Aztecs gearing up for region play
By Brian Gomez
After tallying a 5-1 record in last week's Central/East Valley/Fiesta Tournament, the Tempe Corona del Sol High School varsity baseball team appears poised and ready to begin region play.
But the Aztecs (11-4) will undergo one final tune-up when traveling to Phoenix Horizon at 10 a.m. Saturday.The Huskies, who were 9-2 at press time and had won their past seven games, will pose a formidable challenge.
"This will be our leaping stone for getting ready," Corona head coach Ron Davini said. "Every game we get in, we can improve, get our feet a little bit wetter and maybe become a little bit stronger as a team, so we can be ready for region play."
Stiff competition is nothing new for the Aztecs after considerable seasoning in one of the state's most highly regarded tournaments.Playing six games in a single week, Corona would have gone undefeated had it not been for a 3-2 loss to Mesa Dobson.
Corona senior right-hander Marcus Ontiveros suffered his first defeat of the season when Dobson's Joe Roundy smacked a game-winning double in the bottom of the sixth inning. Despite the setback, the Aztecs looked impressive in their second tournament of the year.
"We played fairly decent, but still have a lot of room to improve," Davini said.
Corona senior third baseman Nate Combs has been literally tearing the cover off the ball lately. He has emerged as one of the team's leaders with a batting average that hovers around .400.
Combs went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs in Corona's 7-1 win over Mesa Skyline. He followed that stellar performance with another bomb in Corona's 2-1 triumph versus Chandler Hamilton.
"Nate has been hitting the ball pretty well for us in the last few weeks," Davini said. "Baseball is a game of streaks. I just hope he stays hot all season."
The Aztecs have received solid pitching, relinquishing just 18 runs in their past six games. Senior southpaw Craig Fugate and junior right-handers Mike Pollak and Scott Gurley all are undefeated.
"I'm just hoping our pitching can stay the way it has been so far," Davini said.
The road is undoubtedly going to get tougher for Corona on Tuesday afternoon (3:45 p.m.) with the start of a two-game series at Tempe Marcos de Niza.The Aztecs open region play against one of the league's best pitchers in Lino Valenzuela. The ace of the Padres throws as hard as anyone in the entire state.
"We're going to see him sometime during the week. We don't care when," Davini said. "We've just got to be prepared to play our type of baseball, be aggressive, try to get ahead in the count, make contact, put the ball in play and make them play defense."
Gurley will start Tuesday, while senior left-hander Matt Michael will take the mound when the series concludes Thursday afternoon (3:45 p.m.) at Corona. Pollak is going to throw Wednesday afternoon (3:45 p.m.) when the Aztecs host Scottsdale Chaparral.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com.