Roundup: Foothills baseball No. 10 in national poll

With plenty of familiar faces back and an entire offseason to think about its upset loss in the opening-round of last year's Class 4A Division I state playoffs, expectations are sky high for the Catalina Foothills baseball team this spring.

And apparently the Falcons aren't the only ones who think the team could be special in 2008.

StudentSportsBaseball.com has ranked Foothills No. 10 in the nation in its inaugural Fab 50 Baseball Poll, which was released this week.

Of the lofty ranking for Foothills, which is in its first season under new coach Lance Robertson, the Web site states:

"Nine starters are back from a team that was among the best in Arizona all of last season. Topping the list of returnees is infielder Ashton Kent, who hit .425, stole 11 bases and is headed for (the University of Southern California). Pitcher Kayvon Bahramzadeh, who has signed with Kansas State, also is back."

Foothills went 24-5 last year. In this year's opener Feb. 20, the team's only game so far, pitcher Breck Ashdown threw a four-hit shutout and hit a home run in a 7-0 win over Sahuarita.

Still, such a high ranking may seem a bit high to some.

The Arizona Republic's preseason statewide poll doesn't include Foothills among its top five teams at the 4A-I level, but includes them in the "others to watch" portion of the rankings.

The first poll released last week by the Arizona Baseball Coaches Association also failed to include Foothills in its top five for 4A-I teams.

Future Arizona Wildcat Karissa Buchanan was 3 for 4 at the plate, stole two bases and scored twice for Sabino in a 7-4 win over visiting Amphi on Wednesday night.

The senior center fielder, who has committed to play for the Wildcats next season, is one of the fastest female athletes in Tucson and has been clocked at 2.6 seconds from home plate to first base, according to her coach, Galen Patton.

Ironwood Ridge 11, Salpointe 10 (8 innings): Rachel Chapman hit a homer for Ironwood Ridge while the pitcher/catcher tandem of Kelsey Groff and Adrianna DiMatteo led the Nighthawks past the Lancers in a tough early-season showdown.

Salpointe's Torey Craddock hit a home run in the loss.

Sophomore tennis phenom Dominic Bermudez, the 2007 Class 4A Division II state singles champion, is at it again in 2008.

Bermudez, who plays for Palo Verde, won his singles match 6-0, 6-0 on Wednesday over Canyon del Oro's Chris Whitfield and paired with Spencer Repka to win in doubles play.

CDO beat Palo Verde 5-4.