Jayce Cicinelli is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Casteel High School for AZPreps365.com 

Offense. Pitching. Defense. Baserunning. Coaching. Casteel’s baseball team continues to be flawless in all phases of the game.

No sign of Casteel’s baseball program slowing down after winning their first state championship last year. Casteel is off to a great start at 7-3 and are ranked 4th in Arizona as the regular season has started.

The Casteel Colts had a year to remember last season finishing 29-7 which was the best record in school history. They went on to dominate in the playoffs and defeat Tucson Catalina Foothills in the 5A State championship to bring home their first state title.

The team is very balanced as they have a great offense with a team batting average of .339 and have stolen 21 bases this year being aggressive on the base paths. Their pitching has been great overall with a team era of 3.50, they have a .960 fielding percentage as a team, and have only committed 10 errors up to this point.

The team is led by head coach Matt Denny who, since coming over, has brought this baseball program to its full potential and has seen drastic improvements. 

“I think accountability whether in the classroom, with your parents, or on the field," Denny said. “We have a motto for the brand meaning making sure whatever you do on the field or outside of the school that you are representing Casteel baseball in a good way and doing all the little things the right way.”

Denny has an impressive coaching resume who coached at Greenway High School for 13 years and brought them two state championships in 2014 and 2016. He also coached at Mountain Pointe High School for three seasons.

Denny entering this season has a career record of 305-126 including 15 different trips to the playoffs. He has been all about culture here at Casteel High School and has earned his third state championship last season.

“This 2024 senior class has been around a long time and has been a key center stone in what we're trying to do here,” Denny said.

This Casteel baseball team is loaded with talent as it has eight players who have committed to play baseball to the next level at different colleges. It ranges from Arizona 

State, University of Arizona, BYU, Washington State, South Mountain Community College, and Phoenix College. 

Bobby Pierce, one of the seniors on this team, has been there through the up and coming for Casteel’s baseball team. He is currently one of the top hitters on this team batting .467, with 14 hits, 6 extra base hits, 11 RBIs, and a 1446 OPS. 

“I think Denny is a big reason why we are one of the top teams because he makes all of us believe we are the best,” Pierce said. “He just wants us to focus on all the little things which help all of us as a team.”

Tyler Hatch, another senior on the team, has been one of the top starting pitchers for this ball club as he continues to showcase his senior season. He has the lowest team era at 2.33 in 12 innings logged with 9 strikeouts and just 4 earned runs allowed.

“It’s been fun seeing the progress of this program because freshman and sophomore year, we got bounced in the semi finals,” Hatch said. “It was finally good for some of us as juniors last year to go all the way and win it, and we know we just got to keep working hard and try and go back to back this season.”

These players have bought into what the coaching staff of this baseball team is committed to doing and that’s winning as many baseball games as possible and to try and bring another title back to Casteel. Denny has made an immediate impact not only on the program, but also to the players as he has got the best out of each and everyone of his players. 

“He obviously does a great job on the baseball aspect of things, but also does a phenomenal job on the personal side of things,” Pierce said.” He helps us feel as a team together and we know we're brothers, it's a brotherhood.”

It’s no secret that one championship last year was enough as this team is determined to get another state championship back to Colt nation. They know they have an eye on their back and are ready for the challenges that step in their way the rest of the season.

“These guys have high expectations and goals which is a good thing, but at times it could be tough without some sub goals, like we had plans to win the Boras classic tournament and planned to play well in North Carolina for the national tournament,” Denny said. “We have lost a couple tough ones recently, but we know having that target on our back, we are going to get every team’s best and we know they are going to try everything they can to try and not let us have another big run.”