Clark Christ at Area Code Games

Clark Crist, a Palo Verde grad who was Arizona’s starting shortstop on the 1980 College World Series championship team, attended the Area Code Games last week in Long Beach, California, the top high school prospect camp in the West. For the last five years, Crist coached the Cincinnati Reds’ entry in the showcase, winning the 2014 championship with the help of four Tucson players. This year, after Crist was hired as an Arizona Diamondbacks national cross-checker (a top scout), the Area Codes team did not have a Tucson player for the first time since 2010. UA baseball coach Jay Johnson was not only on vigil during the entire Long Beach camp, he did not return to campus from summer-long recruiting trips until Friday.