August 4,
2009Former St Mary's Pitcher Brian Matusz is scheduled to
make his major league debut tonight for the Baltimore Orioles when
the O's face the Tigers in Detroit. Matusz attended the University
of San Diego and was the 4th player drafted in the 2008 draft.
Over the weekend USA Baseball held the annual National
Team Identification Series in Salt Lake City. Arizona was well
represented with 3 teams.
The 1994 Team (15U) coached by Seth Melton (Thunderbird) and Trent
Otis (Greenway) went 3-0 in the tournament outscoring their
opponents 68-8. The following Arizona players were named to the
Mountain West National Team that will compete at USA Baseball
Headquarters in Cary, North Carolina in September as a part of the
National Identification Team Tournament:
Drey Turner - O'Connor
David Real - Pinnacle
Brock Hartley - Pinnacle
James Ziegler - Hamilton
Cooper Smith - CDO
Seth Martinez - Sunrise Mountain
Christopher Plitt - Chandler
Alternates:
Emilio Torrez - Brophy
Cooper Burton - Hamilton
Tyler Erwin - Hamilton
The 1993 Team (16U) coached by Kent Decker (Sunrise Mountain) and
Joe LeFebre (PVCC) went 3-0 in the tournament and was clearly the
elite sophomore team represented. The 1992 Team (17U) coached by Joe
Bergen (Mesa) and Jeff Tallman (Chandler) went 2-1 and also were
extremely competitive. The following Arizona players were named to
the Mountain West National Team that will compete at USA Baseball
Headquarters in Cary, North Carolina in September as a part of the
National Identification Team Tournament:
Aaron Bummer -Sunrise Mountain
Dillon Everett - Horizon
Oscar Gonzales - Tolleson
Nick Valenza - Horizon
Scottie Hoffman - Desert Ridge
Shawn Chase - Desert Vista
Zach Williams - Greenway
Alternates:
David Graybill - Brophy
Jordan Dunatov - Brophy
Tucker Esmay - Case Grande
Nicholas Diamond - Chaparral
USA Baseball also selected two players from the Mountain West Region
to be named to the USA Stars Team which is comprised of 20 players
from across the United States. The Stars Team will also compete in
the NTIS at the USA Baseball Headquarters in Cary, North Carolina in
September as a part of the National Identification Team Tournament.
The following players were selected to this team:
Tyler Crawford - Sunrise Mountain
Joey Bielek - Chaparral
August 3,
2009
The All-Star Baseball Academy from Arizona won the 2009
Sandy Koufax (14U) World Series Championship held at the Surprise Recreation
Campus. ASBA defeated Puerto Rico 13-5 in the championship game to win the
crown. Michael Lucero led ASBA, hitting a scorching .750 while garnering the
Tournament Batting Champion Award. Puerto Rico was led by Johnny Pozo who
batted .529 with 1 double, 3 triples, 1 home run and 8 RBI. Pozo was awarded
the Tournament MVP. Puerto Rico also collected the Tournament Sportsmanship
Award.
Angels Claim Don Mattingly Title
The Angels White 17 U team reached their first goal by winning
the Don Mattingly Qualifier on June 28, giving them an
automatic bid in the AABC Don Mattingly World Series in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. They reached their final goal on
August 1 by winning the AABC Don Mattingly World Series
Championship Game by defeating the Albuquerque Baseball Academy
8-5.
The Angels opened the pool play of the tournament by defeating
New Mexico ABA Blue 12-4. In their second game, the Angels
defeated the 2008 runner up, the California Rockies by a score
of 11-1. Taylor Lindsey (Desert Mountain), DJ Peterson
(Gilbert) and Travis Flores (Desert Ridge) each hit home runs in
that victory. Day two started the bracket play and the Angels
earned the number two seed. The Angels played the New Mexico
Ravens who were the defending champions and beat them 10-0.
Trevor Stone (Brophy) picked up the win for the Angels. Alexis
Batista (Tucson High) had two hits and two runs scored and
Taylor Lindsey hit his second home run of the tournament. In
the second game the Angels defeated Colorado Ponderosa by a
score of 10-2. The Angels were led by DJ Peterson and Tyler
Kamtz (Gilbert) who each had two hits. Taylor Lindsey, Travis
Flores and Nathaniel Causey (Gilbert) each hit home runs. Keith
Zuniga (Nogales) pitched five innings picking up the victory.
On day three of the tournament the Angels took on the New York
Paveco Storm. The Angels were trailing the Storm 2-1 before
tying the game in the 4th. Kasey Coffman (Brophy) led off the
inning by getting hit by a pitch and later scored on a single by
Tyler Kamtz. The Angels scored three more runs in the 5th on
singles by Kyle Herrington (Deer Valley) and Nathaniel Causey.
Coffman scored for a second time after being hit by a pitch for
the third time. James Farris (Highland) picked up the win for
the Angels.
