2010 Tucson Conquistadores Baseball Classic

3rd Annual Lancer Baseball Classic

http://www.salpointe.org/Page.aspx?pid=627

At Kino Sports Complex

Third Place Game

With college scouts in the stands and radar guns aimed his way, Preston Jamison brought lots of heat and turned back a very vocal team from California.

“They were screaming and yelling, trying to get in our heads,” said Jamison.

“It had the opposite effect and fired us up.”

Catalina Foothills was so fired up that the emotions spilled over after the game with parents complaining about some of the “tactics” employed by Burbank.

Allegations of a Burbank player throwing at a parent during warm-ups was resolved on the field, however, as the Falcons won 3-1.

Jamison said his arm felt great and he was in a good rhythm. “It kept me going in the game. I had three days rest and my rhythm took over.”

Championship Game

Canyon del Oro faced seven pitchers: A couple of right-handers, a couple of left-handers, a pitcher with a side-arm motion and a knuckleballer.

Still, CDO went a combined 11-34 by my count. The most successful of the seven were the side-arm and knuckleball pitchers but it was evident they only come in for relief action as CDO was already up 11-3 before they came in.

“Good hitters adjust to whatever is coming,” explained CDO coach Len Anderson.

Yucaipa pitchers threw a total of 166 pitches on the night and six CDO batters had five plate appearances, the rest had four.

This game looked more like a pool play match rather than a championship but such is the case with CDO.

Yucaipa (7-2) is a very good team, there is no doubt. The Thunderbirds went to the quarterfinals of a

very tough California league last season. Starting pitcher Taijuan Walker is listed as the “Best Boy Athlete” in San Bernardino County by their local media.

Walker sports a 94mph fast pitch, an 85mph slider and a 87mph cutter. He is 6 foot 5 and has the prototypical body for the major leagues. It has been reported that 12 major league teams have him on their list.

Unfortunately for Walker, the CDO batters have him on their list also.

Walker gave up five earned runs in the first two innings before he was relegated to third base – Six hits, four walks and two wild pitches on a very high 70 pitch-count to 17 batters.

Short stop Ryan Gerber started it all off with a lead-off infield single and then Alan Drake reached on an error. Walker had catcher Corey Fujimoto go down looking for the first out but then walked first baseman Hayden Cota-Robles to load the bases.

David “Bubba” Metz is the Designated Hitter for a reason and Walker found out why as the senior brought in the first two runs on his first pitch.

Ryan Cota brought in Cota-Robles on a ground-out RBI to give CDO a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Luke Parrish-Ward threw 113 pitches on the night. He gave up no earned runs. In what was an amazing stat, he only gave up three hits.

“That’s how he plays,” explains Anderson. He throws a lot of pitches but battles back. He always makes big pitches to get out of innings. I’m really happy for him.”

Parrish-Ward seemed to be in trouble several times but he escaped each time with minimal damage.

He gave up an unearned run in second, fourth and fifth inning – each one directly related to an error.

Perhaps this will be the only way CDO will lose this year (beat themselves) but not this game.

Sebastian Magaddino took his first pitch of the second inning to the gap for a double to start the

inning off for CDO. A blown sacrifice bunt attempt resulted in the first out for Walker but a passed ball put Magaddino on third base anyway.

Gerber followed with an RBI single and then Drake was walked. Fujimoto did not go down looking this time – his two-run triple pretty much ended the game for the Thunderbirds.

Cota would later deliver his first double of the night to bring in Logan France who was running for Fujimoto. 7-0 CDO and that was it for Walker.

Cota would finish the night with three doubles and two RBIs. “I’m seeing the ball really well,” said Cota.

“It’s nice to finally see a fast pitch.” The only time Cota had difficulty was when the knuckleballer came in the game.

“It was a wicked pitch,” he explained.

Gerber and Cota each finished the night for CDO going 3-5, combining for four doubles and four RBIs.

Parrish-Ward held the Thunderbirds to 3-24 with eight strikeouts and no earned runs.

