Canyon del Oro’s baseball team continued its quest to cap the season with a state championship Tuesday evening with another victory against their neighborhood rivals.
The third-seeded Dorados (28-2) started off their postseason campaign at home with a 10-4 win against No. 14 Ironwood Ridge in the second round of the Division II state tournament.
CDO (28-2) next faces No. 6 Catalina Foothills at Maryvale Baseball Park on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the first round of double-elimination play.
Top-seeded Tucson, No. 2 Salpointe Catholic and No. 5 Sunnyside also won Tuesday and are among the final eight teams left in the tournament.
All of the teams are scheduled to play Wednesday.
Senior pitcher Max Smith was strong on the mound through 5ª innings for the Dorados, while senior catcher Hayden May provided the pop by opening up the scoring with a solo blast to left field in the third.
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CDO first-year coach Keith Francis said he was proud of the way his team competed after having almost a full week off, thanks to a first-round bye.
“I was a little bit scared with how we were going to come out, to be honest,” Francis said. “But they competed really well, and once they got to see the pitcher and make some adjustments, we settled down.”
Once the Dorados got things rolling in the third inning, there was no looking back.
After May’s shot to left, Tristan Peterson chipped in with a two-run double of his own and was then brought home on a single by Erick Migueles to put CDO up 5-0.
Jake Engel led off the Nighthawks’ fourth inning with a solo home run to left field, but Smith did well to limit any other chances for I-Ridge, which finished the season 21-9. Tuesday’s game marked the third time the Nighthawks faced CDO; I-Ridge lost all three meetings.
“We threw pretty well in the beginning of the game, but we started getting the ball up and gave some hits, so we just gotta work on that,” Smith said.
When they weren’t out on the field, the guys in the dugout were almost worth the price of admission alone as they relentlessly cheered on their teammates.
Moving forward in the postseason, Smith would like to see his team get off to faster starts.
“We need to start the game hotter,” Smith said. “Today we started flat. We just need to play the game, not let it be too big.”
Francis, who coached CDO to a state championship in 2002, believes that the closeness of his team and the players’ hunger for victory can carry the Dorados a long way during this postseason.
“They compete, they don’t like to lose,” he said. “They’ve been together forever, a lot longer than I’ve been here, and the way they compete with each other really drives them the most.”
BOX SCORE
CANYON DEL ORO 10, IRONWOOD RIDGE 4
Ironwood Ridge 000 100 3 – 4 7 2
Canyon del Oro 005 113 x – 10 8 2
W – Smith. L – Blandeburgo. 2B – IR: Estrella. CDO: Peterson. HR – IR: Engel. CDO: May.
