VarsityXtra

Tempe Corona del Sol is the recipient of the Blue Cup Award given to an area high school that demonstrates excellence in activities, athletics and academics.

The school has a cumulative grade point average of 3.56 among all students who also participate in AIA-sanctioned sports and activities. There are also a large collection of student-athletes who mentor fourth graders at nearby Brisas Elementary School as part of educational and anti-bullying seminars.

The high school season might be over, but many track athletes continue competing well into the summer.

On Saturday, a host of local athletes performed well in the Meet of Champions at Sandra Day O’Connor.

Results can be found by clicking here.

It was only fitting that Tempe Corona del Sol wrestling coach Dave Vibber exited the coaching ranks in February as coach of the state champion Aztecs. Vibber, however, has been a champion in my book  long before that.

A tireless coach, who for many seasons mentored year round (football assistant, varsity wrestling and varsity track), Vibber always exhibited the character any parent would want their son or daughther’s coach to display. Great  work ethic, tough, fair and an outstanding person who cares about kids.  Easy to deal with in all respects and highly dedicated to his profession. Three decades of coaching. Those kind of people I f igure will be fewer in the future given the demands of the profession.

Congratulations on your retirement, Dave. If other young coaches or athletes want a role model, they need only look to you.

Tempe Corona del Sol’s standout wrestler Luke Macchiaroli recently received another honor for his resume as he was chosen Arizona’s winner of the 2009 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

The award is given in honor of Olympic and world champion Dave Schulz. The award recognizes and the recipient is evaluation on excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, character, citizenship and community service.

It’s super-hangover Sunday, where the goosebumps still linger for those who capped this high school sports season - or their careers - with a state championship, state title appearance, tournament appearance, whatever you define as success.

For those who must live with the agony of defeat, the latest life lesson’s learned. It’s often a cruel, unfair world.

In the last 48 hours there were state track records which nearly fell (again), and a Valley Christian program which made itself a national topic.

Corona del Sol baseball team was too good, controversy flew around Hamilton’s Cory Bernard, a Desert Ridge-Horizon showdown that (eventually) became everything a state championship game should include.

There was a Basha-Red Mountain softball game to remember and Seton Catholic did just fine without its coach.

Mountain Pointe remained the most dominant volleyball program in the state, and surprising Gilbert was the last school which stood in the Pride’s way.

For all this and more, thank the athletes, coaches and fans.

Don’t forget to include the AIA in all this. Rarely does the governing body get complimented these days on its operations, but a host of people worked extremely long hours (even longer than reporters and photographers) as neary a dozen tournaments were flawlessly exectured.

Remember this: When this crazed country went psycho on itself because of the swine flu, and Texas and Alabama shut down their school sports/activities for weeks, the AIA saw safety and health come first, but didn’t panic and go running for the civil defense bunkers when it heard a sneeze.

The powers-at-be were proactive, not panicked.

So be glad we’re not going another two or three weeks into summer, and let the emotions of this weekend linger. You’ll understand and appreciate being on the other side when that time comes.

Clouded by a mad scramble to get some sort of semi-coherent recap of Friday night’s 5A Division I softball state championship madness (it was actually written in pitch-black darkness since all the lights at Rose Mofford were turned off), some bits of randomness remained:

–The lasting image from this classic for Mesa Red Mountain might be of senior Kayla Ensminger still on third base in a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning. She would have easily scored the winning run had she seen the ball rolling through the infield. But she never saw the ball, realized what could have happened and was livid with herself, though she wisely stayed at third base when she realized what happened.

What can you do?

The lasting image of Ensminger should be of her temporarily saving the season by hitting that two-out double into the gap, and, even more impressive, going 5-for-5 against possibly the best Class 5A pitcher in the state (Basha’s Sam Parlich).  It’s a near guarantee nobody has gotten four hits (let alone five) off Parlich in this lifetime.

That was her final high school game, and though she won a championship as a freshman in 2006, that’s a painful way for her and injured teammate Lucy Aubrecht to end their terrific high school careers.

–Fewer than 10 minutes after winning the title, several Basha parents and fans still groused about the umpiring.

Most of that venom surrounded the balls and strikes, a call that ruled Desiree Mejia out after she hit herself with the batted ball, and a reversal when Theresa Asta was hit by a pitch on a two-strike bunt attempt.

(The last one got coach Scott Hoffmeyer kicked out of the game for saying something to the umpire. He must have said something because it was extra innings of a state championship game, and, from my vantage point, Hoffmeyer wasn’t screaming or overly demonstrative in his protest).

Hoffmeyer wanted to hang around the dugout, but AIA officials stepped in and made him stand out of his players’ sights, so he took up a spot down the right field corner and watched the rest of the game.

As for the Basha bobos who were more hellbent about being  “victims” of some umpiring conspiracy than of winning a state title, not to mention what a horrible example such persons of authority demonstrated to the kids, shame on me for being surprised by this.

–Basha leadoff hitter Sierra Rodriguez had three hits, scored twice, started two double plays at second base and robbed Red Mountain of another hit with a diving stab at a grounder. She’s a junior.

–This could happen again next year. Parlich is the only Basha starter to graduate, and while that’s an enormous loss of pitching and hitting, freshman Kailey Regester had a good season as the No. 2 pitcher.

The Lions lose Ensminger and Aubrecht, but we’ve already seen they can reach the championship game without one of those two.

