Four games over a four-day tournament usually favors hitting while exhausting pitchers, but Hamilton brought everything together during the annual Boras Foundation Baseball Classic. 

The Huskies were dominant in all phases this week, including their 13-3 victory over Chaparral Saturday night at Arcadia High School. The Huskies had 12 hits including homeruns from Boston Kellner and Liam Wilson against Chaparral. In their semifinal contest earlier in the day, Hamilton belted six homers en route to a 17-0 win over New Mexico's La Cueva High. 

Two-time defending 6A champion Hamilton celebrates after winning the Boras Classic Saturday night. Photo by Ben Stapley

The Boras classic featured a 16-team field that included highly ranked clubs from New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. But Hamilton showed why its been Arizona's top baseball program over the last two decades, and perhaps the 6A frontrunner yet again after back-to-back state championships.

Wilson had four homeruns and 10 RBI's for the tournament, good for Most Valuable Player honors. Kellner finished with five homeruns and eight RBI's.

"Winning a tournament like this is always great validation and a good measuring stick," Hamilton coach Mike Woods said after win. "We really hit the ball well the whole tournament. But I'm really pleased with the way we pitched and played defense."

Chaparral beat Casteel, 3-2 in its semifinal win, but costly fielding errors and an exhausted pitching staff gave way to Hamilton. The Firebirds (7-4) took a 1-0 lead when Chris Newstrom knocked a homerun over the center field wall on the game's first pitch from Hamilton starter AJ Diaz.

Hamilton came alive in the third inning, as Kellner tied the game with a solo shot to right-center field. Chaparral's Andrew Lockridge relieved starter Anthony Zadrozny later in the inning with runners on second and third base. A passed ball allowed Hamilton's Diaz to score from third for a 2-1 lead. Jalen Payne drove in WIlson on a hard hit ground ball up the middle for a 3-1 lead. Payne and Carter Kelley would later score thanks to Cole Berge who drove one to left-center field, and it was 5-1 Hamilton after three innings.

 

 

Chaparral's Luke Santarius crushed a monster two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning off Hamilton reliever JB Feery, cutting the Husky lead to 5-3. But Feery would settle down and hold the Firebirds scoreless the rest of the game.

Liam Wilson's two-run homer came in the bottom of the fourth inning, making the Hamilton lead 7-3, and the Huskies never looked back.

"This isn't an easy week for pitchers, and there's still a long way to go but I'm proud of our team," Woods said of Hamilton's performance. (Chaparral) drove the ball early on but we didn't give them anything and played solid defensively."

The Huskies (7-2) beat Snow Canyon of Utah, 13-5 in their first tournament contest. Their next game was an impressive 10-2 win over BASIC from Henderson, Nevada, which entered the tournament ranked No. 25 nationally. Wilson hit two homeruns for Hamilton in that contest, while Kellner pitched a complete game.