2025 Baseball

Salpointe’s two inside-the-park home runs in first inning highlight win in 4A state semifinal

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Salpointe’s Johnny Abramian runs home to complete his three-run inside-the-park home run in the first inning after Aciel Guillen achieved the same feat earlier in the inning (Stephanie van Latum/AllSportsTucson.com)

Inside-the-park home runs by Aciel Guillen and Johnny Abramian in the bottom of the first inning and their game-ending defensive play up the middle in the top of the seventh inning were the difference Wednesday night for top-seeded Salpointe in its 4A semifinal game with No. 5 Ironwood Ridge.

The home runs that helped generate seven runs in the first provided the run support Salpointe starter Izaiah Moraga needed Wednesday night in the 8-5 victory at Hi Corbett Field.

“I thought I was going to get a triple there but coach was sending me,” Guillen said of his inside-the-park home run. “I went all the way … As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going far.”

Abramian’s glove at second base in the top of the seventh inning punctuated the win.

He ranged wide to his right to snag a hard-hit grounder up the middle and flipped the ball to Guillen for the force out. The umpires then ruled that Ironwood Ridge’s baserunner interfered with Guillen at second base, resulting in an out and the last play of the game.

The umps originally did not call interference, but Salpointe coach Danny Preble asked them to discuss the play. They determined the Ironwood Ridge player contacted Guillen while standing up, impeding Guillen’s ability to throw to first base for a potential double play.

“I saw the kid pop up sliding into our shortstop,” Preble said. “I didn’t know if he had to make an attempt to throw the ball to first. I saw him pop up so I just asked for them to check on it.”

Salpointe (25-4-1) will play Flagstaff (22-9) on Monday at Tempe Diablo Stadium at 7 p.m. in the championship game.

The Eagles have made an impressive run to the championship game as the No. 14 seed, defeating No. 3 Prescott, No. 11 Deer Valley and No. 10 Saguaro (the defending state champions) twice to make it this far.

“They are not playing like a 14 seed,” Preble said. “I wouldn’t dare think of them as a 14 seed. Well-coached group … they’re going to do their thing. We’re going to be ready, but they’re going to show up ready as well.”

Ironwood Ridge (25-9) built a short-lived lead in the top of the first Wednesday, scoring a couple of runs following RBI singles by Angel Figueroa and Clifford Graves.

The inside-the-park home runs by Guillen and Abramian followed in the bottom of the first.

Colton Raetzman opened Salpointe’s scoring with an RBI double with one out (plating Paul Saffer, who reached base on an error).

With two outs, Lucas Shannon was intentionally walked.

Guillen then hit the ball deep to the alley in left-center field past a drawn-in outfield, enabling him to round the bases behind Raetzman and Shannon to give Salpointe a 4-2 lead.

“We’re not really an offense-lacking team,” Guillen said of the team’s mindset after trailing 2-0 early. “It was just a matter of when, a matter of how and we did it.”

David Driskill and Anthony Milo hit consecutive singles after Guillen’s round-tripper.

Abramian then hit a line drive that tailed away from the left fielder, who came a couple of steps forward and could not make the catch. The ball rolled all the way to the left field wall and Driskill, Milo and Abramian scored, giving the Lancers a 7-2 lead.

“It was a great inning; it was a good way to come back,” Preble said. “They came out hot, put two runs on the board really quick. That kind of put us on our heels a little bit, so to come back and put up (seven runs) was great to see.”

Jordan Garcia’s RBI double that scored Figueroa after Figueroa walked to lead off the third inning cut the lead to 7-3.

Moraga kept Ironwood Ridge scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings and helped fuel a rally in the fifth inning after hitting a one-out double. Shannon followed with an RBI double to increase the lead to 8-3.

A triple by Brody Young started Ironwood Ridge’s top of the sixth. Graves then hit an infield single that forced in Young to cut the lead to 8-4.

The next batter reached on an error, giving Ironwood Ridge a runner on first and second with no outs.

Moraga proceeded to retire the next three batters, two by strikeout.

“Right after they scored those two runs (in the first), I was pissed, any baseball player would be,” Moraga said. “But my team came back and they put up for me. They showed me they had my back and I appreciate that so much.

“I can’t do this without the team. It’s a team sport. That’s really how it is.”

Moraga, a 6-foot-4 and 215-pound right-hander headed to South Mountain Community College, improved to 9-1 with a 2.48 ERA with 70 strikeouts and only seven walks.

He allowed eight hits and four earned runs in his six innings of work while tallying nine strikeouts and two walks.

“Izaiah was tough,” Preble said. “The (strike) zone was tighter than we’re used to, but he battled through it. It was tight both ways, so we’re getting the benefit offensively as well. But Izaiah battled really tough for us.”

Ironwood Ridge continued to show the resiliency that got the Nighthawks this far despite a late-season coaching change. Interim coach Zach Busby, a former Mountain View and Pima College standout who is a certified massage therapist, helped soothe the program during a turbulent time.

Relief pitcher Seve Sissac calmed Salpointe’s lineup after the seven-run first inning. He pitched the last five innings and allowed only two hits and struck out three with one walk.

The Nighthawks put together one last gasp in the top of the seventh, starting with Keanu Bracamonte hit by a pitch, followed by a single by Figueroa. Garcia then belted a line drive to right field, scoring Bracamonte.

Reliever Sam Meisner secured the save striking out the following batter before getting the last Nighthawk to ground into Abramian’s highlight-reel play behind second base and the interference call on the play that ended the game.

“We’ve been doing everything right, obviously; we’ve got a lot of wins under our belt,” Guillen said. “We don’t have to do too much, nothing crazy (in preparation for Monday’s championship game). Just keep it within us. I believe we’ll get that ‘W,’ for sure.”

An interesting note: Moraga and Guillen were part of the 2019 Sunnyside Little League team that came a game away from reaching Williamsport, Pa. As seniors in high school, they have the opportunity to fulfill their goal of achieving a state championship.

Standouts:

IRONWOOD RIDGE

SS Keanu Bracamonte, 2-3, 2 runs

DH Angel Figueroa, 2-3, run, RBI

1B Jordan Garcia, 2-3, 2 RBIs, double

3B Brody Young, 1-4, run, triple

RF Clifford Graves, 2-4, 2 RBIs

P Seve Sissac, 5 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 3Ks

SALPOINTE

CF Colton Raetzman, 1-3, run, RBI, double

P Izaiah Moraga, 1-2, double (batting), 6 IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 9Ks (win)

P Sam Meisner, 1 IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K (save)

C Lucas Shannon, 1-2, run, RBI, double

SS Aciel Guillen, 1-3, run, 3 RBIs, inside-the-park HR

3B David Driskill, 1-3, run

DH Anthony Milo, 1-3, run

2B Johnny Abramian, 1-3, run, 3 RBIs, inside-the-park HR

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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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