Sophomore right-hander George Arias Jr. pitched six shutout innings and Tucson High’s baseball team erupted for a five-run third en route to a 6-0 victory against visiting Ironwood Ridge on Monday night to kick off a busy week.
The Badgers open up the Chris Moon Memorial Classic on Tuesday morning at Cherry Field. The 18-team tournament honors Moon, a former star player at Tucson High who was killed while serving with the Army.
The four-day event features local teams including Canyon del Oro, Cienega, I-Ridge and Pueblo. Games will also be played at the Reid Park Annex (scroll down for the pool play schedule).
Senior southpaw Jose Contreras finished off the five-hit shutout on Monday night with a three-out save, as Tucson High bounced back from a 7-3 loss against defending state champion CDO two weeks ago.
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“Coming in, we knew Ironwood was going to be a tough game,” said Arias, who struck out nine. “At first, I kind of struggled — I left a lot of balls up — but I just started commanding, warming up and throwing strikes.”
Arias came through with back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the sixth inning to escape a bases-loaded jam. Contreras retired three straight batters in the seventh to secure the win and help the Badgers improve to 5-1. The loss snapped I-Ridge’s four-game winning streak.
“Those two guys are going to be our mainstay,” Tucson coach Oscar Romero said. “Our game is, we’ve got to pitch and throw strikes like George did today. That’s one of the most important things — if our guys throw strikes on the hill, then everything flows and our game is a little bit easier.”
The Badgers broke the game open in the third inning after I-Ridge starter Josh Darang hit the first two batters in the frame.
Junior leadoff hitter Jacob Federico brought in the first run on a chopper to shortstop, as senior Kyle Rivera beat the throw home. Federico scored three batters later, with the help of an error, on a grounder to second by junior Joseph Dicochea, to put Tucson ahead 3-0.
Senior right fielder Ricky Martinez drove in senior Martin Garcia and Dicochea to make it 5-0. Then Rivera scored again in the fourth after leading off with a triple to the right-center gap.
“We needed this win to show that, just because we lost to CDO doesn’t mean we’re done,” Dicochea said. “We’re still going to come for everyone.”
Romero stressed the importance of the win, from the standpoint of power-point implications down the road. Now he’s looking forward to mixing things up this week during a very meaningful tournament.
Moon, who graduated in 2007, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and accepted a scholarship to play for the UA before deciding to enter the military. He became a talented sniper with the Army but died in 2010 after stepping on a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
“It’s a special, special time because it brings that memory of Chris’ talent that he had,” Romero said. “The sacrifice that he made will never be forgotten. That’s our whole purpose of the tournament.”
CHRIS MOON MEMORIAL CLASSIC
Tuesday's games
At Cherry Field
Riverton (Utah) vs. Sierra Vista Buena, 8 a.m.
Tucson vs. Boulder (Colorado), 8 a.m.
Canyon del Oro vs. Locke (California), 11 a.m.
Boulder (Colorado) vs. Cholla, 11 a.m.
St. Laurence (Illinois) vs. Bishop Gorman (Nevada), 2 p.m.
Pueblo vs. Locke (California), 2 p.m.
Riverton (Utah vs. Arvada West (Colorado), 5 p.m.
Tucson vs. Rancho (Nevada), 5 p.m.
San Marcos (California) vs. Locke (California), 8 p.m.
Pomona (Colorado) vs. St. Laurence (Illinois), 8 p.m.
At Reid Park Annex
Ironwood Ridge vs. Arvada West (Colorado), 8 a.m.
Ironwood Ridge vs. Sierra Vista Buena, 11 a.m.
Cienega vs. Marana, 2 p.m.
Flowing Wells vs. Pomona (Colorado), 5 p.m.
Flowing Wells vs. Marana, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday's games
At Cherry Field
Canyon del Oro vs. Pueblo, 8 a.m.
Cholla vs. Rancho (Nevada), 8 a.m.
Cienega vs. Bishop Gorman, 11 a.m.
Boulder (Colorado) vs. Rancho (Nevada), 11 a.m.
Marana vs. Bishop Gorman (Nevada), 2 p.m.
Tucson vs. Cholla, 2 p.m.
Sierra Vista Buena vs. Arvada West (Colorado), 5 p.m.
San Marcos (California) vs. Pueblo, 5 p.m.
Canyon del Oro vs. San Marcos (California), 8 p.m.
Ironwood Ridge vs. Riverton (Utah), 8 p.m.
At Reid Park Annex
Pomona (Colorado) vs. Cienega, 8 a.m.
Flowing Wells vs. St. Laurence (Illinois), 2 p.m.
Thursday and Friday
Bracket play, schedule TBD
Contact high school sports coordinator Daniel Gaona at 807-7761 or dgaona@tucson.com. On Twitter: @DanielGaona13
