5 runs.
Pinnacle has been led thus far by Casey (.478 4 HR, 15 RBI, 2-0 1.27 ERA 18 K 3 BB), OF/RHP Jake Peevyhouse (.458 2 HR, 1-0 1 SV) and LHP/1B Kris Ayers (.524 2 HRs, 1-0 2.55 ERA, 8 K 2 BB)
Pinnacle and Liberty are the only two teams to have knocked off Millenium to this point, who have been an offensive force thus far in the early season. Millenium has been sparked by a red hot start by OF/RHP Tatum Hendrix who saw his 3 game Homer streak snapped in the 13-10 win over Centennial where he went 3-for-5 with a triple. On Friday against Deer Valley Hendrix hit for the cycle and even threw in a walk for good measure. Even after going hitless in his first two games, Hendrix is now hitting .600 with a 1.883 OPS.
California
Christian Lopes, Henry Owens dominate in Loara Tournament opener
The buzz surrounding Edison’s season opener in the Loara tournament was mostly surrounding the first start of the season for 2010 All-American LHP Henry Owens. Owens certainly did not disappoint, taking a no-hitter into the 6th inning and throwing a complete game, allowing just 4 hits and a run. But SS Christian Lopes stole the show. Lopes was a single shy of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and a bomb. The Chargers didn’t muster much offense beyond the elder Lopes in their 3-1 win over Garden Grove but it was enough to move on. In the 2ndround the Chargers pulled out a tough 5-4 victory over San Clemente and will face Sonora tomorrow.
Other quarterfinal matchups this afternoon in the Loara tournament include; Cypress vs Wilson, Lakewood vs Servite and Vista Murietta vs El Toro. Check back for updates as the tournament progresses.
Wilcox avenges earlier loss to Mitty, win Hazlett Championship
Mike Hazlett tournament host Wilcox avenged a 4-0 loss from earlier in the week, knocking off the 20th ranked team in the nation, Archbishop Mitty, 3-0 in the tournament’s championship game. The win is Wilcox’s 4th Hazlett championship, closing the gap on Mitty who is the all-time leader with 7 titles. Mitty had won the tournament each of the past three seasons.
Wilcox got strong pitching performances from LHP Nick Morehead (3 perfect innings, 2 RBI) and LHP Garret Ciuk (4 shutout innings). The two combined on a 3-hit shutout with 7 strikeouts to just 2 walks. Tyler Keifer also had a pair of hits for the Chargers.
Morehead is off to a great start this season, the win on Saturday moved him to 3-0 with just one run allowed over 17 innings and 21 strikeouts. He is also a good hitter, having played in an OF with Jesse Winker and Josh Guerra at USA Baseball’s Tournament of Stars last year.
St. Francis (Mt. View) living up to preseason hype
The Lancers have not let the pressure of being the no. 6 ranked team in the nation get to them in the early part of the season. With a pair of wins this weekend over Salinas and St. Mary’s, they improved to 4-0 on the season. The run they allowed to St. Mary’s on Saturday was the first they’ve given up since February 22nd, when they beat Palo Alto 3-2.
SS/RHP Alex Blandino threw an absolute gem against St. Mary’s, with a complete game no-hitter, allowing just an unearned run (on the lone St. Francis error) to move to 2-0 on the year. 3B Tyler Goeddel drove in 3 of the Lancers’ 4 runs and had a triple. St. Francis will be back in action tomorrow at Menlo before a big matchup on Saturday against Bishop O’Dowd.
If O’Dowd chooses to throw their ace, Joe Ross, it could be a real tough test for the Lancers.
Other notable performances from the weekend
-Woodland Hills Taft (alma mater of Robin Yount) blasted six Home Runs in a 10-4 win over Pacifica. 1B Arthur Chavez was responsible for 3 of them in an offensive performance he will surely remember. Teammate Alex Sawleson hit a pair of his own.
-Birmingham’s Marti Sementelli and San Marcos’ Ghazaleh Sailors became the first pair of female pitchers to face one another in a high school game. Sementelli earned the win, throwing a complete game in the 8-1 victory. The two have been teammates in the past on Team USA in international competition.
