All-Tribune First Team
Player School Pos. Yr. Comment
Collin Braithwaite Perry C Sr. BYU-commit hit .416 with 7 HR, 34 RBI, .888 SLG
Dave Graybill Brophy 1B Sr. ASU-signee hit 11 HR; had 1.463 OPS
Scott Kingery Mountain Pointe 2B Sr. Hit .485 with 8 HR, 36 RBI
Jamie Westbrook Basha SS Jr. Batted .532 with 13 HR, slugged 1.117
Mitch Nay Hamilton 3B Sr. Gatorade POY hit .380 with 11 HR, slugged .837
Dylan Cozens Chaparral OF Sr. POY had state-best 19 HR, including walk-off blast in title game
Chris Beall Brophy OF Sr. Batted .413 with 9 HR, 50 RBI; ASU commit
M.J. Hubbs Pinnacle OF Jr. Hit .431 with 7 HR, 19 RBI; 1.379 OPS
Kyle Jorgensen Corona del Sol DH Sr. Hit .576 with 9 HR, 34 RBI; 1.577 OPS
Willie Ethington Mountain View Util Sr. Went 4-2, 1.78 ERA; 57 K, 4 BB; hit .451 with 8 HR
Keaton Cenatiempo Desert Ridge P Sr. Went 9-2 with a 1.70 ERA; 101 K in 60 IP
Tyger Talley Chaparral P Sr. Went 6-0 with a 1.85 ERA; 95 K in 53 IP
Player of the Year: Dylan Cozens, Chaparral
Coach of the Year: Mike Collins, St. Mary’s: Led Knights to a 24-5 record and a first-round playoff win over Gilbert after going 13-15 last season.
All-Tribune Second Team
Player School Pos. Yr. Comment
David Sandoval Apache Junction C Sr. Hit 6 HR with 1.402 OPS; great arm behind plate
Anthony Conforti Basha 1B Sr. .440 avg., 9 HR, 28 RBI; .881 SLG, 1.401 OPS
Aaron Smith Red Mountain 2B Sr. Led D-I with .642 OBP; stole 24 bases
Jeff Paschke Valley Christian SS Jr. Hit .481 with 7 HR, 40 RBI; 1.579 OPS
David Greer Desert Mountain 3B Jr. First-team All-section choice for Wolves
Garrett Jeffries Mesquite OF Sr. Hit .495 with 2 HR, 35 RBI
Lukas Treffers St. Mary’s OF Sr. Batted .469, 28 RBI, 33 SB, solid defense
Zach Gibbons Saguaro OF Sr. Hit .470, stole 32 bases; UA-bound
Josh Moore Gilbert DH Jr. Hit .449 BA with 5 HR, 38 RBI in only 78 AB; 1.349 OPS
Spencer Applebach Mesquite Util Sr. Went 8-0 with 2.28 ERA; OBP of .440, 30 runs scored
Cody Moffett Highland P Sr. UA signee a first-team All-Division I choice
Andrew Naderer Arcadia P Sr. Finished 5-2 with 1.94 ERA; 59 K in 54 IP
Honorable mention
Apache Junction: John Converse, Sr., IF; Arcadia: Gary Cornish, Sr., P/OF; Brendan Satran, Sr., OF; Drew Butler, Sr., IF; Brophy: Nick Jewett, Sr., IF; Michael Westra, Jr., RHP; Cactus Shadows: Eduardo Castro, Sr., IF; Campo Verde: Aaron Dotson, Jr. IF; Chaparral: Nick Diamond, Sr., OF; Jeremy Wolf, Sr., DH; Corona del Sol: Josh Ethier, Jr., SS; Nathan Birecki, So., P; Combs: Dustin Burke, Sr., IF; Zak Hunt, Sr., P; Desert Mountain: Cody Erickson, Jr., P; Drew McLaughlin, Sr., IF; Desert Ridge: Riley Unroe, Jr., IF; Desert Vista: Tyler Adams, Sr. IF; Hunter Rodriguez, Sr., P; Dobson: Justin Behnke, Sr., IF; D.J. Carr, Sr., OF/P; Gilbert: Dustin Peterson, Jr., SS; Justin McAllister, Sr., P; Gilbert Christian: Trae Still, Fr., IF; Hamilton: Cody Bellinger, Jr., IF; Patrick Murphy, Jr., RP; Highland: Jordan Peterson, Sr., OF; Higley: Kevyn Nunez, Sr. OF/P; Horizon: Michael McNamaraSr., C; Tanner