Casa Grande head coach Kent Winslow (back to camera) who coached Salpointe in 2008, congratulates current Salpointe baseball coach Danny Preble (right) at the end of Thursday's game at Salpointe. The Lancers beat Casa Grande 12-2.
Chalk one up for the student.
Casa Grande baseball coach Kent Winslow, who coached the Salpointe Catholic baseball team in 2008, made his return to the school Thursday.
Salpointe, now coached by former Winslow player and assistant coach Danny Preble, beat up on the visiting Cougars 12-2 in a game stopped after five innings.
Preble and the Lancers also beat Winslow’s team earlier this season 11-3 in Casa Grande.
“I learned a lot from (Winslow) last year,” Preble said. “I am upset that he left because I didn’t get to learn more from him. But at the same time I get my chance now. It has been fun.”
Preble has Salpointe (15-10) in contention for the Class 5A-I Southern Region title with a 3-1 league record. Tucson High is 4-1 in region games. The two teams play Friday at Salpointe.
“We’ve got three huge ball games left and the goal has always been to play on May 2,” Preble said, referring to the day the 5A-I state playoffs begin.
Salpointe extended its winning streak to seven. Casa Grande fell to 4-19-2 on the season.
“We’ve been playing well,” Preble said. “The kids are starting to buy into the process we introduced at the beginning of the year. It took us a few weeks. We took our lumps. They’re really buying in and having fun doing it. It shows on the field.”
Salpointe collected 13 hits and got a combined four-hitter from pitchers A.J. Alexander and Mike Sjoquist in Thursday’s victory.
Alexander gave up all four hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out one.
Alexander aided his own cause with two hits and two RBIs at the plate.
Salpointe scored two runs in the top of the first and three more in the second.
Roundup
Sahuarita 5, Douglas 0: At Douglas, pitcher Josh Scoggin carried a perfect game through 5 1/2 innings and struck out 10 hitters as Sahuarita took over sole possession of first place in the 4A Gila Region standings with a 6-1 record.
Scoggin ended up with a one-hitter, keeping the Mustangs in second place in the 4A Division II Power Rankings.
Douglas falls to 6-2 in league play.
Amphi 4, Palo Verde 2: Junior Alex Brown took over on the mound and at the plate in the Panthers’ victory.
With the Titans up 1-0 in the first inning, Brown hit a three-run homer to help his own cause.
On the mound, Brown finished with nine strikeouts while giving up only three hits.
Brown’s first-inning homer gave him three homers in his last three at-bats. In his past three games on the mound, he has allowed just six hits.
Ironwood Ridge 4, Sierra Vista Buena 3: With two outs in the top of the seventh, junior Will Meyer hit the go-ahead RBI single to win it for the Nighthawks. Junior Alex Worden scored the winning run.
Cholla 16, Marana 6: Juniors Nick Ochoa and Rene Ortiz did their part for the Chargers. Ochoa finished 3 for 3 with two RBIs while Ortiz went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.
Clarification
An item published on Thursday’s TC Varsity high school sports page did not include the contact information for Bryan Huie, who is conducting a May 23 tryout for his Chicago White Sox fall scout team.
For information on the tryouts, which will be held at Sahuarita High School, call Huie at 850-1579.
The team is open to baseball players in southern Arizona who will be in high school during the 2009-10 school year.
Staff writers Raymond Suarez and Geoff Grammer contributed to this article.