When Scottsdale Chaparral earned a well-deserved Division I state baseball championship on Tuesday night (May 15), it rewrote what could have been a storybook ending for Phoenix Brophy Prep.

The Broncos would have liked to have won it all for long-time coach Tom Succow, who is due to have prostate-cancer surgery soon.

But the story doesn’t always go as planned. Now Brophy hungers for more and Succow hungers for more, on the field and in life.

He is one of the longest-tenured coaches in the state – he just wrapped up his 35^th year as head coach – and has served as an officer of the Arizona Baseball Coaches Association.

Dozens of his players have gone on to compete at the collegiate level. He has been a strong leader for them over the years.

He always has been cordial to the media and willing to provide assistance. He supported Brophy’s other athletic teams, and often kept the scorebook or ran the scoreboard for basketball games.

The job he has done would be willing of community support even if he didn’t have cancer, but now, he needs it even more.

Hang in there, coach. You are in our thoughts and prayers. All the best.