Baseball will not return to Sedona Red Rock High School this spring, following the school’s cancellation notice to the Arizona Interscholastic Association and local rival schools on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

“It’s not a permanent measure, [it’s] season by season,” Superintendent Tom Swaninger, Ph.D. said.

Only two students were committed to being on the team with a potential third, and an ideal team would have 15 players, Athletic Director Peter Brock said.

“We graduated eight kids from the team last year,” Brock said.

Additionally, Jim Filbin, “the coach that was here last year, decided to move out of the area, so [we] lost that connection and keeping their interests alive there, and we’re a small school with other sports that could compete for their skills [and] their attention.”

Baseball participation at the school has struggled in recent years with the team having to prematurely cancel its 2024 season because of low numbers.

“In Sedona, might come to a head in a little bit more direct way, because we’re small, but in general, the interest in baseball is less than what it has been in decades past,” Swaninger said. “And unless these kids play growing up, it’s pretty tough to keep a team up and running. … [But] we have expanded sports offering with tackle football, then we have some intramural flag football this spring. So I’m just hopeful that we’ll continue to build on that momentum.”

The remainder of the spring sports are scheduled to return with Deb Miller taking over the softball program, Sean Eicher back as the track and field coach, Jeffrey Furst heading up golf, and a job offer extended to a new head coach for the girls tennis program.

“For community members who are interested … we can discuss the different opportunities that are available for people to just volunteer and help out with the high school and middle school kids with their sports programs,” Brock said.

Contact Brock at (928) 204-6733 or at brock@sedonak12.org.