I attended the AIA baseball championships this week- here are my top 10 takeaways
1. Wire to Wire
Corona Del Sol entered the season as the favorite to win the 6A state championship with preseason national top 25 recognition.
Even following a 4-0 shutout loss to Casteel to start the season, the Aztecs never conceded their spot as the team to beat in the 6A conference.
Corona Del Sol went 3-1 at the Boras Classic with its lone loss coming to No. 22 Basic (NV) and outside of a loss to Millennium in region play rolled into the postseason. The Aztecs did fall in a close battle to Red Mountain but avenged that loss with back to back semi final victories over the Mountain Lions prior to Monday’s title game.
2. More than a football school
For the first time in school history, a baseball championship banner will hang at Centennial
The greatest team the Coyotes and Jon Williams has ever had entered the year as one of the teams that stood a chance at winning the 5A championship. But after a loss to Canyon Del Oro, their title hopes seemed doomed.
Then, a victory over Nogales followed by back to back victories over Canyon Del Oro in the semifinals gave Centennial all the momentum it needed entering the title game.
Canyon View and Centennial scrimmage yearly prior to each season and that familiarity with the Jaguars paid off as Centennial knew everything about each Canyon View batter and pitcher it faced in the title game on its way to a 6-3 victory.
3. The Runner-Ups will return
Casteel and Canyon View both return a large chunk of their championship game rosters making them the big favorites to return to the title game next season.
For the Colts, no one expected them to reach the title game in 2025 after graduating 13 players from 2024’s 5A championship roster, 6 of which were division one players.
This time around, Casteel only loses one starting senior in Dallas Hairston. Thus giving them an advantage in the 6A title race.
For the Jaguars, losing star pitcher Landon Hood will hurt but the lineup returns six starting position players including star Ricardo Yuriar who missed the title game due to an ankle injury.
4. Pitching reigns supreme
Both championship winning teams from Tuesday night had multiple quality starters that helped them get to the title game, neither side relied on just one arm to lead the way.
For as talented as Utah Valley commit Colton Bakke had been, most didn’t expect him to get the start and he dominated the Jaguars for four innings. His partner and New Mexico State bound JT Price came in and mowed down the Jaguars for the remaining three innings.
The Coyotes also wouldn’t have reached the game without their number three starter Isaac Flores and his brilliant five inning, five strikeout performance in the semifinals to eliminate Canyon Del Oro.
5. Errors lead to losses
The two teams that lost on Tuesday night combined for 5 errors.
The final of that five came in the bottom of the fifth inning where a routine single to left field went through the glove of the outfielder allowing the tenth and game winning run to cross home plate for the Aztecs.
6. Quality hitting depth
Up and down the lineup threats lurked for opposing pitchers as both winners had 10 plus hits in each game.
The Coyotes saw five different hitters have two base hits including four extra base hits.
Corona Del Sol was just as explosive as three hitters had two or more base hits but the Aztecs did their damage via singles and five drawn walks that forced a pitching change in the first inning.
7. Baseball is thriving in the state
The fan turnout, especially for the 6A game was one of the best seen in quite a long time.
Even the 5A game saw the front parking lot of Tempe Diablo Stadium filled 30 minutes before first pitch which never happens due to the early start.
The official attendance figures given by the AIA had the 6A attendance listed at 3,313.
That figure was higher than each big school + open basketball championship as well as the 4A football championship (2,836). That total was also a hair shy of bringing in more than the 5A football championship (3,490).
The game also reached the Arizona Diamondbacks dugout when Merrill Kelly on the Burns and Gambo show on 98.7 admitted his lack of support for the Aztecs.
8. The core media of the state
It was special seeing the media that dedicates itself to all sports in the state cover the title game. Even if that number is limited, seeing the same faces at football, basketball, track, volleyball, and baseball is important but also shows the importance of having a core group of media in the state.
Arizona is lucky, the sheer amount of media dedicated to only one sport is something not seen anywhere else in the country.
But for the few that cover everything, it was a reminder of what makes the state special that it isn’t limited to the biggest publication to have dedicated reporters for every sport.
9. Reload but don’t rebuild
Both champions returned a large chunk of lineup entering the year proving reloading and not rebuilding is crucial to success.
For the Aztecs, gaining Texas bound pitcher Brett Crossland from Mountain Pointe did help but 18 players returned to the program from the 2024 season.
Centennial saw 17 players returned from the 2024 season as well.
For all the talk about falling off or back, both teams used familiar faces to lift trophies at the end of the season.
10. Fast starts paid off
Both teams jumped out to large leads they wouldn’t concede due to explosive first innings.
The Aztecs started the game with four runs in the first six batters of the contest as the starter for Casteel could only make it through ⅔ of the first inning before getting the hook.
For Centennial, it was a dream start as Landon Hood, who entered the game with a 0.32 ERA, gave up three runs on four hits in the first inning.
