SPORTS

Arizona state baseball

North takes early exit; Winslow reaches final four

By Manuel Jesus
Special to the Times

WINDOW ROCK, May 8, 2008

Of the five teams from the 3A North that qualified for the 2008 Arizona 3A State Baseball championships, four teams were eliminated in the first round.

Eliminated from the state playoffs in the first round were No. 6 seed and 3A North regular season champion Window Rock, No. 12 Monument Valley, No. 13 Holbrook and No. 16 Chinle.

Winslow, the No. 2 seed in the state tournament and the 3A North's top seed, advanced into the semifinals after winning the first two rounds this past weekend at Surprise Baseball Complex.

Winslow (24-8) defeated No. 16 Chinle (12-8) in the first round, 11-1, in five innings. In the second round, Winslow defeated No. 10 Florence (19-9), 6-3, to advance into the final four against No.14 Safford (17-11) in a 7 p.m. game on Friday.

"Our pitchers have been pitching well all season long," said Winslow head baseball coach, Art Griffith. "Our junior Roman Guzman threw real well on Friday, gave up a lot of hits, but got the win. On Saturday, Efran Todacheenie gave up only three hits for the win."

"We're starting to swing the bats," Griffith about the Bulldog offense. "It's just not anyone, but all up and down the lineup."

The Bulldogs are preparing for Safford based scouting reports.

"Our scouting report will tell us where their hitters like to go, but when you get on the field it's all different," Griffth said. " We have a lot of young kids. We try and not confuse them."

No. 6 Window Rock, one of the best hitting teams in the 3A conference, were shutout, 10-0, in the first round by No. 11 Empire of Tucson (14-12) in five innings.

Window Rock finishes the season with a 22-9 overall record and the 3A North regular season championship.

Monument Valley was eliminated by Fountain Hills (23-7), 11-1.

Monument Valley finished the season with a 22-9 overall record.

Holbrook, last year's state runner up, was eliminated in the first round by Estrella Foothills (20-7-2) by an 8-3 score. Holbrook finished its season 18-13 overall.

2A Conference

All 2A North teams were eliminated in the 2A state baseball tournament at the Surprise Baseball Complex.

Of the four representatives of the North region, only St. Jonhs was able to advance into the second round, but was eliminated by Bourgade, 11-1, on Saturday. St. Johns had defeated Phoenix Country Day School, 5-1, on Friday in the first round.

North No. 2 Many Farms was beaten badly by Valley Christian in the first round, 33-2, on Friday to end the season.

North No. 3 Greyhills was blanked in the first round by Scottsdale Christian, 28-0, on Friday.

Also shutout was North No. 4 Hopi who lost 28-0 to Scottsdale Christian.

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