Continuing the series of outlooking high school baseball teams ahead of the new season, the Catalina Foothills Falcons are up next.
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The Falcons finished last season with an incredible 27-3-1 record and made it to the 5A conference championship. The team outscored opponents 240-116 throughout the season.
🚨TRIPLE PLAY FOR THE W!🚨
Branden Franz (@BrandenFranz17) snags the line drive, tags second and fires to first for a game ending triple play. Catalina Foothills wins 9-5 over Horizon. @CatFootBaseball (AZ) 2023 · @Ottawa_Baseball signee
Profile: https://t.co/3oq0F3n7gl pic.twitter.com/LiNf72V3Ra
— Five Tool Arizona (@FiveToolAZ) May 11, 2023
Despite the outstanding year, Catalina fell just short and lost 15-8 to Casteel in the championship game. They entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and were undoubtedly the team to beat in the conference.
Even with the disappointing loss at the end, the Falcons put together a near-perfect season and gave themselves something to build off of in the future.
Departures
The team did lose five of its six top-hit leaders to graduation from last season’s team. This includes their top-two hit leaders in shortstop Troy Sanders and outfielder/pitcher Anthony Diaz.
Losing several key players after such a successful season makes it difficult to replicate, but the team has the guys to do it.
Thank you seniors and all the players for a great season! GO FALCONS!
— Catalina Foothills Baseball (@CatFootBaseball) May 20, 2023
Current junior shortstop Ganon Dwyer batted .344 on 33 hits and 26 RBIs in his second year. That included nine doubles, one triple, and three home runs.
Dwyer and the rest of the players will look to step up and keep the team at a championship level despite the departures.
Catalina Foothills’ Season Outlook
While it is difficult to top a season like last year or replicate it, this Falcons team and head coach Lance Robertson are the team to do it.
As with all losses, Catalina will use it as fuel and as a learning experience.
After falling short of becoming 5A champions last season, their goal will be to overcome that and be crowned the championship title in 2024.
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Saleh Awwad is a reporter/writer covering Phoenix High School Sports and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @SalehAwwad_
