Bryce Weege was dominant at the plate and mound and Nate Shoemaker exemplified No. 4 Catalina Foothills’ relentless batting in the Falcons’ 13-0 win in five innings over visiting No. 5 Cienega in a 5A state playoff second-round game Monday.
Weege was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and went 4 1/3 innings on the mound, allowing only two hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
Shoemaker was a triple away from a cycle, going 3 for 3 with a two-run home run that opened the scoring in the first inning and an RBI double that was part of a nine-run rally in the third inning.
“I wanted to go out there and give my team the best chance to win the game,” said Weege, who is bound for Oxnard (Calif.) College next season. “I had some good stuff today but all the boys hit and made some plays, so kudos to the team for the big win.
“They got us earlier in the year (2-1 win for the Bobcats at Cienega on March 21), but we came back and got them. So a great win right there.”
Catalina Foothills coach Lance Robertson has his fourth-seeded team 13-3 in their last 16 games after tonight’s 13-0 win in five innings over No. 5 Cienega in a 5A second-round game. The three losses in that span were against CDO and Salpointe. Falcons will face either No. 1… pic.twitter.com/YshsnofNCr
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) May 6, 2025
Cienega’s attempt to win two games in the playoffs for the first time since 2010 was stopped by Catalina Foothills, which is in search of its first state title after reaching the championship game six times, twice under coach Lance Robertson, including an appearance in the 2023 title game.
The Falcons (22-6) will play top-seeded Waddell Canyon View (28-4) in a third-round game Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Ace pitcher Ganon Dwyer (4-1, 2.24 ERA) is expected to start for the Falcons.
Cienega (16-9) moves to the elimination bracket, where it will host No. 8 Buckeye Verrado (19-8-1) at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
“We didn’t chase a lot of pitches tonight (and) Bryce was on point with the pitching as he has been all year,” Robertson said. “He’s been great for us all year. But we had timely hits that helped us out tonight.
“We had some big hits and we didn’t chase the curveball down in the dirt like we did against them last time. We had some good approaches tonight.”
Catalina Foothills senior starting pitcher Bryce Weege was a standout on the mound and at the plate for the Falcons in their 13-0 win in five innings over Cienega in a 5A second-round game. Weege allowed two hits in 4 1/3 IP with three Ks and no walks and he batted 2 for 3 with a… pic.twitter.com/WHaomfHhln
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) May 6, 2025
Catalina Foothills had only six hits against Cienega in the previous meeting and Shoemaker finished 0 for 4 in that game.
In the nine-run third inning Monday, Shoemaker had the two-run double and also a single as the Falcons sent 14 batters to the plate.
Weege had two RBI singles and Cooper Kruk a two-run double in the inning. Brady Jeong and Alec Olivas each walked with the bases loaded and Dwyer knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice grounder.
“We just tried to move the guys over and help the team win,” Weege said of Catalina Foothills’ 10 hits in the five-inning game. “All the guys did a good job today, so hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”
Despite a steady rainfall later in the game, Catalina Foothills continued to produce, getting runners on base which led to Jacob Bergthold scoring on an error and Parker Jacome on a wild pitch in the fourth inning.
The Falcons have won 13 of their last 16 games with three losses in that span to powerhouse programs Salpointe and Canyon del Oro.
“They’re kids and their focus gets a little bit better,” Robertson explained about the Falcons’ recent surge. “They’ve locked in a little bit. It’s a simple game. Don’t make errors. Make routine plays. Help your pitcher and avoid the big inning and we’ve done that so far.”
Catalina Foothills is the first Southern Arizona team Canyon View will face this season.
The Falcons are 2-1 against Phoenix-area teams with wins over Chandler Hamilton (21-6) and Glendale Mountain Ridge (14-13) and a loss against Tempe Corona del Sol (22-5).
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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 in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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