Baseball outlook improves with win
By Brian Gomez
It would be premature for the Corona del Sol High School varsity baseball team to evaluate anything other than individual performances, but the potential for promising results already has surfaced.
Look no further than crafty right-hander Chris Reap.
Making his season debut last week, Reap allowed only two hits and struck out a career-high 14 batters in seven innings, as Corona topped No. 5-ranked Glendale Mountain Ridge 2-1 to remain in contention in the Aztec Baseball Tournament.
Corona will meet Central Region rival Mountain Pointe in the championship game at 9:30 a.m. March 6, assuming that the Aztecs got past Mesa Westwood and that the No. 3 Pride beat Mountain Ridge in the final round of pool play.
“We still have a ways to go,” said Corona head coach Ron Davini, whose team bounced back from last week’s season-opening loss to Mountain Pointe by blanking Glendale Sandra Day O’Connor in the second game of a doubleheader. “We’re not an overpowering ballclub at the plate. We need kids to have better plate selection, and get them to be a little more aggressive and start believing that they can go gap to gap.”
Reap provided the biggest bright spot, although other players also shined during a productive weekend in which the Aztecs (2-1) used almost everyone on their 18-man active roster.
Batting in the leadoff spot, senior Eric Smith accounted for the game-winning run against Mountain Ridge with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Senior Scott Tarkett, who saw action throughout the weekend as a pinch runner, scored the other run on a wild pitch.
Senior Phil Anderegg made his presence felt as the designated hitter in the cleanup spot. Junior infielders Tyler Ladue and Jeff Sinay also got on base a couple times, as did junior catcher Cameron Quade, senior right fielder Adam Taylor and junior shortstop Matt Webb, among others.
“I thought we hung together pretty well,” Davini said. “We have to improve our game, and get better each and every day.”
For the time being, Davini likely will stick with a three-man rotation consisting of Reap, senior Chris Rodriguez and junior transfer Gabe Sandersius. Their starts will be determined largely by Corona’s opponent, at least until region play begins in late March.
Davini didn’t pitch Reap this week against Gilbert Highland or defending state champion Chandler Hamilton, meaning Reap could be available in the March 6 finale of Corona’s annual tournament.
“He just started where he left off last year,” Davini said of Reap, whose 14 strikeouts were nearly one-third of his total from last season. “He wasn’t very overpowering, but he has a great knowledge of what he has to do to get a person out.”
The Aztecs could have their hands full this weekend against a Mountain Pointe team that boasts 12 seniors, including pitchers Brett Fuller and Chad Whittle, who went from being the closer as a sophomore to the ace.
Arizona State signee J.J. Sferra hits in the leadoff spot and starts in center field, while senior catcher Dave Rukstelis and senior infielders Jared Dhaenens and Shawn Kenney provide pop in the order.
“We’ve got a year’s experience,” Mountain Pointe coach Roger LeBlanc said. “We’re hoping we can take that next step, but we think we’ve got a little more experience.”
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com.
