It was a season of high expectations being exceeded in new Head Coach Damien Tippett’s first year at the helm for the varsity baseball team. Finishing with a record of 24-10, the team advanced all the way to the fifth round of the postseason tournament, eventually losing in an elimination game at Tempe Diablo stadium against Sandra Day O’Connor High by a score of 4-0.

Tippett seemed to have a plethora of positives that this season’s team gave him, stating the junior Coleman Roberts has “just been legit all year long in right field,” bringing up his amazing defense where he “came up with a big play in right field with a runner on base,” a kind of play that has become routine for Roberts this season.

Roberts added that “The season I feel went very well. It was very memorable for all of us,” adding that the year produced “lots of good times together.”

Coach Tippett also added that something that surprised him was his team’s constant resilience, reflecting on the team’s first preseason tournaments where they “weren’t very good, we lost twelve seniors and it was a bunch of new kids playing with a bunch of kids they’ve never played with before.”

But his team weathered the storms. “We kept working in sixth hour, we went to Flagstaff and went undefeated in that tournament…I’m starting to think, there might be something here.”

And there certainly was, as several Pumas won individual postseason awards. In the infield, solid defensive and offensive presences Trevor Hauver and Tommy Sacco have been named to the All-CUSD first team as infielders.

Wacy Crenshaw and Tayt Smith were named to the All-CUSD first team for outfield, and Tyler Gully made the All-district second team. While individual awards are very important for a senior to remember at the end of his long high school career, they are only half the battle. Playoffs, and success in them, are worth more than any individual accolade, and every player on a team sport will tell you that.

In addition, Hauver, Sacco, and Smith were named to the All-section team, and Cody Holtz and Crenshaw made the 2nd team as well.

In a season filled with individual success, it makes sense that the team accolades followed as well. Roberts added that “I really look forward to next year. This year was a lot of fun and we were very successful as a team.” And that success can only grow as time goes on.