Day four brought on the number one seed the California Trombly
Braves. The Angels committed six errors in the game but were
still able to hang on to defeat the Braves by a score of 9-6.
Cam Teach (Desert Mountain) scatterd 4 hits over 5 innings to
record the win and Keith Zuniga pitched a scoreless 7th to
record his first save. The Angels were led by Taylor Lindsey
who had three hits and two runs scored. Travis Flores also had
three hits including a home run. Adam Sonabend (Desert
Mountain) also had three hits including two doubles.
The following day the Angels ran into the hard hitting New
Mexico ABA. They also faced their toughest pitcher of the
tournament as well. New Mexico ABA scored 6 runs off starter
Scott Squier (Valley Vista) and defeated the Angels 10-3 giving
them their first loss of the tournament. DJ Peterson and Kasey
Coffman had two hits apiece in the loss.
At this point, there were only three teams left in the
tournament. The Angels, the CA Trombly Braves and NM ABA.
Since NM ABA was the only team that had not had a bye, the
Angels and the Braves were forced to play each other in an
elimination game. With the Braves out for blood, the Angels
sent Trevor Stone to the mound. Stone pitched a gem allowing 2
earned runs over six innings and the Angels defeated the Braves
for a second time by the score of 5-4. Keith Zuniga recorded
his second save of the tournament. The Angels broke a 1-1 tie
in the 4th by scoring 3 runs. Kasey Coffman led off the inning
by getting hit by a pitch and scoring on a base hit by Rick
Rydalch (Gilbert.) Rydalch and Alexis Batista scored on a
double by Tyler Kamtz. DJ Peterson also had two hits including
his 3rd double of the tournament.
After defeating the CA Trombly Braves for the second time, the
Angels would have to face the team to give them their only loss
of the tournament, the NM ABA. The Angels sent Mark Stern (Brophy)
to the mound. The Angels struck first scoring one in the top of
the 1st on a single by DJ Peterson. NM ABA responded in their
half by plating 3 runs. The Angels got one of those runs back
in their half of the 2nd on an RBI single by Taylor Lindsey.
NM ABA added onto their lead scoring one run in the 3rd and the
6th off starter Mark Stern before Joey Rocha (Mountain Pointe)
and Chris Salazar (Saguaro) came in and closed the inning out.
In the top of the 7th, trailing 5-2, Travis Flores led of the
inning by being hit by a pitch. Nathaniel Causey followed with
a walk. Pinch hitter Adam Sonabend singled to right just out of
the reach of the second baseman to load the bases. Alexis
Batista then hit a hard ball off the third baseman’s foot which
shot into foul territory allowing Flores to score cutting the
lead to 5-3. Tyler Kamtz was then hit by a pitch which allowed
Causey to score making the score 5-4. DJ Peterson then came up
and hit a bases clearing double over the right fielder‘s head
making the score 7-5 in favor of the Angels. Peterson then
scored on a hard hit single by Kasey Coffman off the pitcher’s
shin. Chris Salazar picked up the win throwing 1/3 of an inning
and Keith Zuniga pitched a scoreless 7th inning picking up his
third save in three days preserving the win and the
championship for the Angels.
The Angels were led by Taylor Lindsey who received tournament
honors by being named the top slugger of the tournament.
Lindsey hit three home runs and batted .433 for the tournament.
DJ Peterson was named tournament MVP batting .567 in the
tournament including the game winning hit in the Championship
Game. Peterson went 4-5 with two doubles, two singles and three
RBI in the final game. For the tournament, Peterson had 17 hits
in 30 at bats including five doubles, one home run and 15 RBI.
James Farris and Trevor Stone each picked up two wins and Keith
Zuniga recorded one win and three saves. The Angels finished
their season with a 29-7 record and a team batting average of
.358.
July 30,
2009
The Angels White Scout team is currently undefeated at
the Don Mattingly World Series in Albuquerque. The Angels swept
their 2 pool games on Monday, and have won their first three games
in bracket play, the first 2 by mercy rule.
Taylor Lindsey has 3 homers in the tourney so far. DJ Peterson,
Travis Flores and Nathaniel Causey have all went deep as well.
All Star Baseball went 11 in pool play, and dropped their first
game of bracket play on Tuesday.
The 2 AZ teams at the Connie Mack Western regional both lost
their first round games.
The AZ Firebirds fell to the Sonoma County Rebels 4-2, and the
Dodgers lost 4-1 to the California Rockies.
In first round action at the 2009 Sandy Koufax World Series held
at the Surprise Recreation Campus, the host team from All-Star
Baseball Academy beat the North Atlantic Regional Champion from
Brooklyn, New York by a score of 6-3. They will play Puerto Rico at
4:30pm at Surprise Stadium on Thursday. Puerto Rico advanced to the
winner's bracket with a 5-1 win over Indiana. In other first round
action Michigan beat Georgia by a score of 9-2 and will play
Oklahoma at 7:00pm at Surprise Stadium on Thursday. Oklahoma
advanced with a 3-1 win
over Washington.