New Mexico
Powerhouse La Cueva stunned
After cruising to a 16-0 victory in their opener, the defending 5A state champs hit the road for a doubleheader at Rio Grande on Saturday. They managed to pull out a tough one in the first game 5-4. But in the second one they couldn’t do it, falling 6-5. It would be a monumental task to go through the entire season undefeated and perhaps it is a good thing in the long run to get a loss out of the way for the Bears.
Other notables
-The Artesia Bulldogs shut out Carlsbad in the Artesia Invitational Tournament championship game. Carlsbad entered the weekend ranked #2 by the NMHSAA.
-A much anticipated matchup between two of the more potent offenses in the state did not disappoint. 4A’s top ranked team Piedra Vista outslugged 5A power Volcano Vista 21-11 on Saturday
Oklahoma
#3 Broken Arrow takes care of business
So far so good for the Tigers, who moved to 4-0 this weekend with a pair of wins on Saturday. With 13-7 and 6-4 victories over Edmond North and Edmond Memorial the Tigers collected 24 hits with a pair of Homers by Tyler McKenzie and the 2nd of the year by RHP Archie Bradley(both have been as a PH). Sophomore Trey Cobb struck out 8 while walking just one in his first varsity start. Though he did allow 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings he came away with the win as Nick Pettus came in and retired all 5 hitters he faced in order to nail down the Save.
Owasso dominates, improves to 2-0
After Friday’s trip to Bentonville was cancelled the Rams traveled to Berryhill, where they proved to be rude guests. The Rams cruised to a 24-0 victory over the Chiefs, who had won their opener on Thursday 12-7. The Rams will be back in action today against Bixby before heading to Florida for the Blue Devil Classic. The tournament has a very strong field, which includes fellow OK powerhouse Broken Arrow.
Texas
Clements takes Ewell Jackson tourney title
The Rangers just keep on rolling. After suffering a tough loss to end their run at the state 5A tournament last year, they have come out firing on all cylinders in 2011. The Rangers powered their way through the prestigious 52nd annual Ewell Jackson Tournament. Their impressive tourney run was capped off by a 12-2 drubbing of Episcopal, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 34-9, knocking off 3 teams that are ranked in the state. Their most dramatic win came on Friday as Blake Johnson hit a walk-off 3-run Home Run to pull out a come-from-behind victory over Dulles 5-3. Mike Fredeboelling was named Tournament MVP.
The 10-0 Rangers just missed the preseason National Top 50, be sure to check back tomorrow to see where they will debut when the new rankings are released. Cy Ranch beat Dulles 6-1 in the 3rd place game.
Carroll knocks off Moody for 2nd time this season, wins CC Miras Tournament
Chris Cano allowed just 4 hits over 6 innings of work for the defending 5A state champions CC Carroll as they defeated CC Moody 9-2 in the Miras championship game. OF/RHP Courtney Hawkins and 1B/RHP OShea Dumas each went deep for the Tigers. Moody made it interesting late, loading the bases in their final at bat, but Damian Hinojosa was able to get out of it and preserve the victory for the Tigers who improve to 6-3 on the year.
Sharyland dropped their first game of the season, going 2-1 in the tournament and now sit at 8-1. Sinton also showed well, going 2-1 with their only loss coming to Moody who swept through their bracket.
Brenham/Montgomery Tournament update
Lamar shut out Brenham 6-0 in the Brenham/Montgomery finals. LHP/OF John Williamson allowed just one hit over 4 innings while striking out 7 to earn the win. Matt Luna and Gino Madrid each homered for the Redskins. It was their second shutout of the tournament (11-0 over Rudder on Thursday). The tourney run moves Lamar to 8-2 after dropping a pair of games last weekend.
The Woodlands went 4-0 on their side of the bracket, knocking off San Marcos, Bryan, Santa Fe and Montgomery by a combined score of 46-10. OF/LHP Andrew Godail was dominant, picking up the win in his outing against Montgomery, a 1-hit shutout.
Other notables
-Klein Collins had their 7 game winning streak snapped on Saturday, losing 5-4 to Brazoswood in the Klein ISD tournament finale.
-Clear Springs beat La Porte 9-8 in the CCISD tournament championship game.
-Rockwall-Heath finally lost for the first time this season, falling 6-3 to Weatherford on Saturday. The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow before hosting the I-30 classic starting on Thursday.