AZSPORTSNETWORK

Day 1 of the 23rd Annual Joe S. Padilla Florence Baseball Tournament is over and what an exciting day of baseball! The reason I love this tournament is because you never know what to expect.

We were able to see 3 of our 3A top 15 teams in this tournament:


#11 Empire 3 #14 Coolidge 0

Game 2 was between conference foes as Empire and Elder dominated the Bears from Coolidge and went on to win by the score of 3-0. This was pretty much all Elder as he dominated Coolidge not allowing them to get in any hitting groove during the day. Elder, working from the stretch all game did a great job mixing his pitches not allowing the Bears to get comfortable in the box. His fast-ball had great movement and when the hitters tried to sit on that pitch, Elder was able to keep them on their heels with a great breaking pitch.

Coolidge did not do a bad job but Bowles was in trouble all day working very slow on the mound and getting behind the hitters. In the end this gave him trouble as the Ravens used their speed on the base paths to get 3 runs which is all they needed on the day.

Even though Bowles lost this game he showed he will be able to help the bears this season. On the other side Elder will be counted on to carry his team with his bat and arm as Empire looks to get back into the playoffs after having a very rough 2009 season.

Josh Elder for the Ravens and Justin Rico for the Bears were named AZSports Players of the Game.

#5 Florence 4 #6 Superior 1

Our nightcap game featured 2 top ranked teams from their respective divisions. Florence who is ranked #5 in 3A and Superior who is ranked #6 in 1A showed why they are ranked so high.

The Gophers threw Marrufo, who had 6 K's in the first 2 innings and 8 for the game as he totally dominated the Panthers who could not adjust to his fast-ball or breaking pitches all night. Marrufo showed us why he will be one of many pitchers from Florence who will help lead them to the playoffs for the 2010 season.

On the other side Superior threw their ace, Ortega, who also showed he will be a forced in the 1A division this year. With a nice fast-ball, and a breaking pitch that will buckle the hitters at the knees, he was able to keep the 1A Panthers in the game. If not for errors this game could have been 0-0 going into the 5th as the Gophers timing was a bit off since they had not played this season.

One of the areas that Florence shines is with their tremendous power from 1-9 in the batting order. The Gophers have so much talent that any pitcher facing them this season will have to deal with a top hitter at every single spot. They have so much depth that even the players off of the bench come in and have a chance to hurt you as well.

With strong contact the Gophers were able to get 4 runs vs Superior, who showed much improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Last year you were on the edge of your seat with any ball that was put into play because the focus and fundamentals of the Panthers were their Achilles Heel. But this year the Panthers have shown their focus and fundamentals have changed and they are ready to have a great tournament and move on to a possible state championship in 2010!

Marrufo who was on a strict pitch count went 4 innings and not allowing any runs with 8 strikeouts for his effort. Murphy came in relief for Marrufo in the 5th.

Ortega for Superior and Marrufo for Florence were named AZSports Players of the Game for their pitching efforts.