Salpointe Catholic High School won its second state baseball championship in program history after defeating Flagstaff High School at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Monday, 8-0.
The win marks the second state title for Salpointe Catholic head coach Danny Preble, who helped take the Lancers to their first championship over Mesquite, 4-3, in the 2018-19 season.
For Salpointe鈥檚 13 seniors, the victory was the perfect way to finish their high school baseball careers.
鈥淲e get a bunch of good kids that come into our program and they buy in,鈥 Preble told the Star ahead of the championship game. 鈥淭he success and traditions that we鈥檝e had over the last 15-20 years in this program, it speaks for itself. We鈥檙e always in the mix and we鈥檙e always playing in May. I shouldn鈥檛 say it so arrogantly, because it鈥檚 a fortunate situation and there鈥檚 some luck involved, but we have really good players that buy into the process and it shows up in games. With that, it shows up in the postseason.鈥
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Salpointe Catholic took down Flagstaff, 8-0, in the AIA 4A state baseball championships on Monday. The win gives the Lancers their second state title.
The No. 1 Lancers started off the championship game against No. 14 Flagstaff with a bang after putting five up on the board in the first inning.
Two of those runs came from junior Colton Raetzman鈥檚 two-run inside-the-park home run, which gave the Lancers a 2-0 lead at the beginning of the game. Raetzman went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.
The Star鈥檚 HS Student-Athlete of the Week, Aciel Guillen, hit a double to extend the lead to 3-0. Salpointe put two more runs up on the board after an RBI double from David Driskill, who also scored on a fly ball in the first inning, extending the lead to 5-0.
Guillen went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs, a double and an RBI, according to MaxPreps.
In the second inning, the Lancers put another run on the board, bringing the score to 6-0.
Salpointe鈥檚 bats remained on fire as the Lancers tacked on two more runs, bringing the score to 8-0 in the bottom of the third inning.
Salpointe Catholic defeated Flagstaff, 8-0, in the state baseball championship game at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Monday.
Senior Lucas Shannon made sure to keep the Lancers in the lead by racking up eight strikeouts and only allowing two hits throughout the game.
The 8-0 shutout over the Eagles marked 17 games this season where Salpointe defeated its opponent by six or more runs, according to MaxPreps.
On their journey to the state title, Salpointe took down Ironwood Ridge (8-5), Mesquite (9-1), Bradshaw Mountain (10-0) and St. Mary鈥檚 (8-7).
The Lancers went 16-1 overall in regular season games and were undefeated in their region and the 4A conference.
Contact Elvia Verdugo, the Star鈥檚 community sports editor, at everdugo@tucson.com. A journalism and history graduate from the University of Arizona, she shares stories highlighting what makes 大象APPand its community special.
Elvia Verdugo
Community Sports Editor
大象APPteens continue to test their skills at the high school state championships