–Classiest participants of the night:

1.  Basha catcher Desiree Mejia, who couldn’t stop talking about how good an overall game it was and how well Red Mountain played.

2.  Red Mountain coach Rich Hamilton.  He always is.

Seton Catholic softball coach Jerry Mullin has four state championships (2002 through 2005 when the Sentinels were a 3A school) but only one daughter who’s about to graduate college.

Family comes before fastballs, so the Sentinels will try to win their first 4A-II title and dethrone defending champion Phoenix Greenway late Friday afternoon without their skipper.

Mullin left the team Wednesday and flew to Knoxville, Tenn., to watch his daughter, Meghan, play in her final NCAA Tournament for the University of Nebraska.

Meghan is a co-captain this season and the outfielder is a three-year leadoff hitter for the Huskers.

Fourteen-year assistant Gary Davis has run the Sentinel show this week in place of Mullin.

….either Basha or Red Mountain.

(How’s that for sitting firmly on the fence?)

Actually, it’ll be a fun Friday (Seton Catholic faces Phoenix Greenway in the 4A-II title game in a few hours, and the Sentinels absolutely want payback for Greenway ending Seton’s 2008 season in the semifinals).

Allow me to save everyone time and effort by telling the masses exactly what’s going to happen between the Bears and Lions come  8:07 p.m.

Here’s one amateur viewer’s breakdown:

Pitching: Sam Parlich (Basha) and Mel Willadsen (Red Mountain) are two of the top three East Valley pitchers in 5A-I. The ASU-bound Parlich has been dominant the past two seasons because of her velocity and riseball, and seemed to have found a second gear in Game 2 against St. Mary’s in Wednesday’s semifinals.  She was roughed up early in last year’s state championship game against Corona del Sol, but found her groove in the middle innings and won.

Willadsen, a junior, has been as good or better than Parlich during this tournament. Though not as unhittable as Parlich can be, Willadsen gets strikeouts when she needs them, and she constantly moves the ball back and forth around the strike zone with pristine location.  This will be her first appearance under the largest spotlight.

If push comes to shove, freshman Kailey Regester would replace Parlich and Ashley Sunderhaus would replace Willadsen. Regester has pitched more and had an excellent season, but it would be an emergency scenario only for Red Mountain because the Lions don’t want to move Sunderhaus away from shortstop in what’s been a re-tooled defense.   Advantage: Basha (barely)

Hitting: Parlich has received most of the headlines and she is their best hitter, able to go to all fields with power and can run.  But she’s not alone, and the home run threat and deep lineup has separated the Bears from the pack for most of the season.  They have a top-notch leadoff hitter in Sierra Rodriguez; Desiree Mejia is a power threat at catcher; and shortstop Darlene Valles - who hit the game-deciding grand slam in last year’s title game - has come through in the clutch a couple more times in this tournament.

Red Mountain has done well enough to get by, especially since their best hitter has been out for the past six weeks because of a knee injury (Lucy Aubrecht). Willadsen has emerged as the team’s best overall hitter, and the Lions are good at “small ball,” moving runners over and bunting. Hitting was a question mark coming into this tournament given their struggles to score in the past two state tournaments (though most of those semifinal losses came against Dallas Escobedo).  For both teams, a relative lack of familiarity is to the pitcher’s favor.  Advantage: Basha.

Defense: They’ve both been a cut above with the leather, especially Red Mountain, which brought up a couple players from JV earlier in the season when Aubrecht was lost for the season. Caylee Price has been a solid catcher and clutch hitter for the Lions this month, and the Lions infield has been nearly flawless all tournament. ‘D’ has been their prized possession.

Basha is strong up the middle. Mejia has a strong arm behind the plate and Valles might have made a season-saving play at shortstop when she ran into foul ground with her back to the infield and made  a running catch near the fence late in Game 2 against St. Mary’s.

For each team, you can count the number of errors this tournament on one hand.    Advantage: Red Mountain.

History: Red Mountain defeated Basha, 3-0, during Red Mountain’s season-opening tournament in late February, but that game is so far-removed and meaningless now, it probably wasn’t worth the mention in this space.  Too late.

Prediction: Basha 3, Red Mountain 2

The last time the Chandler Valley Christian girls track team finished second or below in the state track championships, some current athletes were in diapers.

Now they’ll be counted on to make history.

The Trojans are closing in on a 14th consecutive track state title, which would be a national record if it happens. Valley Christian tied the mark of three other schools last season when it won No. 13, which included a run by Safford.

Rapid City Stevens, S.D. also has won 13 in a row, but since their state meet isn’t for two weeks, the Trojans would hold the title alone, at least for a little while.

The chances are overwhelming that it happens. Valley Christian has qualified a fleet of athletes into the state meet, and only an awful day could slow them down.

This is the fourth season of double-elimination state baseball tournaments in 5A Division I and 5A Division II.  Teams that have had to plow their way back through the losers’ bracket to get to the championship game have come up empty so far. Will that change Thursday night?

Not likely. Gilbert Highland, Tempe Corona del Sol, Mesa Desert Ridge and Scottsdale Horizon have their pitching staffs rested and ready with four days off since their last game. It’s a hill, nonetheless, that Chandler Hamilton, Phoenix Desert Vista, Glendale Deer Valley and Phoenix Pinnacle, respectively, hope to make history with Thursday night by beating their opponents twice to gain a title berth on Saturday.