2021 College World Series
Congrats to Mississippi State (50-18) and a 9-0 shutout win over Vanderbilt tonight in Omaha at the College World Series. The Bulldogs win the best-of-3 championship series, allowing Vanderbilt just one hit in Game 3.
It's the first national championship for the school in any sport.
NBA Western Conference Finals
Phoenix Suns
Congrats to the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993 with a 130-103 win over the LA Clippers in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals tonight at the Staples Center.
Chris Paul led the way with 41 points, eight assists and four rebounds, while former Arizona Wildcat Deandre Ayton tossed in 16 points and hauled in 17 rebounds. Jae Crowder and Devon Booker combined for 41 points as the Suns roll into the NBA finals.
Tucson Aces
60-and-over baseball
The 60-and-over Tucson Aces connected for five doubles in a 9-1 clubbing of the Arizona Rattlers today at Udall Park. Joe Opocensky collected two doubles, Mike Dawson drilled a two-bagger as did John Mathews and Tim Tolson.
In the meantime, Dawson went the distance on the mound, hurling all seven innings. It was the second win in the last seven days over a south-side 60-and-over team. The Aces shutout the Old Pueblo Club 3-0 last Tuesday at Udall.
Way to go, Aces!
Photos: (top) Tim Tolson, (bottom) John Mathews, both men were responsible for two of the five Aces' doubles today in 9-1 win at Udall.
Tucson Aces
60-and-over baseball
Right-hander Joe Opocensky, 71, hurled a shutout and allowed just three hits at Udall Park this morning as the 60-and-over Tucson Aces blanked the Old Pueblo Club, 3-0.
Opocensky was in total control throughout out the game as the Aces continued their dominance over the south-side 60-and-over baseball club from Santa Rita Park.
John Mathews, Reed Palmer and Opocensky collected RBI-singles in the game.
Way to go, Aces!
Photo: Joe Opocensky
NCAA College World Series
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
The Arizona Wildcats found themselves in a 10-0 hole before they could muster up a couple of runs in the fifth inning and ended up losing to Stanford 14-5 today at the College World Series in Omaha.
Arizona finishes the season with a 45-18 record and head back to Tucson after a disappointing show in Omaha with a loss in 12 innings against Vanderbilt on Saturday and today's lopsided loss to Pac-12 Conference foe, the Stanford Cardinal.
Stanford strung together 20 hits. The Wildcats had seven hits. Catcher Daniel Susac went 2 for 4 and drove in three of the five runs for the Wildcats.
NCAA College World Series
Omaha, Nebraska
The Arizona Wildcats lost 7-6 in 12 innings to Vanderbilt tonight at the College World Series in Omaha. With a drawn in infield and the bases loaded, a slow roller found its way between shortstop Nik McClaughry and second baseman Kobe Kato and rolled to the outfield grass.
A walk-off win for Vanderbilt (46-15) and a devastating loss for Arizona (45-17) as the Wildcats drop into the loser's bracket and face Pac-12 rival Stanford on Monday. The Cardinal lost to North Carolina State 10-4 earlier in the day.
Arizona jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Vanderbilt tied the game in the fourth and the Wildcats regained the lead 5-3 in the sixth on a two-run homer from Ryan Holgate. Vanderbilt scores three in the seventh and Arizona evens the score at 6-6 in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Donta Williams.
Tough loss.
Service for Jerry Smarik
at St Pius X Catholic Church
Family, friends and 22 members of the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers said their final goodbye to Jerry Smarik this morning at St Pius X Catholic Church.
Smarik, known as the "Iron Man" on the TOTS, played over a quarter of a century (1991-2020) for the amateur baseball organization. Jerry passed away on March 10, 2020 at the age of 88. Due to the coronavirus, Jerry's service was delayed until this morning as Father Harry singlehandedly performed the emotional ceremony as only, well as only, Father Harry could.
Father Harry's final gesture: An autographed baseball, signed by all of Jerry's teammates, nestled in the palm of Father Harry's right hand. The Irish Priest smiled, tossed the ball in the air and the ball quickly fell back into the palm of his hand -- the final toss -- signifying a life well lived by Jerry Smarik -- a husband, a father, a ball player, a swimmer, a saxophone and a harmonica player.
I life well lived, along with his lovely wife, Sharon. They spent 63 beautiful years together.
Rest In Peace, Jerry!
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
About this East Coast bias thing.
On second thought. Why bother!
I'll toot the horn of our beloved Arizona Wildcats. ESPN won't. And those sports announcers East of the Rio Grande won't, either.
