Sedona Red Rock High School’s baseball program was in trouble. As recently as the winter sports season, a school employee with knowledge of the athletics department told the Red Rock News it was “50/50” that Sedona would even be able to field a team. They simply weren’t sure if enough students would come out for baseball.
In 2021, the Scorpions were a solid team. They finished 7-7 and earned a spot in the 2A state playoffs, where they fell in the first round. The foundation appeared stable. The only problem was that eight of the 12 players were seniors.
The hoop Sedona had to jump through wasn’t financial or health-related, it was the simple fact that they needed to replace eight players and a head coach. Pedro Ortega, who also serves as Sedona’s athletic director, switched from his baseball head coaching duties to softball over the off-season.
Next up was Chaz Andrzejewski, a Michigan native who moved to Arizona to become the Spanish teacher at Sedona Red Rock High School. When Ortega approached him about taking over the team, it was an easy decision.
“I want the sports programs [at Sedona] to grow,” he said. “Not only baseball but the sports program here … We’re trying to get everybody involved and make a community effort out of it.”
But in order to be the head coach, he’d first need to find enough kids to fill the nine spots on the diamond. So he took to his Spanish class, where he was able to recruit enough kids to secure a 2022 season.
“This isn’t a rebuild, it’s a full-on build from the ground up”
There are four non-native English speakers on the team, Andrzejewski says. He estimates about 75 percent of the team are freshmen. When assistant coach Steve Doyle asked the players to raise their hands if they’ve played organized baseball before this year during Wednesday’s practice, just four arms went in the air. The wins aren’t going to come right away and that’s a full-acknowledgment from the entire program.
“Every game we have a simple goal: To score one run at least. To not be shutout,” Doyle said. “We’re slated by a lot of people that know our situation to not win a single game. So our first goal is to win a game, and then we go from there … this year our expectations are tempered.”
With such a raw and inexperienced team, the Scorpions are focused on the fundamentals to start. The bare basics. In their first two games of the season, against 3A competition, the Scorpions fell to 19-0 to Camp Verde and 26-0 to Chino Valley.
Some players are still learning the rules of the game and Doyle says at times, playing catch can be a struggle. But this team is keeping their chins up despite a rough start.
“This season we’re just trying to come together as a culture and create a sports culture,” Andrzejewski said. “As the kids get better, and with practice they will, that’s when we’re going to start focusing on the wins and losses more.”
A huge part of creating that culture comes within the locker room. Coaching can only do so much. As most high school athletes can attest, the most important voices in those settings come from the veteran leadership.
With the nature of Sedona’s situation — namely losing 75 percent of last season’s roster to graduation — veteran leadership is hard to come by. That’s why senior shortstop Eli Jennings has stepped up. As the lone upperclassman on the squad, he realizes that the wins aren’t coming in his final year. But he still sees it as his duty to set Sedona up for future success.
“You got to be a leader and help build for next year and years to come,” Jennings said. “We’re trying to start a program here where we can keep guys filtered through. That’s got to start with leadership from seniors, juniors and upperclassmen.”
Jennings is one of few players with experience and he says he’s pleased with a lot of the progress being made by the newcomers thus far, saying most freshmen have taken a “huge step” when it comes to getting the fundamentals of the game down.
Leo Wesley, a sophomore, is the other Scorpions’ captain and perhaps the star player. With the lack of pitching experience on the squad, he’s been thrust into the spot of the pitching ace, despite his primary role last year being in a position slot.
“The first game I did better than I thought I was going to do,” he laughed. “My expectations weren’t that high anyway I’m not really a pitcher … But we’re improving.”
Wesley feels the need to serve as a leader as well, despite his status as just a sophomore. That’s simply the situation Sedona is in. And while this team may struggle to get runs on the board and chalk up wins, the importance of this team to its school cannot be understated: They saved baseball at Sedona Red Rock High School. This isn’t a rebuild, it’s a full-on build from the ground up.
“I’m just trying to be a leader.” Wesley said. “If we stick together, by my senior year we should be decent enough to compete.”
The Scorpions play two more games on the road before their home opener. They’ll host the Northland Prep. Spartans at Sedona Red Rock High on March 24 at 3:45 p.m.
