Republishing Compliments
of
Ahwatukee Foothills News, Aug. 4, 2004
By Larry Ward, Staff Writer
Staff photo by Craig Macnaughton
Mountain Pointe High School graduate
Chad Whittle hurled a three-hit shutout to help Subia beat the
Orange County Giants at the Connie Mack Western Regional.
Subia Gains Berth in Connie Mack World
Series.
New Mexico Hosts Contest Starting Friday
By Larry Ward, Staff Writer
Ahwatukee News
They had run out of next years.
After taking solid teams to the Babe Ruth and later Connie
Mack Western Regional tournaments three of the last four years,
the Subia club baseball team finally won the “big one”
in its final opportunity before it disbands for good later this
month.
Since most of the players on the Subia 18-and-under travel
team have been high school freshmen, they have two Babe Ruth
and one Connie Mack state championships, but have never been
able to advance past the regionals.
Subia took care of that piece of unfinished business last weekend
when it shut out the Lafayette Generals, 3-0, in Sunday’s
Connie Mack regional championship game at St. Mary’s College
in Moraga, Calif.
Subia will pack its baseball gear again this week for a trip
to Farmington N.M., and the double-elimination Connie Mack World
Series starting Friday afternoon and continuing through Aug.
13.
The team includes Desert Vista graduates Nolan Litke and Brian
Dodd Jr., and Mountain Pointe graduates Chad Whittle and Chance
Hanepen. Subia went into the state and regional playoffs with
eight Arizona all-state players from other Class 5A and 4A schools,
including four players who were selected in June’s Major
League Baseball amateur draft.
This was the final season for most of those players, who will
play either the collegiate or professional level in the fall.
Staff photo by Craig Macnaughton
The Subia baseball club team is
headed to the Connie Mack World Series, which opens Friday in
Farmington, N.M. Team members include (from left) in the front
row: Dan Colella, Michael Burrola, Bandon Farmer, Brandon Thomson,
Travis Peep, C.J. Retherford, Chance Hanepen, Seth Furmanek,
Trevor Vega, and Eric Farris. Back row: coach Brian Dodd, Brian
Dodd Jr., Chad Whittle, Craig Heyer, Andrew Darr, Nolan Litke,
Isaac Hess, Nick Walters and coach Mike Burrola..
The team, sponsored by Ahwatukee Foothills businessman Tony
Subia, has been coached by Ahwatukee Foothills residents Brian
Dodd and Mike Burrola for the past four years.
After losing to the Lafayette Generals, 1-0, in the second
game of the regional tournament, Subia came back to win the
next four games to claim the championship.
Glendale Mountain Ridge graduate Nick Walters pitched a three-hit
shutout for Subia in the championship game.
Trevor Vega, a Mesa Skyline graduate, went 2-for-3 in the championship
game and C.J. Retherford, who was part of the Chandler Hamilton’s
5A state championship team in 2002, went 2-for-4 with a double.
Subia reached the finals and rematch with the Generals by beating
the California Rockies, 4-1, in the fifth game.
Isaac Hess, a left-hander who played at South Mountain Community
College this past spring, turned in a four-hitter against the
Rockies while Subia turned seven hits into four runs.
Whittle pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout in Subia’s
2-0 victory over the Orange County Giants in the fourth game
of the playoffs. Litke doubled in the first and scored on Retherford’s
infield grounder in the sixth inning.
Subia rebounded in the third game with a 7-4 victory over the
Oakland Oaks.
Subia jumped out to a 4-0 lead and Retherford slapped what
turned out to be the winning hit – a three-run homer in
the top of the seventh. Travis Peep, a senior at Chandler Hamilton
this year, doubled and drove in a run.
Pitching in a familiar relief role, Whittle had runners on
first and second when he struck out the final batter to earn
the save.
Walters pitched a complete game, four-hitter in Subia’s
7-1 victory over the California Rockies in the tournament opener
on July 29.
Retherford was 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs while Litke
was 2-for-3 with a solo homer and also scored three of the Subia
runs.
Litke and Vega were both 2-for-3 in the loss to the Generals.
Subia threatened in the third and sixth innings, but couldn’t
push a run across.
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