Arizona, hosting an NCAA Tournament regional, got to practice like normal this week and sleep in its own beds every night. Grand Canyon, located just outside Phoenix, drove to Tucson on Thursday morning, hopped off the bus and walked right to Hi Corbett Field for practice.
It was a different story for two other Tucson-area teams, Dallas Baptist University and West Virginia University, both of which suffered travel delays, mostly due to weather, forcing them to alter their original practice schedules.
“It's never been smooth sailing and it's never going to be smooth sailing,” the West Virginia coach said. Randy Maisey I was joking.
DBU departed on two separate planes on Thursday, arriving in town about 30 minutes before the rescheduled practice time. But after the practice, the coach Dan Heefner Look at things objectively.
“Right now, I think it's better to be able to continue playing even with the travel issues,” he said. “There are a lot of people who want me to have that issue.”
DBU, which plays West Virginia in the regional opener on Friday at 12pm PST, has the least experience playing at High Corbet, with the only members of the Patriots squad taking part in the game here being the infielders. Ethan MannHe enrolled in 2021 from New Mexico State University.
“When I first found out I was coming to Tucson, I told the guys there was a big gap,” said Mann, who was 1-for-7 with 1 RBI in two games for High Corbett.
West Virginia played Arizona three times in February 2023 and won two of those games. Meanwhile, GCU has played Arizona twice this season and seven times in the past four years. But the Antelopes coach Greg Wallis He believes that being close to home will be a bigger advantage than his familiarity with the size of the field.
“Just getting on the bus this morning and coming here, my family was able to come here, so I think that's probably the biggest plus for us,” he said. “We're (1st “Tonight we had the team and their parents over at baseman Zach York's house. I think that's the best part about staying in my hometown.”
Maisie's Last Dance
Maisie was 12 years oldNumber After this season as West Virginia's coach, he announced a year ago that it would be his last as coach with the Mountaineers, and while he acknowledges that doing so would “basically tell everybody I don't want to coach anymore,” he doesn't regret the decision.
Last year, he led the Mountaineers to a Big 12 Conference regular-season title, and 2024 will be the program's first year since the 1960s to play in consecutive regional tournaments.
“I made the decision a year ago, and I don't know how I'm going to feel a year after making that decision,” he said. “I told my players the other day a year ago that I didn't want to coach anymore, and I sit here today and I want to coach my players, absolutely, aggressively, for as long as I'm allowed to.”
Not a typical celebrity
To college baseball fans outside of Arizona, and especially to many in the state after Arizona State's loss to Arizona State, Grand Canyon will seem like a school that's only a contender to make the NCAA Tournament due to each conference qualifying for at least one, but this is the third postseason appearance in the past four years for the “Lopez.”
Dallas Baptist University is an even more extreme example of baseball success despite not having much brand recognition, in part because baseball is the only sport the Patriots play at the Division I level, and since moving up in 2004, they have appeared in 13 regional tournaments and two super regionals.
“Coach Heef always says the baseball program at DBU is just like a football program,” the infielder said. Miguel Santos “Other schools' football programs are usually the ones that get the most funding and the most attention, so we have to be held to a higher standard because people look at us differently.”
West Virginia's Maxey, who played against DBU frequently while an assistant coach at TCU, said no one should overlook the Patriots and GCU.
“Dallas Baptist Church is the Grand Canyon of Texas,” he said.
Regional Star Power
Baseball America released its updated list of the top 500 college prospects for the 2024 MLB Draft, with eight of them playing in Tucson.
Topping the list is the shortstop from West Virginia. JJ WeatherholtIt is ranked 4thNumber Overall a solid onest Arizona noted that he had 7 hits in 13 at-bats last season, with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 4 RBI and 5 stolen bases (including a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 11th inning).Number When the Mountaineers played at High Corbett, the first innings of the series opener saw the Mountaineers win 1-2.
He is joined by right-hander Aidan Major (No. 88) David Hageman (175), 1st Baseman Grant Hussey (372) Left-handed Derek Clark (500). Clark will start as a right-handed pitcher in West Virginia's opener against Dallas Baptist University. Dallas JohnsonThe No. 48 overall prospect recorded 14 strikeouts in 6.2 innings against Arizona in the Frisco Classic in March.
The only representative of the Grand Canyon is right-handed Daniel Avitia (246), left-handed Jackson Kent (191) is the only current Wildcat on the list. Two members of the 2024 signing class are lefties. Mason Russell (92) Right-handed Smith Bailey (286) Former UA pitcher Aiden May (Oregon State University, 112) Josh Randall (San Diego, 218) also ranked.
