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Corona sports update
Aztecs knocked out of state tourney in opening round

By Brian Gomez

Signs that the Tempe Corona del Sol High School varsity baseball team was in trouble initially surfaced after three straight losses to close out the regular season.

They became even more vivid the following week when the Aztecs dropped consecutive games in the Central Region tournament. The collection of mishaps from a troublesome stretch run finally culminated May 6 with a season-ending 11-7 loss to Goldwater in the first round of the state tournament.

“I don’t think we played the perfect game we were capable of playing, but we went as far as we possibly could have,” Corona head coach Ron Davini said. “We hit that roller coaster ride, but never pulled ourselves back up. It’s like the guy who has his airplane headed for the ground, but hits the ground before the nose gets up.”

The three-week span of inconsistency was uncharacteristic of a team that won 10 of 13 games out of the gates. The Aztecs finished the season 20-13 overall with a 7-7 mark in region play.

Corona never mustered quite enough of a spark to bounce back from a pair of one-run defeats against Scottsdale Desert Mountain and Desert Vista. The Aztecs were then dealt another blow in the form of a disheartening 9-8 loss to Mountain Pointe.

Corona held a comfortable three-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, before the Pride mounted a furious comeback. Mountain Pointe drew even on the strength of left fielder Chance Hanepen’s infield single that brought home catcher Adam Barnes from third.

Corona junior right-hander Mike Pollak then plunked center fielder JJ Sferra, before second baseman Justin Sandberg walked on four consecutive pitches to score the game-winning run. Corona senior left-hander Matt Michael (6-4) recorded a no decision, having relinquished only two hits while allowing 13 base runners in 4.1 innings pitched.

“He had all kinds of control problems,” Davini said. “He just didn’t hit the zone and get it in there for that first strike.”

Entering the state tournament as the No. 2 seed out of the Central Region, the Aztecs dug themselves a hole early against Goldwater. They spotted the Bulldogs five runs in the opening two frames, but came storming back with three of their own in the third.

However, Goldwater put things out of reach with a five-run fifth inning. Pollak was credited with the loss, dropping his record on the season to 4-3.

“They took advantage of our mistakes,” said Davini, whose team committed five errors. “Anytime you lose a ballgame you thought you should have won, you always feel pretty bad about it.”

The Aztecs will be forced to rebuild next year after losing eight seniors to graduation. Those departing include Michael, third baseman Nate Combs, center fielder Brian Smith, right fielder Craig Fugate, Marcus Ontiveros, Billy Apel, Dan Bistany and Evan Ortiz.

“It has been a long time since we’ve had fine senior leadership. I hate to see them leave, but I’m sure they’re going to do better things as they go on,” Davini said. “The people we lose are going to be missed, but it’s like anything in life — two days later there is somebody there to take their place.”

Among those slated to return are junior left fielder Kyle Chilton, junior shortstop Ben Rodriguez, junior second baseman Eric Gundry, junior catcher Josh Tarnow and sophomore designated hitter Eric Smith. With the absence of five pitchers, the Aztecs must rely heavily on Pollak and junior right-hander Scott Gurley.

“We’re still going to make the level we’ve always made,” Davini said. “We’ve got young kids coming back who will help us and we’ve got some kids in our program who played at the lower levels that will fit in real nicely.”

Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com.

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