Arizona (45-16) heads for Omaha and the College World Series as Pac-12 Champs and carries a team batting average of .329 with them. Every player in the starting lineup is batting over .300 with Branden Boissiere leading the way with a .374 average (92 hits in 246 at bats).
What follows should make the other seven teams take an extra look at the batting charts.
The big power man Jacob Berry bats second in the lineup and is a switch hitter. His power numbers includes: total bases (164), home runs (17), RBI (70) and a slugging percentage of .692 and a.359 batting average (85 for 237).
Ryan Holgate snuggles in with a .356 average (84 for 236) and leadoff hitter Donta Williams follows with a .352 average (81 for 230) and has crossed home plate a total 80 times. Add Tony Bullard to the mix with a .311 average (41 for 132), Daniel Susac (77 for 234, a .329 average), Kobe Kato (77 for 219, a .352 average) and smooth fielding shortstop Nik McClaughry, who has jumped to a .317 average (46 for 145).
It all adds up to 721 hits in 61 games, 69 home runs, 486 RBI and a slugging percentage of .513.
Of course, the other seven teams are wondering if the Wildcats have a pitching staff. How about a seasoned staff of 17 pitchers? Among all those pitchers are starters Chase Selseth (8-1), Chandler Murphy (7-0), Garrett Irvin (6-3) and TJ Nichols (6-3). Hidden among those 17 pitchers are a relief corps who will throw nothing but darts at you, led by closer Vince Vannelle (5-2, 25 appearances), Riley Cooper (3-0, 28 appearances) and Dawson Netz (0-0, 26 appearances).
A little advice for those East of the Rio Grande. Start flipping pages and get to know the Arizona Wildcats. And turn off the news. There are some teams from far, far away heading your way.
Go, Wildcats!
Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
Mike Dawson, 66, is like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps on ticking and keeps on winning.
Of course, Dawson, one of the younger players on the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers, can still pitch, hit, run and throw with the best of them. Dawson proved he has no intention of slowing down today as he led Team Blue to a 9-3 win over Team White, allowing three runs, eight hits and struck out five.
Dawson had plenty of support today as Thunder Tim Tolson went 4 for 4 and David Byars collected three hits in four trips. Joe Opocensky went the distance for Team White and was saddled with the loss.
The hot temperatures continue, but there is no stopping the TOTS, especially with a new starting time of 8:30 a.m. at Udall Park as the amateur baseball team tries desperately to complete the games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday before the 11 o'clock hour.
It's hot and dusty and the TOTS are old and crusty, but they keep swinging.
Go, TOTS!
Photo: Dawson
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
NCAA Super Regional at Hi Corbett
The Road to Omaha
The Arizona Wildcats (45-16) are heading for the College World Series in Omaha.
The Wildcats crush Ole Miss 16-3 tonight at Hi Corbett Field to win the Super Regional, behind home runs from Jacob Berry and Ryan Holgate along with a superb effort from Branden Boissiere, who had another four hit night and five RBI.
In the meantime, Arizona received a great pitching performance from TJ Nichols (6-3), who took over in the third inning for starter Dawson Netz (2.0 IP, 1 hit and 1 run) and pitched 5.1 strong innings, allowing three hits and just one run. Netz struck out two and Nichols fanned seven Rebels.
Arizona led 3-1 after three innings, put seven runs on the scoreboard in the fourth and continued to run away from the Rebels (45-22) down the stretch. Taylor Broadway, the top reliever for Ole Miss, was saddled with the loss.
The Wildcats finished the night with 20 hits, while limiting the Rebels to just three runs and five hits.
Arizona will make its 18th appearance at the College World Series.
Way to go, Wildcats!
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
NCAA Super Regional at Hi Corbett (attendance 7,450)
The Road to Omaha
Ole Miss star lefty Doug Nikhazy threw 121 pitches in 5 1/3 innings and his teammates pounded the Arizona pitchers for 12 runs and 16 hits to even the Super Regional at Hi Corbett Field tonight at one game apiece with a lopsided 12-3 win over the Wildcats.
That sets up a Game 3 on Sunday at 6 pm for a trip to Omaha and the College World Series on the line.
The Rebels jumped out to a 7-0 lead and knocked out Arizona starter Garrett Irvin after just two innings of play. Donta Williams hit a solo home run over the right field fence in the seventh inning for the Wildcats and Branden Boissiere had a four-hit night.
Tomorrow is a new day. Go, Wildcats!
One thing is for sure, the Rebels will be with out Nikhazy on Sunday. Nikhazy struck out the side in the first inning and ended up with 10 strike outs on the night, despite showing his frustration on the mound due to the Wildcats ability to take pitches and foul off pitches.