Canyon del Oro is now 14-0. The only draw back to winning the Panther Classic and the Lancer Classic is that the AIA does not recognize the wins in terms of power points.

I asked Anderson if the tournament games really meant anything and he corrected me, “We play every game the same way. They all mean something. We have lots of experience in our dugout and they are not intimidated by anyone. They are consistent.”

Let me add, they are consistently good.

Participating High School Teams

Buena
Catalina Foothills
Catalina
Canyon del Oro
Cienega
Douglas
Rincon
Ironwood Ridge
Marana
Mountain View
Sunnyside
Salpointe
Nogales
Blanchard, Blanchard, OK
Verdigris. Claremore, OK
Metro Christian Academy, Tulsa, OK
Fort Collins, Ft. Collins, CO
Poudre, Fort Collins, CO
Yucaipa, Yucaipa, CA
Burbank, CA
East Valley. Redlands, CA
John Burroughs, Burbank, CA

Pool Play

Monday, March 15

Redlands East 16 vs. Douglas 5
Mountain View 1 vs. Catalina Foothills 11
Marana 1 vs. Metro Christian Academy 6
Blanchard 2 vs. Cienega 3 (9 innings)
Poudre 1 vs. Yucaipa 18
Ironwood Ridge 5 vs. Catalina 3
Nogales 5 vs. Buena 8
Verdigris 3 vs. Burroughs 9
Burbank 17 vs. Rincon 4
Salpointe 1 vs. Ft. Collins 2
Sunnyside 0 vs. CDO 8

Tuesday, March 16

Marana 2 vs. Ft. Collins 1
Sunnyside 14 vs. Verdigris 7
Redlands East 1 vs. Burbank 3 (9 innings)
Ironwood Ridge 16 vs. Blanchard 8
Nogales 21 vs. Mountain View 7
Buena 0 vs. Yucaipa 10
Catalina Foothills 19 vs. Poudre 6
Catalina 8 vs. Cienega 8
Rincon 3 vs. Douglas 6
Salpointe 8 vs. Metro Christian Academy 1
CDO 5 vs. John Burroughs 1

Wednesday, March 17

Nogales 2 vs. Yucaipa 12
Metro Christian 2 Academy vs. Ft. Collins 13
Sunnyside 9 vs. John Burroughs 3
Ironwood Ridge 6 vs. Cienega 5
Mountain View 9 vs. Poudre 10
CDO 7 vs. Verdigris 4
Buena 2 vs. Catalina Foothills 7
Douglas 7 vs. Burbank 10
Redlands East 8 vs. Rincon 9
Catalina 8 vs. Blanchard 2
Salpointe 16 vs. Marana 0

Bracket Play

Thursday, March 18

#22 Mountain View 12 vs. #21 Verdigris 15
#17 Marana 0 vs. #18 Buena 10
#20 Nogales 15 vs. #19 MCA 11
#16 Blanchard 13 vs. #13 Rincon 3
#15 Douglas 9 vs. #14 Poudre 7
#12 Salpointe 2 vs. #9 Cienega 13
#10 Burroughs 8 vs. #11 Catalina 9
#5 Ironwood Ridge 9 vs. #8 Redlands East 3
#7 Sunnyside 12 vs. #6 Ft. Collins 2
#2 CDO 8 vs. #3 Catalina Foothills 1
#1 Yucaipa 6 vs. #4 Burbank 4

Friday, March 19

Marana 5 vs. Burroughs 9
Douglas 6 vs. Mountain View 3
Buena 13 vs. Poudre 2
Catalina 0 vs. Ft. Collins 2
Blanchard 13 vs. Nogales 6
Rincon 16 vs. Cienega 10
Sunnyside 2 vs. Redlands 6
Ironwood Ridge 5 vs. MCA 4
Salpointe 10 vs. Verdigris 0

3rd-4th Place Game
Catalina Foothills 3 vs. Burbank 1

Championship Game
CDO 11 vs. Yucaipa 3

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