Canyon del Oro's Shelley Duncan (18) slides in safe under Salpointe catcher Matt Gjurgevich's (11) tag in the state championship game on May 17, 1997. Duncan went 4 for 4 in the game, including the game-winning home run. Photo by Sergey Shayevich / Arizona Daily Star
May 17, 1997: CDO’s Shelley Duncan leads Dorados to state baseball title by hitting .706
When Shelley Duncan graduated from Canyon del Oro High School, he held the Tucson prep record for home runs in a season (13) and career (26).
After he led Arizona to the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Duncan held UA records for home runs in a season (25) and career (55).
He remains the most-enduring power hitter in Tucson history, a 6-foot-5-inch son of a major-league coach who never had better timing than at the 1997 state championship game at Kindall/Sancet Stadium.
Matched against rival Salpointe Catholic in a Saturday night game that drew about 2,000 fans, Duncan hit two towering home runs, drove in five runs and pitched two scoreless innings in relief to save CDO’s 12-11 victory.
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In the 1997 state playoffs, Duncan hit .706 with 17 RBIs and four home runs. He also was the winning pitcher in the state semifinals against Gilbert Highland.
“The law of averages suggests that sooner or later, Duncan would get out,” Salpointe coach Kent Winslow said after the championship game. “You wouldn’t think he’s going to get a hit every time.”
But Duncan seemed bigger than life to his opponents in 1997 and 1998, when the Arizona Republic named him the state’s Player of the Year twice; it had only done so with one other player in state history (in 1958-59).
After winning the ’97 state championship, Duncan said he had never hit a ball with more oomph than the two-run homer that flew over a 375-foot sign in left field and landed in the old UA football practice field.
“I can’t ever top this,” he said.
“That home run is the hardest ball I ever hit. I just crushed it.”
It wouldn’t be Duncan’s last time in the spotlight at Kindall/Sancet Field.
In three seasons as an Arizona outfielder, he hit 55 home runs; no other player in UA history has hit more than 43. He broke the school’s single-season record in 2001, hitting 24 home runs to edge George Arias’ 1993 record by a single homer.
Duncan was selected as a first-team All-American by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. He was drafted in the second round by the New York Yankees and signed a $650,000 bonus contract.
After hitting 193 minor-league home runs, and 43 for the Yankees, Indians and Rays, Duncan retired in 2014, re-enrolled at the UA and served as a volunteer assistant coach for his alma mater. He will graduate in December.
Where is he now? Married and the father of twin sons, Duncan is in his second season as manager of the Class A Northwest League Hillsboro Hops near Portland, Oregon. The Hops, a Diamondbacks affiliate, won the league championship in 2015.
Photo: Canyon del Oro's Shelley Duncan (18) slides in safe under Salpointe catcher Matt Gjurgevich's (11) tag in the state championship game on May 17, 1997. Duncan went 4 for 4 in the game, including the game-winning home run. Photo by Sergey Shayevich / Arizona Daily Star
