MHS baseball team on 4-game winning streak heading into tournament

The Maricopa High School baseball team is heading into this week’s Matt Huffman Tournament on a four-game winning streak.

After beating Phoenix South Mountain on Feb. 26 to gain a split in their four games in the season-opening Laveen Classic Tournament, the Rams have won consecutive one-run games over Apache Junction, Queen Creek and Gilbert Higley to improve to 5-2 overall.

While their games on Thursday through Saturday in the Matt Huffman Tournament won’t count for power points, the Rams will be striving to maintain their momentum and will be aiming to win the event that is played in honor of Huffman, a Maricopa High School student and baseball standout who died in 2002.

“Matt was a senior and had just signed a letter of intent to play at Indiana State University,” Maricopa coach Daron Connelly said. “Just before the start of his senior season, he was running out in front of his house and died of a congenital heart defect. This will be the ninth year we have played this tournament in Matt’s name, and our field has been dedicated to Matt. It is Matt Huffman Field.”

The eight teams that will be participating in the three-day Matt Huffman Tournament are Maricopa, Phoenix Alhambra, Phoenix Carl Hayden, Scottsdale Christian, South Mountain, Tempe, Phoenix Trevor Browne and Mesa Westwood.

The Rams are scheduled to play Thursday games against Carl Hayden (at 2 p.m.) and Scottsdale Christian (8 p.m.). Maricopa will play Friday against Alhambra (5 p.m.) and South Mountain (8 p.m.).

The tournament will continue with elimination games on Saturday and will conclude with the championship game at 6 p.m.

The Matt Huffman Tournament will coincide with Maricopa’s fourth annual Krystin Diehl Softball Tournament, which also will be held Thursday through Saturday at the high school. The softball tournament is played in honor of Krystin Diehl, a Maricopa student who died in a car accident in 2006.

The 16 teams that will be participating in the Krystin Diehl Tournament are Maricopa, Florence, Gilbert Campo Verde, Goodyear Desert Edge, Page, Gilbert Williams Field, Tucson Amphitheater, Trevor Browne, Carl Hayden, Laveen Cesar Chavez, Fountain Hills, Laveen Betty Fairfax, Higley, Phoenix Camelback, Bisbee and St. Johns.

The Maricopa softball team is scheduled to play Cesar Chavez at 8 p.m. Thursday. The Rams will play Friday games against Betty Fairfax (8 a.m.) and Fountain Hills (noon).

Saturday’s softball schedule will culminate with the tournament championship game at 8 p.m.