Going from interviewing George Arias when he was a senior in 1990 hitting moon-shot home runs as part of Pueblo’s state championship team to interviewing his son Nick, a senior at Tucson High School, is surreal to say the least.
Grateful to George for the experience because that means he continues to impact the development of youth baseball in Southern Arizona from his contribution as a player at Pueblo, Pima College and Arizona to now being a trainer, coach and mentor with the Tucson Champs Academy and owner of the Centerfield training facility.
.@tucsonchamps coaches George Arias and Mike Herd are valuable to the development of young baseball players in Southern Arizona as evidenced by the many prospects who signed a national letter of intent today at Arias’ Centerfield training facility. pic.twitter.com/eW1A5Qp3YC
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 11, 2021
Nick and 10 other Southern Arizona college prospects signed their national letters of intent Wednesday and celebrated the occasion at Centerfield with the elder Arias serving as host.
Back in George’s days at Pueblo as a third baseman playing for Jon Holstrom, signing ceremonies were rare, but then again, social media was not around.
It was a special time for all involved at Centerfield with families and coaches taking part in the celebration.
.@TucsonBadgers Class of 2022 standout INF @Nick___Arias talks about signing with @GCU_Baseball today. Son of legendary George Arias. pic.twitter.com/Zusjms34CP
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 11, 2021
George and his family reveled in the accomplishment of Nick, an infielder, to sign with Grand Canyon University after playing for his dad with the Tucson Champs Academy program along with the 10 other players there.
Among them was Cienega standout centerfielder Isaiah Jackson, who signed with Arizona State. Also present was Isaiah’s brother Andre, who joined the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff this season after graduating from Cienega and playing collegiately at Utah. Their parents Chach Jackson and Tricia Altieri were also on hand.
.@BaseballCienega Class of 2022 CF @Jackson_Isaiah6 talks about signing his national letter of intent today with @ASU_Baseball. Brother of @Dodgers RHP @DreDayXIII, a former Bobcat standout. pic.twitter.com/I1QGrSc1GU
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 11, 2021
.@Dodgers RHP Andre Jackson (@DreDayXIII) talks about brother @Jackson_Isaiah6 signing a letter of intent with @ASU_Baseball. Both have starred with @BaseballCienega. Isaiah a senior this school year. Andre was promoted to Dodgers this season. What a special time for the family. pic.twitter.com/bOxSG8XrCu
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 11, 2021
The eleven signees:
Nick Arias, Tucson High School, SS, signed with Grand Canyon
Roman Bracamonte, Nogales, RHP, New Mexico State
Lucas Cardy, CDO, RHP/OF, Grand Canyon
Benji Cazares, Tucson, 1B/3B/C/RHP, Pima College
Demetrio Crisantes, Nogales, INF, Arizona
.@dcrisantes5 from the baseball-prospect factories at @ApacheBaseball1 and @tucsonchamps talks about living out his dream signing a national letter of intent with @ArizonaBaseball today. pic.twitter.com/wCqKFDibvp
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 11, 2021
Marcus Delgado, CDO, RHP/OF, New Mexico State
Ryan Garcia, Cienega, LHP, Regis
Caleb Herd, Cienega, C/OF, New Mexico
Isaiah Jackson, Cienega, CF, Arizona State
Milo Rushford, Walden Grove, INF/OF/RHP, New Mexico State
Saul Soto, Nogales, RHP/INF/OF, New Mexico State
George Arias Eleven local signees Tucson High’s Benji Cazares Cienega’s Ryan Garcia Nogales’ Demetrio Crisantes and Cienega’s Isaiah Jackson Nogales’ Demetrio Crisantes George Arias and 11 signees Cienega’s Caleb Herd Cienega’s Isaiah Jackson Tucson High’s Nick Arias CDO’s Lucas Cardy CDO’s Marcus Delgado Nogales’ Roman Bracamonte Nogales’ Saul Soto Walden Grove’s Milo Rushford George Arias congratulates signees Parents taking photos Tucson High coach Mark Morris with his players Benji Cazares and Nick Arias George Arias and his family (wife Rachel, son Nick and daughter Alexis). His other son George Jr. was practicing with the Arizona baseball team at the time.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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