By Don Ketchum

Phoenix Horizon baseball coach Eric Kibler started a spring-break tournament about 13 years ago with the idea of Arizona teams gaining some respect outside its borders.

“We weren’t as respected as maybe we should have been, so I wanted to see how our teams would fare against some of the other top teams around the country,’’ he said. “As it turns out, Arizona teams have won it for about 10 or 11 of the years.’’

The event, now called the Big League Dugout National Invitational Tournament, has a national following. The 2011 version begins play on Monday (March 28) and runs through Thursday (March 31) with 16 teams, including some that are nationally ranked.

Those teams would include Chandler Hamilton, Bishop Gorman (Nev.), Forsyth Country Day (N.C.), and Spanish Fork (Utah).

The remainder of the field includes Kibler’s defending Class 5A Division II champions, Montclair Prep (Calif.), Phoenix Brophy Prep, La Jolla (Calif.) Country Day, Harvard-Westlake (Calif.), Regis Jesuit (Colo.), Scottsdale Chaparral, Tempe Corona del Sol, Libertyville (Ill.), Columbine (Colo.), Downers Grove South (Ill.), and Brighton (Colo.).

Hamilton, Brophy, Chaparral and Corona del Sol also will host part of the tournament.

The tournament championship game at Horizon will be televised locally on Cox 7 cable at 7 p.m. on March 31.

“If people who haven’t seen high school baseball in awhile come out, they think, “Oh my gosh, these guys are good,’ ’’ Kibler said. “Baseball America (magazine) has said that we are one of the top two tournaments in the nation when you are talking about the competitiveness of it. It is pretty fierce.’’

The tournament is literally a mom and pop operation. Kibler’s parents help him run it, as do the coaches of the Arizona teams competing in the event.

This is Kibler’s 31^st season at Horizon, and he has another strong team. The Huskies were second behind Chaparral in Arizona Interscholastic Association power points as of March 24. Kibler has coached such notables as current Arizona State University head coach Tim Esmay and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim infielder Brandon Wood.

The Huskies recently received the news that senior pitcher-outfielder Jordan Dunatov likely will be out for the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his back. Kibler said the pitching now will have to be pieced together “like a jigsaw puzzle.’’

One of the team leaders is senior middle infielder Johnny Rubino. The 5-foot-9, 163-pound Rubino does a little bit of everything.

“He is kind of like Dustin Pedroia (former ASU second baseman now with the Boston Red Sox),’’ Kibler said. “Everybody kind of looks past him. He is underrated. He makes our whole team better. He knows how to get the job done.’’

Rubino will go on to play at Eastern Michigan, where his brother, Tucker, a former Horizon player, is on the team.

Another key player is senior catcher Zach Stierstorfer.

“He is catching really well, and his hitting has been really good. He hits No. 4, and he has carried us in quite a few games,’’ Kibler said.