Josh Auger is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student covering Corona del Sol High School for AzPreps365.com.

Business is often about who you know and what connections you have. Corona del Sol baseball coach Dave Webb has a past as a player with USA baseball and has been able to translate that into opportunities for his team.

The Corona del Sol Aztecs headed to California to open up their 2024 campaign with a rigorous schedule. This included playing one of the best high school teams in the country in Orange Lutheran. 

Orange Lutheran head coach Eric Borba and coach Webb were behind the idea of sending Corona out to California to start the season. Borba is one of the many connections Webb has from his ties with USA baseball that benefit him to this day. 

“Both of us have worked for USA Baseball for many years and we came up with the idea to play one another. Many of the teams involved are coaches tied to the USA Baseball family,” Webb said.

This trip was made possible by the Corona del Sol booster club, which fully funded the trip with everything from airfare, to hotel rooms and everything in between. The total expenses for the trip came to about $15,000. 

For the Tempe High School District, the Homerun Club is for parents to support the baseball team as a booster group. The booster club raises money through events such as lottery raffles, student activities and joint-fundraising.

Business isn’t always money related as Webb’s past experience and connections with USA baseball helped him network this opportunity. Although, when it comes to taking a team full of high schoolers for an out of state tournament, there are expenses that need to be covered.

This event was a pre-season tournament in which Corona got to play four games against teams from the Trinity league in Southern California. Webb mentioned the goal was to get his team ready by facing extremely high level competition with the hopes of it teaching them what they need to work on before getting back to its regular-season schedule in Arizona.

“We didn’t get beat up, we just faced ungodly arms,” says Webb. Webb also mentioned that it was humbling and how he was told he was crazy to have his team participate in this tournament.

Seniors CJ Arellano and Myles Harrison both spoke on the trip and agreed that it can serve as a great learning experience for the young Aztecs team both on and off the field.

"It just showed us what we need to work and improve on honestly,” said Arellano.

Harrison said when they came back the team knew they needed to find chemistry and play together as a team but thanks to Webb’s ties and the booster club, Corona's baseball players had an unforgettable experience.