By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
What started as a promising postseason for No. 9 Brophy (21-10) ended abruptly with two mercy losses to No. 4 Hamilton (25-6) and No. 1 Mesquite (29-4).
On May 12, the Broncos knew they had a tall task going against Mesquite ace Zach Davies (11-0, 1.82 ERA).
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
Entering the seventh inning May 3 knotted up at two runs apiece, the No. 9 Brophy Broncos (21-8) needed a clutch hit or two against No. 1 Mesquite (27-4).
Catcher Jon Rapisarda ’12 delivered the go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning scoring Chris Beall ’12, and the Brophy faithful could almost breathe after a nail-biting second round playoff game.
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
If the Broncos are going to make a run in the playoffs, they can point to the 18-2 shellacking of Alhambra April 30 as the game that jump-started them.
No. 9 Brophy (20-8) pounded out 10 extra-base hits, including four home runs, to rout the No. 8 Lions in a mercy-shortened game first round of the 5A-I postseason.
Dan Winkler ’11 saw action in only four games a season ago playing catcher.
Winkler knew he wouldn’t get more playing time this year behind the plate, and with the graduation of a couple senior infielders, switched positions to first base.
The position change paid off for Brophy (15-6) and Winkler in a 10-5 Brophy victory over Mesa (11-13) April 8 at Opus Field.
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
The Harvard-Westlake Wolverines (North Hollywood, Calif) capitalized on three Brophy errors in a 7-5 comeback victory March 29 during pool play of the Horizon/Big League Dugout Invitational.
Trailing by four runs in the fourth inning, the Wolverines (8-2) rallied off of Brophy starting pitcher Nick Jones ’11.
One day after Brophy’s basketball bunch (21-8) chalked up a season high 96 points in the semifinals versus Mesa, they tallied just 29 points March 4 against Mesa Mountain View (27-3).
One day after never trailing, the Broncos never led.
“The best team won tonight,” said Brophy head coach Mr. Tony Fuller. “We scored 29 points tonight and that’s not going to get it done.”
Brophy (21-7) overcame a 58 point explosion by Jahii Carson March 3 in the semifinals vs. Mesa (21-6) and is one win away from capturing their first ever basketball championship.
“We’re looking to hang a banner in the gym,” said James Harper ’12, who led Brophy with 21 points, “We worked hard all season long and it’s going to pay off tomorrow.”
The Broncos countered Carson and Mesa with offensive sparks of their own.
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
With the score knotted at 61 and just more than a minute to play Feb. 26, Sai Tummala ’11 buried a long jump shot against North (24-5) propelling Brophy’s basketball team (20-7) to the semifinals.
“I had to hit that shot,” Tummala said. “It’s on my team, I got a great pass (from Chris Pierre ’11).”
The Broncos scored 10 unanswered points in the final two minutes of the game and walked out of North High School’s gym with a 69-61 win.
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
Fred Gammage ’12 scored nine of his team-high 12 points in the first quarter and Brophy (19-7) held on for a 61-54 victory Feb. 23 vs. Cesar Chavez (22-6) in the first round of the playoffs.
“We feel lucky and we’re happy to win,” said Brophy head coach Mr. Tony Fuller, who won his first playoff game with Brophy. “It was a little sloppy because of the long layoff, but we’ll take it.”
Brophy had not played since Feb. 11, but they were riding a season-high five game winning streak.
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
The Brophy Broncos (18-7, 7-3 Fiesta Region) concluded their regular season Feb. 11 by feasting on another region foe in the Chandler Wolves (8-17, 1-9 Fiesta Region) with a 67-56 win.
The two teams are headed in opposite directions; the Broncos won their fourth straight game and eight of 10, while Chandler has lost nine straight games.
“We’re playing our best basketball right now,” said Brophy basketball coach Mr. Tony Fuller. “The team is looking forward to the playoffs.”