Here is the Tempe All-City softball team for 2012, as voted on by the Tempe Union District schools’ coaches:
Pitcher:  Dani Block (Desert Vista).
Catcher:  Mallory Schneid (Marcos de Niza).
IF:  Paige Vallejos (Corona del Sol), Ciara Gonzales (Mountain Pointe), Stephanie Montanez (Marcos de Niza), Loni Redmond (Corona del Sol).
OF:  Desi Contreras (Tempe), Abby Speil (Corona del Sol), Rebecca Perez (Desert Vista)
UTIL:  Dynasty Lauvai (McClintock), Alli Cerminara (Desert Vista).

It’s time for my third annual ‘February Frenzy’ bracket challenge, where I face off against nobody in a quest to fill out the perfect bracket. Here are the Division II predictions. Division I can be found here.
Division II
First round: No. 16 Flagstaff over No. 17 Bradshaw Mountain; No. 9 Saguaro over No. 24 Thunderbird; No. 12 Poston Butte over No. 21 Youngker; No. 13 Sunnyslope over No. 20 Douglas; No. 19 Apollo over No. 14 Cactus Shadows; No. 22 Tempe over No. 11 Coconino; No. 10 Nogales over No. …

With school in full-swing again, relentless schedules for the next few weeks while games get crammed in to fit and the power points race a jumbled mess, here are some boys soccer matches to see this week.
(Records are of power point matches only as of Monday, Jan. 9).
Tempe Prep at Seton Catholic (Monday):  The Sentinels are riding high at 6-0 in PP matches and have a legitimate chance to run the table, but the Knights (5-2) have other ideas. Seton also has to travel to Horizon Honors (5-2) on Thursday, …

The annual Tempe city cross country meet is Wednesday afternoon on the north end of Kiwanis Park off of Baseline Road.
Races for  freshman boys and girls, open races and varsity will start at 2:30 p.m. with an award ceremony at approximately 5 p.m.

Player of the Year: Tess McPherson (Notre Dame)
Coach of the Year: Mike Hollowel  (Notre Dame)
First Team
P: Tess McPherson (Notre Dame)
C: Jenna Coates (Higley
INF: Courtney Rodriguez (Seton Catholic); Amber Webster (Coronado); Jessica Delawder (Williams Field); Nicole Bailey (Notre Dame); Cassidy Boggs (Higley); Lindsey Buckner (Notre Dame).
OF: Brandi Heimburg (Arcadia); Mary Ahern (Notre Dame); Sierra Vigil (Williams Field); Lindsie Kreiger (Coronado).
UT: Alicia Portillo (Maricopa); Madkson Merrill (Higley).
Second Team
P: Madison Austin (Seton Catholic)
C: Kaylie Brittain (Williams Field)
INF: Brittany Heyer (Williams Field); McKenna Wiegand (Seton Catholic); Vanessa Flores …

Jordan Baker has been named Arizona’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
Tempe’s senior guard averaged 27.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game while leading the Buffaloes to the 4A Division II championship game, where they fell to Tucson Amphitheater.
Baker is the first boys basketball player from Tempe High awarded Gatorade’s Player of the Year. He was a first-team All-Tribune selection.
“Jordan Baker is one of the finest basketball players I have ever coached,” Tempe coach Bryan Snyder said in a press release. “He overcame a very serious injury …

Tempe guard B.J. Atkins has helped the Buffaloes to Saturday’s 4A Division II boys basketball championship game. He took some time out in between the semifinals and the finals to talk about Vegas, chicken and air balls.
Food you refuse to eat: I like food a lot, but vegetables.
Possession you can’t live without: My cell phone. It’s a smart phone.
Favorite city to visit: Vegas. It’s exciting.
Person you’d love to switch places with for a day: LeBron James.
Class you dread the most: Computers. I just get on the internet.
Most embarrassing moment in …

The Tempe and Arcadia boys basketball teams face off tonight at 7 p.m. at Tempe. It’s not just a battle of two of the best teams in 4A-II, but also two of the best players.
The Titans are led by 6-foot-4 junior shooting guard Larry Lewis, who committed to Southern California last season. Lewis is averaging 23.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest this year, and is the biggest reason Arcadia is 22-1.
The Buffaloes are led by 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard Jordan Baker, who will be attending Pepperdine next …

Here’s a quick tour through a few key boys soccer matches this weekend, closing in on the final full week of the regular season before state tournaments begin in early February (all matches are Friday unless noted).
5A-I
No. 7 Mountain View at No. 8 Gilbert (6 p.m.): A pair of 7-2 teams (in power point matches) slug it out. Mountain View has gotten hot with four consecutive wins, including a solid victory against No. 5 Mesquite (Gilbert fell to Mesquite earlier this week).  As evidence by the power point ranking, the …

Very few players have as much of an impact on their teams as Tempe point guard Jordan Baker.
The Buffaloes are 5-2 this season, with one of their losses coming in overtime to 5A Division I Mountain View (ranked No. 2) in the championship game of the Arrowhead Classic.
On the season, Baker is averaging 35.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. He is getting to the free throw line 13.5 times per contest. The 6-foot-3 senior is averaging more than half of Tempe’s scoring production.
It’s a welcome return to …