German, Sr., IF; Marcos de Niza: Nick Fatica, Sr., OF; Noel Rodriguez, Sr. P; Mesa: Brock Hale, Jr., OF; Joseph Eto, Jr., P; Mesquite: Jon Ferrendelli, Sr., P; Jake Howard, Sr, IF; Seth Fretheim, Sr.,IF; Mountain Pointe: Joey Curletta, Sr., IF/P; Kyle Detwiler, Sr. P; Mountain View: Sterling Smith, Sr., IF; Notre Dame: Duncan Morfitt, Jr., IF; Daniel Ziemann, Sr., OF; Kelvan Pilot, Sr., P; Pinnacle: Brock Hartley, Jr. IF; Bryce Colceri, Sr., OF; Eric Melbostad, Sr., P; Poston Butte: Wyatt Pattyson, Jr., IF; Queen Creek: Chad Leonard, Sr. C/P; Marcus Still, So. OF; Red Mountain: Jordan Zimmerman, Jr., IF; John Havird, Sr., P; Saguaro: Chris Akmon, Sr., OF; Reed Austin, Sr., 1B/P; Alan Madsen, Sr., P; Scottsdale Christian: Matt Benefiel, Jr., IF; Clay Crookham, Jr. P; Scottsdale Prep: Matt Munsil, So., SS; Seton Catholic: Troy Ruggiero, Sr., P; Matt Pawlowski, Jr., IF; Skyline: Brian Melendez, Sr., OF; St. Mary’s: Nico Maldonado, Sr., IF; Irvin Ruiz, Jr., P; Antonio Coronado, Fr., OF/P; Tempe Prep: Andrew Otting-Crandall, So., OF; Valley Christian: T.J. Widner, So. IF; Westwood: Gerardo Arzaga, Sr., If; Williams Field: Brandon Amenta, Jr., SS.
Memorable Moments from the 2012 season
The Dylan Cozens saga: Chaparral’s star right fielder was kicked off the Desert Mountain team as a junior and then ruled ineligible for a calendar year following an immediate transfer to Chaparral. The ruling was shortened and Cozens was allowed to play from the start of this year and he had a monster season. He led the state in home runs and broke current White Sox star first baseman Paul Konerko’s school record for homers in a season. Cozens finished his year off in style, hitting a two-run, opposite field walk-off homer to lift the Firebirds to a 5-3 win over Brophy in the Division I state championship game.
Mesquite’s last run: This core group of Mesquite baseball players has made the Wildcats a common fixture deep in the postseason. It was another similar scene this year, as Garrett Jeffries, Seth Fretheim, Spencer Applebach and Co. made it to the state semifinals. Mesquite had a one-run lead with four outs to get, but Brophy rallied for the win, closing an impressive era for this group of Wildcats.
New tournament format: The state tournaments were expanded to 24 teams, with the top-8 getting first-round byes. Once the first two rounds were finished, the final eight teams entered into a double-elimination tournament. Early on there was worry that the power point standings would be skewed and the wrong teams would get byes, but the rankings did work and, for the most part, the best teams finished in the top eight. The coaches seemed to like this format better because the tournament wasn’t as drawn out — previously it was a 16-team double-elimination tournament — and more teams still made the playoffs.
Reach Kyle Odegard at (480) 898-6834 or kodegard@evtrib.com. Follow his blog at http://blogs.evtrib.com/varsityxtra, or find him on Twitter @Kyle_Odegard.
