AZSPORTSNETWORK

Hello sports fans:

I have had a few emails asking or possibly questioning our all-state awards. I think this is great and this is usually the case as in any selection process.

I will try and answer some of these questions as to how this works and why we feel we do more and better than any other organization that puts out all-state selections:

1. Committee: Although we get nominations through many avenues, our committee has nothing to do with any conference or teams. The committee is consulted after as we are making our selections. So we are looking for the best players around regardless of school, winning program or conferences.

2. All-Conference Selections: We do not look at what players were selected for their All-Conference awards. I personally do not like looking at these awards because they can be skewed and at times very political. Also, the way awards are done nowadays there is not a real selection of the players but the teams just get so many slots based on winning percentage. This is not what we are about. WE do not want to place a kid just because he was picked in his region. So if a player is 1st team in his conference doesn't make him 1st team All-state, 2nd team all-state or even honorable mention because that player is now going against all players across the state.

3. Conference Strength: If you see more players from one conference than another that is not done on purpose but basically comes down to coincidence but does show more than likely where the top teams were during the season. So in basketball the North is like the East in football. Show Low is a great example of a team that barely made the playoffs in football because the East is so tough but made it all the way to the championship game. I am sure many East football players who were 2nd team all-conference were better than some 1st team conference selections from another conference.

4. All-state selections: All other organizations only give 5 players for 1st team and 5 players for 2nd team all-state. WE do double that and get in more players. So if our list is seen as not having a player on the team just think what the other organizations will be like??!! when they only select 10 total.

5. AZSports has seen EVERY player on their list in person or on film. WE cover the entire state and I know this is not done by any other organization.

6. WE look at all players. This means you may see a few kids who we watched over and over again because we saw something with this player where others did not. WE feel good about looking at all players and giving them a chance.

7. Stats: Just because a player leads the state in points or steals or assists does not mean they will make an all-state team or be higher than a player with less stats. We are looking for the BEST players and not just who leads their team or the state in scoring. Yes at times it plays a part but not all of the time.

WE welcome comments and if a player has somehow been missed and we did not look at him/her send them our way.

Hello 2A Sports Fans!!!

Today we are announcing our 2A Boys All-State Team for the 2009-2010 basketball season. I wanted to explain how we do our all-state team so that you can understand why it is not only different in our opinion, but we feel it is the best around for obvious reasons. being a coach for 25+ years I have always believed the following:

1. Each classification should have their own All-state Players without being linked to the other classifications.

2. Basketball teams should consist of 1st and 2nd teams.

3. Basketball teams should have 10 players for 1st and 2nd teams. My reasoning is how many teams do you see around that only use 5 players? Even if you do have a few teams the best team usually is a team that has 10 players where you have depth to rotate in and out of the game. Thus we select the top 10.

4. We do include honorable mention but our honorable mention is not just players we throw in. The honorable mention is a spot for those who make the cut from one level to the next for us. We do not throw 20 names out just to mention them.

5. A committee of coaches and other very credible sources are involved in the process. But mainly coaches who are active and retired select players.

6. Personally I do an in depth look at all teams thru video, phone calls and actual watching of players. We feel with our rankings and great coverage across the state that we get most players who deserve these awards.

7. This year we have included our 9th grade phenom team. WE did switch things around but we looked at overall games played and how much playing time plus stats they accumulated, plus their overall contribution to a team.

8. Our Coach of the Year Award is not just blindly thrown out to conference or state championship winners. We are looking for the coach who has done the best job in all areas. Sometimes that is a coach who wins it all but also that coach who did the best in changing their team around from previous years as well.

9. Player of the Year: WE select a player of the year by the fans from each conference. Then a selection is made based on the OVERALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR in each classification.

10. We strongly believe all-state players can be from non-playoff or non-winning teams. The facts prove that although success as a team is important, there are some players who fit all-state caliber but do not have the supporting players to make staff. We make sure we do not overlook those players.

Here is a list of the selections. WE will also have a spot on our website with pictures, stats and videos as well throughout the week: Please remember the top 5 are those who we feel would be the starting lineup 2A Boys 1st Team All-State:

2A 1st Team All-State:

1. Scottsdale Christian: Hayden Johnson
2. Scottsdale Christian: Jake Cipolletti
3. San Carlos: Levi Antonio
4. Precision: Jaques Patton
5. Westwind Prep: Q Johnson

6. Northwest Christian: Dakota Anderson
7. Many Farms: Garriot James
8. Benson: Tyler Deneworth
9. WestWind Prep: Donovan Christensen
10. Precision: Brandon Ehlinger

2A 2nd Team All-State:

1. Bourgade Catholic: Tony Hammons
2. Valley Christian: Jeff Reinhart
3. Pima: Dillon Goodman
4. Yuma Catholic: Bradley Crye
5. Scottsdale Christian: John Irvine
6. San Carlos: Jalen Victor
7. St. Johns: Britton Patterson
8. Thatcher: Mitchell Goodman
9. PRCA: Trevor Cook
10. Benson: Daine Dastrup