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
Super Regional at Hi Corbett
The Road to Omaha
Arizona, down three runs in the first inning to Ole Miss, scored nine unanswered runs the rest of the way at Hi Corbett Field tonight to beat the Rebels 9-3 and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 at the Super Regionals.
Tony Bullard hit two home runs and blasted a triple, Jacob Berry hit a two-run shot and lead-off hitter Donta Williams homered, singled twice and knocked in four runs to lead a 13-hit attack by the Wildcats.
The Arizona bullpen took care of matters on the mound, thanks to 4 1/3 shutout innings from Riley Cooper, Dawson Netz and Vince Vannelle. Cooper (3-0) gets the win in relief of starter Chase Silseth, who started and allowed three runs and all six of the hits by Ole Miss in 4 2/3 innings.
The Wildcats (44-15) need one more win over Ole Miss (44-21) at the Super Regionals to punch their ticket to Omaha and the College World Series. Game 2 at Hi Corbett tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Way to go, Wildcats!
Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
Reed Palmer hit his eighth home run of the season and Mike Dawson hit two triples to lead Team Blue to a 10-4 win today over Team White at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.
Palmer seems to be heating up along with the 100-degree temperatures. The triple digits are becoming the norm as the middle of June approaches. Palmer, who owns the club record with 29 home runs in a single season, hit three home runs in May and once again is beginning to pound the ball off the trees, beyond the right field fence at Udall with regularity.
Today it was all Team Blue as Palmer and Dawson combined for seven RBI. Doc Thompson, playing in his first game since November of 2020, picked up right where he left off as he went 4 for 4 for Team White today.
Due to the high temperatures, the TOTS will move up their starting time to 8:30 a.m., beginning on Wednesday (6-9-21).
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
Tucson Regional
Ryan Holgate hit a two-run homer over the right field fence in the sixth inning, Chandler Murphy pitched the first five innings and picked up the win, while the Wildcats used five relievers down the stretch to beat UCSB 5-2 tonight at Hi Corbett Field to win the Tucson Regional and advance to the Super Regional next weekend.
Randy Abshier, Dawson Netz, Gil Luna and Preston Price took their turn on the mound for the Wildcats before giving way to Vince Vannelle, who picked up the save in the ninth.
Arizona improves to 43-15 and will host the Super Regional next weekend and take on either Ole Miss or Southern Miss in a three-game series. The two teams battle tomorrow in a seventh and decided game at the Oxford Regional.
Way to go, Wildcats! Arizona just two wins away from Omaha and the College World Series.
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
Tucson Regional
The Road to Omaha
Lefty Garrett Irvin tossed a complete-game three-hitter and a 4-0 shutout over UCSB on Saturday at Hi Corbett Field to advance the Arizona Wildcats (42-15) to the Tucson Regional final -- and one win away from the NCAA Super Regionals.
Irvin struck out a career-high 10 batters as Arizona took a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning and then tacked on two more runs as Tony Bullard provided a two-run homer to seal the deal.
Oklahoma State, a winner over Grand Canyon University earlier on Saturday. face the Gauchos at Noon today at Hi Corbett. The winner takes on Arizona at 6 p.m and would need a win over the Wildcats to force yet another game on Monday.
The Wildcats are in the driver's seat. It's a long road back for the Gauchos or the Cowboys.
Arizona Wildcats Softball
A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning gives Florida State a 4-3 walk-off win and ends Arizona's season today in Oklahoma City at the NCAA Women's College World Series.
The Wildcats led 2-0 after four innings, but a three-run homer from Dani Morgan off Wildcats' reliever Mariah Lopez in the sixth inning gave Florida State a 3-2 lead. Arizona fought back with a run in the top of the seventh to tie the game, but with runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh, a sacrifice fly into the glove of Arizona's left fielder Janelle Meona ended the Wildcats trip to the 2021 College World Series.
Arizona (41-15) goes 0-2 at the CWS. Lopez (9-3) was saddled with the hard-luck loss and Kathryn Sandercock picked up the win in relief for Florida State (45-11-1) to improve to 25-3.
Did we just witness Coach Mike Candrea's final game at Arizona?
Arizona fans hope not.
Arizona Wildcats Baseball
NCAA Tucson Regional
Grand Canyon (39-20-1) put a scare into Arizona with a 4-0 lead early on, but the Wildcats answered with two runs in the bottom of the second inning and continued to chip away at the lead and put the game away with a five-run eighth inning for a 12-6 win at the Tucson Regional at Hi Corbett Field on Friday night.
