Arizona's hotbed of baseball talent is not limited to college and professional ball; the high school ranks are stocked as well. Schools like Scottsdale's Horizon High (Angels 3B Brandon Wood, Pirates RHP prospect Tim Alderson, Giants C prospect Tommy Joseph) and Tucson area's Canyon del Oro (Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler, Astros OF prospect T.J. Steele, Padres OF Scott Hairston, Royals OF Brian Anderson, Yankees 1B Shelley Duncan) churn out quality players year after year. I visited two such high schools on my trip: Brophy Prep in Phoenix and Chaparral High in Scottsdale.
Brophy is a private, all-male Jesuit school with an outstanding baseball program. Along with big leaguers Paul LoDuca and Justin Speier, many Arizona State players attended the school. Current ASU stars from Brophy include Drew Maggi, Matt Newman, Riccio Torrez, and Raoul Torrez. University of San Diego stalwarts Sean Nicol and Tony Strazzara, and Pirates 2009 7th-round pick Trent Stevenson, are all former Broncos.
Drew Maggi is one of many Brophy alumni who went on to play at Arizona State
The diamond at Brophy Prep
ASU's top freshman, RHP Jake Barrett, is a Desert Ridge grad
Jake Barrett
One of several courtyards on Brophy's idyllic campus
This is a high school?
I also dropped by Chaparral High, a public school in Scottsdale. While its campus isn't as gorgeous as that of Brophy, the baseball aspect is equal. Chaparral alumni include White Sox 1B Paul Konerko, Mets prospect and ASU alum Ike Davis, and Royals RHP Brian Bannister. Avid college fans might know former Firebirds Rob Brantly (UC Riverside), Jake Schlander (Stanford), Charles Brewer (UCLA), Jason Jarvis (ASU), Casey Lytle (Kansas), and Adam Bailey (Nebraska).
Chaparral's scoreboard lists the school's state and regional championships. It's a lengthy list.
Nice backdrop of mountains
It was fun to check out powerhouse high schools like Brophy and Chaparral. Next time I'm in Miami (Monsignor Pace), Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman), Texas (The Woodlands and Bellaire, among others), Knoxville (Farragut), or Oklahoma (Owasso), I'll have some more cool places to visit!
*Special thanks to my sister Sarah for the great photography!
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