Honorable Mention:

GreyHills: Tremayne Yazzie, Desert Christian: Daniel Boice, San Manuel: Zac Dale, Desert Christian: Myles Mayfield, PRCA: Jeremy Courtney, Willcox: Rudy Verdugo, Benson: Kyle Graf , Many Farms: Jon Jones, NPP: Collin Weaver, PCDS: Matt Selling, PC: Daniel Grundmeier NWC: Hayden Anderson, VC: Austin Phillippe, SCA: Judah St. Amand, PC: Austin Consier, WWP: Matt Williams, Williams: Guy Forbis and Jr Esparza, GreyHills: Brandon Whiterock, Phoenix Country Day: Tyler Drew

Freshman Phenom All-State team:

1. Willcox: Jacob Drage
2. Canyon State: D Barnes
3. Phoenix Christian: Nick Johnson
4. San Carlos: Timothy Johnson
5. Benson: Derek Elsmore
6. Ray: Del Conteras
7. SCA: Mike Sendra

Defensive Player of the Year:

Benson: Tyler Deneworth

Region Players of the Year:

West: WestWind Prep: Q Johnson
East: Benson: Tyler Deneworth
South: San Carlos: Levi Antonio
North: Many Farms: Garriot James
Central: Scottsdale Christian: Hayden Johnson

2A Overall Player of the Year:

South: San Carlos: Levi Antonio

Coach of the Year: Many Farms: Alistair Mountz

Coach P 3-8-2010 Monday 2A Prep Notes

Hello 2A Sports Fans!!!

Today we are announcing our 1A Girls All-State Team for the 2009-2010 basketball season. I wanted to explain how we do our all-state team so that you can understand why it is not only different in our opinion, but we feel it is the best around for obvious reasons. being a coach for 25+ years I have always believed the following:

1. Each classification should have their own All-state Players without being linked to the other classifications.

2. Basketball teams should consist of 1st and 2nd teams.

3. Basketball teams should have 10 players for 1st and 2nd teams. My reasoning is how many teams do you see around that only use 5 players? Even if you do have a few teams the best team usually is a team that has 10 players where you have depth to rotate in and out of the game. Thus we select the top 10.

4. We do not include honorable mention because we feel strongly about our selections that those who would be honorable mention are either on our teams or just do not make it based on our high expectations.

5. A committee of coaches and other very credible sources are involved in the process. But mainly coaches who are active and retired select players.

6. Personally I do an in depth look at all teams thru video, phone calls and actual watching of players. We feel with our rankings and great coverage across the state that we get most players who deserve these awards.

7. This year we have included our 9th grade phenom team. WE did switch things around but we looked at overall games played and how much playing time plus stats they accumulated, plus their overall contribution to a team.

8. Our Coach of the Year Award is not just blindly thrown out to conference or state championship winners. We are looking for the coach who has done the best job in all areas. Sometimes that is a coach who wins it all but also that coach who did the best in changing their team around from previous years as well.

9. Player of the Year: WE select a player of the year by the fans from each conference. Then a selection is made based on the OVERALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR in each classification.

10. We strongly believe all-state players can be from non-playoff or non-winning teams. The facts prove that although success as a team is important, there are some players who fit all-state caliber but do not have the supporting players to make staff. We make sure we do not overlook those players.

Here is a list of the selections. WE will also have a spot on our website with pictures, stats and videos as well throughout the week: Please remember the top 5 are those who we feel would be the starting lineup

1st Team 2A All-State:

1. Valley Christian: Ashton Wolf
2. Valley Chrisitian: Stacey Jones
3. Pima: Kitt Bryce
4. Pima: JayAnn Kieffer
5. Phoenix Christian: Felicitas Gratzhoff
6. ALA: Kristen Schulz
7. Many Farms: Brittny Clah
8. Valley Christian: Quinn Robertson
9. Pima: Shayla Hancock
10. Phoenix Chrisitian: Victoria VanHofwegen
*10. Scottsdale Chrisitian: Anna Long

2nd Team 2A All-State:

1. San Carlos: Latricia Long Knife
2. Pima: Corley Lines
3. San Miguel: Maciel Moreno
4. Many Farms: Chantel Becenti
5. Phoenix Christian: Brandi Adams
6. PRCA: Cheyenne Link
7. Horizon Honors: Sara Ellenberger
8. Ajah Edwards: Tombstone
9. Valley Christian: Kristen Johannsen
10. St. Johns: Jenna Udall

Freshman Phenom All-State Team:

1.Valley Christian: Tana Kemmer
2. Scottsdale Chrisitian: Anna Long
3. Marissa Rich: Tempe Prep
4. Valley Sanders: Chelena Betoney
5. Desert Christian: Alexa Arndt
6. San Manuel: Maritza Encinas
7. Valley Sanders: Adriannia Nez
8. Horizon Honors: Gina Garvey
9. Tempe Prep: Lisa Dischinger
10. Arizona Lutheran: Emily Neeb

Region Players of the Year:

East: Pima: Kitt Bryce
Central: Valley Christian: Ashton Wolf
South: San Miguel: Maciel Moreno
North: Many Farms: Brittny Clah
West: Phoenix Christian: Felicitas Gratzhoff

Overall Player of the Year: East: Pima: Kitt Bryce

Defensive Players of the Year: Literally a 3 way tie!!
Valley Christian: Ashton Wolf & Quinn Robertson & Pima: Corley Lines

Coach of the Year: Many Farms Tracy Todecheene

So for a great baseball tournament going on in Florence.

Here is some video for you to look at as we get you more updates.

San Manuel vs Hayden
http://azsportsnetwork.com/videos/366/san-manuel-vs-hayden-2010-joe-s.-padilla

Bourgade Catholic 3 Wickenburg 2:

Our #1 team got their season rolling towards a great start by defeating Wickenburg
by the score of 3-2.

Now a recap from the Joe S. Padilla Baseball Tourney

Thursday Results:

Bisbee 1 Hayden 0
Bisbee 7 Window Rock 3
San Manuel 10 Window Rock 0 3innings

Lets now break down Day 2:

#4 Bisbee 1 Hayden 0

This was a great game to start off day 2 of this tournament. What a great pitchers match-up for such an early game in the season. Bisbees Mendez and Haydens Formo gave us a display of two of the top pitchers in the 2A classification for 2010! Neither team could do much against either pitcher for most of the game. Hayden did leave runners on base early in the game before Mendez settled down to throw gem of the game. No wait! Mendez and Formo threw one gem of a game which would be a start to more of the same on Thursday. In the end Mendez was able to get one run to help him defeat Formo of Hayden. Both players were named AZSports Players of the Game. Mendez had 11 Ks For Bisbee and Formo added 8 for Hayden.

#4 Bisbee 7 Window Rock 3

Bisbee got off to another strong start as they were able to use their speed to manufacture runs. Welcome to the NEW and IMPROVED Bisbee team who will not have the power of past teams but will have speed to kill as they use all means at their disposal to get runs across the plate. A Player to look for is Anthony Rivera, younger brother of Serg Rivera, who is the leader of this Bisbee team. Anthony has speed and a tremendous display of baseball awareness that is hardly seen for a freshman player. In the not so distant future he will be able to be called Anthony Rivera instead of Serges little brother! Window Rock came in and stayed with Bisbee for 4 innings until Bisbee exploded for 5 runs at the bottom of the 4th to take a 7-2 lead. The Scouts did show they will have their act together once they compete in the 3A North as they are much improved for the 2010 season.

AZSports Players of the Game were Anthony Rivera from Bisbee and Ty from Window Rock. I did not have a lineup card for WRock and did not want to misspell Tys last name.

#7 San Manuel 10 Window Rock 0 3innings

This game was over before it got started as Window Rock had to play back to back games after a long 5 hour road trip from the tundra up North. The Scouts are basically using this tournament to get into baseball form as the snow has been on their field and they had 2 practices before they left for Florence. San Manuel can just plain HIT THE BALL!! Padilla once again showed why he is a terror at the Plate as he went 3 for 3 with a stand up triple! Segovia got the win for San Manuel and PAWS got the loss for Window Rock.

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 get a good look at San Manuel and Hayden:

#7 San Manuel 6 Hayden 3

This was a great game to start off day 1 of this tournament. We knew that SM was going to be a tough hitting team and they showed us right away why this would be the case for the 2010 Miners team. Early in the 1st with 2 men on, Padilla from San Manuel connected for a deep center-field shot which gave the Miners a 3-0 early lead.

The Lobos threw Menno and the Miners went with Vigil on the mound. Both pitchers played with fire all day as both pitchers got themselves in trouble by getting behind the hitters in the pitch count. Vigil especially lived on the edge as he escaped a first inning bases loaded jam while escaping without giving up a run.

The 2nd inning would not be any better for Vigil, as he allowed runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs. But then he got an Early Christmas present as the Miners defense came thru and after a hard shot up the middle, the Miners Zac Dale snagged the line drive and tagged 2nd base and threw to first base to secure the seasons first triple play not only of the tournament but of the 2010 season!

Vigil from San Manuel came through to get the win and Menno from the Lobos got the loss. Formo from Hayden came in relief to shut down the Miners in the 5th but it was not enough.

The Miners Daniel Padilla and Lobos Gabriel Encinas were named AZSports Players of the Game for the game!

We should see Formo from Hayden vs Bisbee in our first day game on Thursday at 12:00noon.