Shamrocks senior class motivated to bring home baseball state title

Yuma Catholic looking for first state championship appearance since 2012

YUMA, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - A year ago almost to the day, the Yuma Catholic baseball team had their hopes of a state championship end on their home diamond. A stunning 6-3 loss to the #11 seed Fountain Hills. Last year, Yuma Catholic was a #3 seed in the state AIA Class 3A state playoffs. This year, they are once again a #3 seed but their outlook is different.

"Disappointment and sadness from last year," Senior Austin Priest said. "We came back with a lot of motivation and a lot of goals set this year to make it far in the playoffs."

So far those goals have been achieved. The Shamrocks had no problems with last year's state runner up, Odyssey Institute in the opening round, destroying the #14 seeded Minotaurs 27-2. Yuma Catholic followed that up with a 5-2 win over #11 seed Arizona College Prep this past Saturday.

"I feel like we are very motivated this year," Senior DJ Sakay said. "I know in the back of our minds we did lose to that same seed { #11 in 2021}, I think we are just hungry and want to win, I think our seniors just want to bring home a state championship for us."

Yuma Catholic currently has eight seniors on the roster that all play major roles.

"I think the biggest thing this year is these guys have a bit of a chip on their shoulder," Head coach Judd Thrower said. "They feel they have been overlooked, they feel they are underperforming from what they have in the past. So, they are ready to come out and announce their presence in the state."

The Shamrocks now find themselves in the AIA class 3A state semifinals for the first time since 2012. Tonight, they begin a best of three series against #2 seed ALA-Gilbert North.

"It seems like we are hitting our stride at this time of year," Thrower said. "Our offense is clicking, we're putting a lot of pressure on other teams, one through nine in the order."

The sting from last year's early exit and another year of maturity have stoked Yuma Catholic's focus.

"Just one more year of grinding and just another year of mature and a different mindset," Senior Isaac Araiza said."In this last year we want to go all out. We've been working hard all year so, thats a big difference right there."

The last time Yuma Catholic won a state title in baseball came back in 2006. They reached the final in 2012, appeared in the semifinals in 2012, 2011, 2006, 2005 and 2004.

"We've got all these guys that have made multiple post season runs on other sports team where that big stage isn't going to scare them that much anymore," Thrower said. "They're ready to go, they look at it and say we've been here before, let's go meet that challenge."

First pitcher between Yuma Catholic and ALA-Gilbert North is slated for 6:00 p.m. in Goodyear this evening. Game two is on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and if necessary, game three will be on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.