This year, the Westwood High School Warriors varsity baseball team secured a spot in the annual Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) 6A conference play-in tournament. Winners of the play-in advance to the conference playoffs, with the baseball state championship on the line.

Coming into their play-in game, an away game on April 18 against Basha High School, the Westwood Warriors were ranked 24th overall and the Basha High Bears were ranked ninth. The winner of the game would advance to play Pinnacle High School on April 27.

Westwood’s Joseph Boenzi got the start and lasted fairly deep into the game. For a brief moment, it appeared that Westwood was gearing up to upset the Basha Bears on their home field, as the Warriors were up 2-0 in the early innings. However, Basha’s bats came alive in the third and fourth innings as Westwood lost their grip on the lead.

After Victor Trujillo spent an inning on the mound, it was time for Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community student-athlete Marcus Lasiloo to attempt to engineer a comeback for the Warriors. Throwing heat from the mound, Lasiloo appeared poised and in control the entire time.

During the fifth inning, Westwood battled back with a string of base hits. Unfortunately, costly errors and a questionable call from the umpire resulted in the Warriors falling short to the Bears 12-2. After some great regular-season play, the loss officially ended the Warriors’ season.

This year’s varsity team will see 10 seniors graduating this month, including SRPMIC student-athletes Marcus Lasiloo and Bobby Maez. Fortunately, the SRPMIC has Justin and Jacob Andrews and a legion of student-athlete superstars ready to make the full-time leap to the varsity level next year in hopes of winning the 6A state championship for the Westwood Warriors.