Jonah Weese is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Madison Highland Prep for AZPreps365.com 

Just over an hour before the Heat would take the field for their final game of the season, senior team captain Aiden Zuber took a walk with his mother around the field. 

His fourth and final season at Madison Highland Prep, Zuber and many other Heat students have been coached exclusively by Coach Bruce Fuller, a coaching veteran with a truly remarkable commitment to the school. 

Coach Bruce Fuller is as true to the term “jack of all trades” as it gets. It’s not often to see a man with so many responsibilities at the high school level. It’s even less often you see someone continue to take on that challenge year after year. The head coach of the Madison Highland Heat’s baseball, basketball and football varsity teams (Madison Highland does not have junior varsity baseball or football), as well as the school’s athletic director and gym teacher, Fuller’s plate is as full as it gets.

“(It's) for the kids, I do it for them. Just want to make sure they have quality coaching. I guess that would be my only answer.” Fuller said. 

Keeping one high school sports team competitive and engaged feels like a gargantuan task as it is, let alone three of the most high profile sports.

A school of just over 450 students, Madison Highland competes in the 2A Central Division in baseball and basketball (formerly 2A Metro for basketball) and 2A Verde in football, divisions that have recently been dominated by an individual school. 

Even in a 2025 season that has not gone to plan, Fuller’s baseball players are still an active, engaged group that come to every game ready to bring the energy. Heat players have continued to be an energetic team regardless of their circumstances. Despite a 10-run deficit late in a recent loss, the dugout still crackled with life and excitement for the success of their teammates. 

Coach Fuller and assistant coaches discussed the importance of veteran leadership and vocality from their senior players before the season, and at the end of the season Fuller spoke highly of his players’ leadership.

“It's pretty natural for (Rhett) Clemens, and Zuber's been doing that the last few years. When he was a freshman, I had to kind of lead him that way, but yeah, both guys do pretty good.” Fuller said.

And who better to rally the troops than Fuller? There are multiple athletes on the current baseball squad who have played under Fuller’s tutelage on the basketball court as well as the baseball diamond.

It’s a close knit group of players at Madison Highland. Heat players are out before every home game taking care of the field, and they take pride in doing so. 

“We just bring the juice, we just bring it, and I mean we do most of the work out here we get the field ready and all that, so it's all us,” Infielder Nate Garcia said.

That is a sentiment shared by other Heat players, including junior Anthony Kritikos, who has seen his playing time shoot up this season.

“So (when) I came into this, I was a lot less of a team player, and Coach Fuller, he works with us, and he makes sure that every player feels not only like a part of the team, but we feel like we improve on every aspect. I came in here and I feel like I wasn't ready for varsity, and now as a junior, I feel like I'm very ready for varsity and even maybe college if I decide to walk on.” Kritikos said. 

The 2024-25 seasons have not gone swimmingly overall for the Heat. The baseball team finished 2-10 in divisional play and just 7-11 overall. A handful of the games haven’t been particularly close either, with blowouts of 22-0, 19-0 and 17-0, including two 19-0 losses at the hands of Phoenix Christian, the divisional powerhouse.

Despite the overall down season, the Heat closed out their season on a three game winning streak, clobbering their opponents along the way and winning by at least 10 runs in each game. 

“We've got every team in our region, except for two, us included, and one other (is going to be in the playoffs). So definitely, the new region, the new alignment is tougher, for sure. It's kind of stacked quite heavily in our region, so it's tough, but the kids learn from it.”

Boys basketball snuck into the postseason this year before being eliminated at the hands of Desert Christian in the play-in bracket, but a top 20 finish amongst all 2A teams with a 13-6 season is nothing to sneeze at. 

Heat football finished 3-7 in the 2024-25 season, but were coming off back-to-back seasons at .500.

It’s telling of the culture that has been set at Madison Highland that players are as engaged and active as they are. Players are genuinely happy and excited for the success of their teammates. The Heat’s baseball coaches were clear in their wishes for more outspoken leadership from their veterans and team captains this season. When the team's star players like Aiden Zuber are seen and heard defending his teammates from snide remarks made by students in the crowd, it’s easy to see why the Heat are such an engaged group. 

“It just kind of comes natural to me, the way my mom kind of taught me growing up playing baseball. It's like, don't dog your teammates. They're going to be there behind you to make a play. So lift them up when you can, and they'll lift you up when they can.” Zuber said in true team captain fashion. 

That type of attitude rubs off on his peers, and it can be heard at any Madison Highland game. 

“Finally being a starter this year, I feel like one big thing I've learned is being a contributor to the team even if you're not participating. Like, you can go 0 for 4 out on the baseball field, but if you're keeping a positive mindset and you're helping all your teammates, the vibe is just there, and I feel like the whole team just plays better when everybody's just in a positive mindset.” said Anthony Kritikos of what he’s learned from this season. 

High school coaches encounter all sorts of troubles when it comes to managing a roster full of teenage athletes. The attitudes, the effort, the constant roster shuffle spurned by graduating seniors every year, it seems like a lot to ask of one man to keep a level head and give the students his best. It could be even more difficult when you may not see the fruits of your labor, as only an estimated 12.3% of all high school baseball players go on to play baseball in college at any level, and only 2.3% play division one baseball. (ScholarshipStats.com)

Not for Coach Fuller. His dedication to Madison Highland athletics has been steadfast since coming on to their staff just over a decade ago in 2014. 

Despite the valleys of the 2025 season for Madison Highland baseball, the Heat closed out their season with a 14-1 win – and what better way to close it out then with two senior pitchers, Aiden Zuber and Anikin Ulibarri, combining to toss five innings of one run ball with eight strikeouts. 

Madison Highland’s final lineup of the season featured four seniors; Aiden Zuber, Daniel Dominguez, Anikin Ulibarri and Dylan Bethge. Each player recorded either a hit or a run batted in, and the four combined for six hits, eight runs scored, six runs batted in and seven stolen bases.

Regardless of the season’s outcome, Coach Fuller is a remarkable man with a remarkable work ethic, and his players recognize that and clearly respect him greatly.

It’s the type of impact that could last a lifetime for these athletes, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about anyway?