Players in Arizona have been eager to compete for their high school programs and it feels as we are getting close. The Arizona Interscholastic Association has announced that opening day of the 2021 season will commence on Monday, March 1st. Programs will allowed to begin practicing while holding tryouts in an official capacity before moving on to live competition. The PBR Arizona staff will start to begin its 2021 season coverage starting with our Preseason Power 25 rankings. Over the next two months and leading up to opening day, we will be highlighting some of the top programs in state in our team previews. PBR will also be publishing its state Power 25 rankings that will be updated every Monday once the season begins. Throughout the season, PBR will be pumping out coverage, highlighting individual players, games, rankings, scouting reports and nominating a player of the week. PBR looks forward to getting out there this spring to see some great baseball. 

Our Preseason Power 25 rankings coverage starts today.

Team: Chaparral

Preseason Rank: No. 7
2020 Record: 5-2
Conference: Desert Valley
AIA Classification: 6A
Head Coach: Troy Gerlach
Returning Starters: 4
Returning Pitchers: 6

OUTLOOK:

Chaparral comes in at No. 7 in our Preseason Power 25 rankings but could quickly become one of our favorites to give the Hamilton Huskies a run this year. They lose 3 key members of last years team in Apodaca, Long & Stone but still have one of the more talented rosters in the state. They return at least five seniors led by SS, Teagan Carey (Oregon) who should be ready to lead this team on offense and defense this year. The depth of this team is what really stands out with one of the more talented junior classes in the state. Andrew Carroll (Arizona), Ethan Hott (Stanford), & Hayden Lewis (Arizona) are all early commits to DI programs so far and we wouldn't be surprised if more prospects in the class this group followed suit down the road. The Firebirds also add our top ranked freshmen in Arizona State commit, Chris Newstrom whose versatility could be used in many different areas. This team's pitching staff in Carroll, Lewis, Hunter & Park should give this team every opportunity to win games and their offense is more than capable to put runs on the board. Sometimes, teams with this much talent can under achieve but Coach Gerlach really has this group bought into the team first mentality. This team has the talent to be there in the end in 2021. 

KEY PLAYERS LOST:

Name	State	School	Class	POS	Commitment
Tyler Stone	AZ	Chaparral	2020	1B	Gonzaga
Enzo Apodaca	AZ	Chaparral	2020	OF	Gonzaga
Trevor Long	AZ	Chaparral	2020	RHP/OF	Arizona

TOP RETURNERS:

TOP NEWCOMERS:

UNDERCLASSMEN WATCHLIST:

NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POS	COMMITMENT
Miles VandenHeuvel	AZ	Chaparral	2023	INF
Jackson Babione	AZ	Chaparral	2023	INF
Tyler Hansen	AZ	Chaparral	2023	OF/LHP
Reece Van devander	AZ	Chaparral	2024	RHP/1B

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