The bottom of the Wildcats' lineup -- Kobe Kato (3 for 5), Tony Bullard(3 for 5 and a home run), Tanner O'Tremba (3 for 4 and a home run) and Nik McClaughry (2 for 4) supplied most of the damage as they figured out Grand Canyon's ace Pierson Ohl, who retired after five innings of play. Ohl allowed five runs, while four relievers for GCU allowed seven runs.
Arizona (41-15) takes on UC Santa Barbara (40-18) tonight at 7 p.m. The Gauchos sailed by Oklahoma State on Friday, 14-4.
NCAA Women's College World Series
There's been a lot of photos and videos recently about alien aircraft touching down on U.S. soil, or on water, or under water for that matter. One of those ships from outer space must have dropped off out-of-this-world right-hander Montana Fouts.
Of course, Fouts pitches for Alabama at the 2021 NCAA Women's College World Series. She is certainly not from Montana. She must come from a place far, far away that builds robots who can throw a softball over 100 mph -- a "perfect" pitcher, a flamethrower, if you will.
Fouts mowed down Arizona and UCLA, two exceptional teams from the Pac-12 Conference, with 30 strikeouts and a 5-1 win over our beloved Wildcats and a 6-0 perfect game against the Bruins in Oklahoma City this week.
Only Arizona's Jessie Harper, the Wildcats own out-of-this-universe player, homered off Fouts. Harper's blast was her 92nd career home run. She needs four more this weekend to pass Oklahoma's Lauren Chamberlain, who owns the college record at 95.
Of course for that to happen, Arizona (44-14) needs to start winning. The Wildcats next test: Florida State (44-11-1) at Oklahoma City today at 11:30.
Go, Wildcats!
Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
Reed Palmer, 64, ran the table in the major batting categories during the month of May, leading the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers in hits (23), home runs (3), RBI (21) and batting average for players who played in ten games or more at a healthy .676.
Only lefty Dennis Cowley finished with a higher average at .722, but played in just five games for the month (13 for 18). Palmer, who tied with four others ( Bob Daliege, Ken Nebesny, Mike Dawson and Crowley) for the most runs scored at 10, went 23 for 34 and led the club in walks with six.
Other top hitters included David Byars (17 for 40, a .425 average), Tim Tolson (17 for 38, a .447 average), Nebesny (16 for 38, a .421 average) and Daliege ( 16 for 37, a .407 average).
Pigpen Price led the group of 75-and over players with a .281 average (9 for 32).
Other notables who finished with 10 hits or more included Bobby Long (11 for 27), David Hurley (13 for 29), Joe Opocensky (13 for 28), Mike Steele (13 for 33), Pete Peters (13 for 33) and John Mathews (12 for 18, a .667 average). Mathews played in just six games, while the other notables played in nine games or less of the 11 scheduled games.
Still a great turnout for May as 30 players took at bats for the month.
Palmer also led the pitching stats with a 3-1 record, while Daliege was second best with a 2-2 record. The TOTS are "tough outs" as Palmer in his four games of work allowed 64 hits, while Daliege allowed 54 hits. Palmer struck out a club-high 12 batters. Other notables who took the mound during the month and their records: Brad Vermeer (1-1, 5 strikeouts) , Dennis Crowley (1-1), Joe Opocensky (1-0), Mike Dawson (1-2) and Pete Maldonado (1-3, 5 strikeouts).
Way to go, TOTS!.
Photo: Palmer
Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
Billy's back!
Billy Heiny, 91, after a year away from the playing field, returned today and played two innings at second base, batted once, grounding out to second base, and then spent the rest of the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game as a pinch runner.
Not bad for a Tucson Old Timer who turns 92 in August.
"I'm glad to be back, but I have a hard time seeing the ball," said Heiny, a member of the TOTS since 1995."I'm not sure how much more playing time I'll have as a TOT, but it's sure fun being back with the guys."
As for today's game, Team White knocked off Team Blue at Udall Park 12-6 as right-hander Joe Opocensky went the distance to pick up the win, while Brad Vermeer was saddled with the loss.
Mike Dawson went 4 for 4 and drove in five runs, while lead-off hitter Dennis Crowley and the hard-hitting John Mathews both went 3 for 4 to lead Team White. Reed Palmer, who hit his sixth and seventh home runs of the year recently, didn't knock one out of the park today, but did go 3 for 3 and drove in three runs for Team Blue.
Team Blue didn't get the win today, but they did field the tallest outfield ever for the TOTS' organization -- 6-foot-4 left fielder Kurt Helms, the 6-6 centerfielder Palmer and 6-foot-3 right fielder David Hurley.
Photo: Billy Heiny
