PHOENIX - Two-time World Series Champion and 2008 American League MVP Dustin Pedroia walks through the newly renovated Sun Devil Baseball clubhouse, past the team’s Omaha Room and down the tunnel toward the field at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. He stops at the home dugout and begins talking to the 2015 team about perseverance and what it takes to be successful on the field and in life.
An hour later, Kole Calhoun, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, and Mike Leake, a right-handed starting pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, mingle with fellow Sun Devils on the field during batting practice. Mike Kelly, 1991 Golden Spikes Award winner and former first-round draft pick, and Ron Davini, the 1967 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, catch up with a few longtime fans on the concourse while a few rows down Cory Hahn takes photos with a group of kids.
These moments illustrate what Sun Devil Baseball represents: family, tradition, community, excellence. More than a half-century of victories, shelves of awards and pages of accolades united by the maroon and gold. The interlocking AS creates a bond that spans eras and erases differences.
Arizona State welcomed back its former players and held an open house at an intrasquad scrimmage on Feb. 7 at Phoenix Muni, six days before the team opens the 2015 season against No. 8 Oklahoma State.
Fans arrived as early as 9:30 a.m., more than two hours before the scrimmage’s first pitch, and hundreds filled the stadium throughout the day. They took guided tours of the facility and roamed the clubhouse, where jerseys of past Sun Devil greats, from MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the 1960s to current Cleveland Indian Jason Kipnis, hang in the adjacent alumni locker room.
Starting pitchers Ryan Kellogg and Darin Gillies each went six innings, including four consecutive scoreless frames for Gillies, as Maroon secured a 12-5 victory over Gold in the nine-inning scrimmage.
Freshman infielder Ryan Peep drove in the first run of the scrimmage with a double to the left-field wall in the top of the second and Gold took an early 2-0 lead behind a fielding error. Junior third baseman Dalton DiNatale helped Maroon score three runs in the bottom of the frame, but their lead was erased in the top of the third behind a two-out home run from sophomore catcher Zach Cerbo. Junior left fielder RJ Ybarra broke the tie with a solo home run in the top of the fifth.
Freshman right-hander Eli Lingos took over for Gillies in the bottom of the seventh and Maroon used a barrage of doubles to score six runs in the inning. Junior second baseman Jordan Aboites and junior first baseman Chris Beall led off with a pair of doubles, sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee followed with a two-run double and left fielder Jake Peevyhouse cleared the bases with another.
Ybarra drove in one run in the top of the eighth to cut Gold’s deficit to four, 9-5, but DiNatale hit a triple to right field to score two more and put the scrimmage out of reach.
Aboites took the mound with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the eighth, and induced an inning-ending double play to escape the jam. He closed out the ninth to give Maroon a 12-5 win.
A line of kids stretches along the third-base concourse, each with a special something for a Sun Devil baseball student-athlete to sign: a baseball, a poster, a t-shirt, an arm cast. Parents smile as they snap photos of their child asking for a autograph, pleased to see their Sun Devil pride being passed along to the next generation.
The family keeps growing. Baseball season is back.
#SunDevils4Life in Attendance
Tony Alesci, 1963-65
Jim Armstrong, 1965-66
Erik Averill, 2003-05
Terry Brenner, 1969-70
Ralph Carpenter, 1966-67
Kasey Coffman, 2011-13
Mike Colbern, 1974-76
Brooks Conrad, 1999-2001
Ron Davini, 1967-68
Travis Flowers, 1995
Bill Gorman, 1959, 61-62
Cory Hahn, 2011
Danny Ikeda, 1960-62
Jim Jefferson, 1981-83
Mike Kelly, 1989-91
Mitchell Lambson, 2009-11
Mike Leake, 2007-09
Jim Mancuso, 1995
Bert Martinez, 1980-83
James McDonald, 2011-13
Louie Medina, 1984-85
Jim Merrick, 1963-65
Lemmie Miller, 1980-81
Daniel Milner, 2010-11
Blas Minor, 1987-88
Troy Neal, 1959-60
Fred Nelson, 1967-68
Jeff Osborn, 1968-70
Dustin Pedroia, 2002-04
Mike Rensmeyer, 1993
Larry Smith, 1961-63
Drew Stankiewicz, 2012-14
Jim Umbarger, 1972-74
Ralph Vasquez, 1968
Tim Vasquez, 1996-97
Maroon & Gold Scrimmage
Gold 021 010 010 - 5 13 3
Maroon 030 000 63- - 12 16 2
Gold Team
1. Lillard - CF
2. Gerhart -RF
3. Bielek – 1B
4. Ybarra - LF
5. Cerbo - C
6. Peep - SS
7. Snow – 2B
8. Greer - 3B
Gillies – RHP
Maroon Team
1. Sewald - CF
2. Aboites – 2B
3. Beall – 1B
4. Allen - RF
5. Serven - C
6. Woodmansee - SS
7. Peevyhouse - LF
8. DiNatale – 3B
Kellogg - LHP