By Don Ketchum

There is no doubt that Scottsdale Chaparral has a substantial amount of talent on its baseball team.

What makes the Firebirds even more dangerous is that they are a team of “grinders,’’ guys who will never give up, no matter how far they are down, guys who will push you to the limit.

That type of scenario played out on Tuesday (April 5), when the Firebirds overcame an early 2-0 deficit and went on to defeat Phoenix Pinnacle 9-6 in a Class 5A Desert Valley Region game at Chaparral’s Jerry Dawson Field.

Chaparral got a pair of home runs from Nick DeRegis and a big relief effort from sophomore left-hander Dillon Bigcrane.

Chaparral, second in 5A Division II power points entering the game, raised its overall record to 13-5. Pinnacle, third in power points, slipped to 15-2. The two meet again on Thursday, this time at Pinnacle.

Will either team have any energy left after this emotional contest?

“We’ll try to go out and do it again. We’ve been scrapping all the way along, getting a key hit here and there and some good pitching. This series is a tough one, since we know each other so well,’’ said Chaparral first-year coach Sam Messina, who took over the program this year after Dawson retired.

It appeared that Pinnacle might dominate early on. The Pioneers got their first four men on base and scored twice on a home run by Steve Casey.

Chaparral got a run back in its half of the first on an RBI single by Colby Targun. The Pioneers escaped further trouble when left-hander Kris Ayers toughened up with the bases loaded and no outs, striking out two men and getting the third out on a line drive to right field.

“We kind of let them off the hook,’’ Messina said.

The Firebirds got another opportunity in the third inning, and did not let this one slip away.

They loaded the bases with nobody out on a hit sandwiched between two walks. Nick Diamond cleared the bases with a double to the left-field corner to tie it at 4, and an RBI single by Kyle Toth put Chaparral ahead to stay.

“With all due respect to Nick DeRegis and what he did -- he's a "grinder' for us -- the double by Diamond was the big hit of the game for us,’’ Messina said.

Pinnacle had pulled to within 8-6 in the top of the fifth and had runners at first and second with two outs when Bigcrane entered the game.

Relying a lot on off-speed stuff, Bigcrane got a strikeout to get out of the fifth, and struck out the final man of the sixth after walking a pair of batters. He struck out the game’s final hitter in the seventh after allowing a two-out infield hit.

“Dillon gave us a big lift at the right time,’’ Messina said. “He’s only a sophomore, but he’s been with us (varsity) all year. To be able to bring him in and have him pitch like that was exciting.’’