PANTHER INVITE CHAMPIONSHIP: FLOWING WELLS 15, TANQUE VERDE 6
LINK: FREE FLOWING WELLS/TANQUE VERDE PHOTOS
Flowing Wells scored 11 runs in the top of the 7th inning Saturday afternoon to defeat Tanque Verde 15-6 in the championship game of the Panther Invitational held at Amphitheater High School. The Caballeros sent 15 batters to the plate in that final inning highlighted by six hits in the comeback victory.
Tanque Verde came into the championship final with a 3-0 record, including a 12-7 win over Flowing Wells on Friday, and the Caballeros were 2-1 with victories over Baboquivari and Mountain View Marana. The Hawks also had wins over Mountain View and Amphitheater to set up the championship game…
LINK: GAME STORY AT AZPREPS365
TUCSON HIGH 1972 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM HONORED
Six members of the undefeated 1972 state championship team from Tucson High were honored at Cherry Field prior to a 7-3 victory over Liberty by the current crew of Badgers. Joe Romero, Kip Myrick, Al Lopez, Mike Odum and John Felix were on hand and Odum, the starting pitcher of the championship game, did the honors of throwing out the first pitch.
The Badgers went 25-0 in 1972 and it is still the last modern “big school” team to go undefeated. (Willcox went 33-0 to win the 2A title in 2000). The championship game was played at legendary Rendezvous Park, located one mile south of Hohokam Stadium in Mesa. Rendezvous Park was torn down in 1976 and the Oakland A’s use what is now now known as the “Fitch Baseball Fields” as a training center.
Hassey hit an RBI single to score Henry Faccio in a 9-inning 6-5 win over Scottsdale Coronado in the semifinal game the night before and Lopez hit a solo shot in the 8th to beat Chandler 4-3 in the championship. Seven of the starters on the baseball team went 11-1 to win a state football championship a few months before.
Ray Adkins was the coach and it was his second title (1959 was the other). Gary Grabosch led Rincon to the title the year before in 1971 and Hal Eustice coached Sahuaro to championships in in 1973 and in1974. Myrick’s father, Cliff Myrick, coached Catalina to a title in 1967.
RELATED: LEGENDARY UMPIRE BOB KLINGENFUS TALKS CALLING RON HASSEY’S GAMES STARTING AT MANSFIELD JR. HIGH
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017, a 2019 AZ Education News award winner and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019, became a member of the Sunnyside Los Mezquites Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2021 and he was a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee and he earned a Distinguished Service Award from Amphitheater. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com
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