Queen Creek baseball eligible for playoffs after AIA rescinds probation

Aug. 30—The Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Board voted Tuesday to rescind the probation it placed on the Queen Creek baseball program for a pitch count violation and give the program a warning.

The decision stemmed from new corrective actions submitted by the school and Queen Creek Unified School District in an appeal hearing heard by the board on Tuesday. AIA officials did not disclose the additional corrective action by Queen Creek. However, head baseball coach Mikel Moreno said he suspended himself for the duration of the 2022-23 school year.

"I suspended myself for a year. That suspension started a week and a half ago," Moreno said. "I'm not allowed to go on the field with baseball at Queen Creek. My players knew, my parents knew what we were going to do because I wanted to have an open line of communication with them.

"We had no conversations with the AIA for what they were looking for. They're looking for blood. That's my opinion. I just wanted to make sure we did everything we could for the boys."

The board's vote to give the program a warning was unanimous. Renee Regoli, the current athletic director at Dobson who was in the same position at Queen Creek last year, recused herself from the vote.

As a result, the Queen Creek baseball program is eligible to participate in the postseason tournament. Dr. Jim Dean, the president of the Executive Board, said they appreciated the work done by the entire Queen Creek administration — which is new this year and inherited the violation — to further investigate the violation.

The board's vote on Queen Creek came shortly after it voted to rescind probation for the Hamilton football program, which was placed on probation at the same time for a recruiting violation.

"We do not want to put students and student-athletes in a position where they're punished for the actions of adults and adult behavior," Dean said. "That being said, the AIA bylaws are very specific on how schools are handled. We are appreciative of both Queen Creek and the Chandler school district for their further reflection, their further corrective action.

"We are happy to see a different outcome today than we had a couple of weeks ago."

Queen Creek was initially placed on probation by the Executive Board during its first meeting of the school year on Aug. 15. The decision stemmed from a pitch count violation that occurred during the 6A baseball tournament last spring.

An investigation by the AIA found Moreno hadn't used an approved device to count pitches during its postseason matchup against Chaparral. The Bulldogs recorded 55 pitches for their starter. Chaparral, using an approved device, recorded 64.

The difference required an extra day of rest, which would have made him ineligible to pitch against Hamilton. The pitcher in question came in as a reliever against the Huskies and led Queen Creek to a win. However, the Bulldogs were later disqualified by the AIA and placed Hamilton back into the tournament, which it went on to win.

"Unfortunately, they were not able to continue with the playoffs," AIA Executive Director David Hines said on Aug. 15. "Then, the board has to address the violation that occurred. Based on the information the board was able to get from all involved, a decision was made."

Queen Creek submitted corrective action to the AIA for the pitch discrepancy. It included a meeting between Athletic Director Chris Driving Hawk and Moreno to review pitch count bylaw 21.1.5.

The corrective action also said the two would have weekly meetings throughout the baseball season to ensure bylaws are being followed. The baseball program will also adopt GameChanger, a new application that tracks pitch counts, which will be run by a parent.

Additionally, pitch counts from every varsity game will be submitted to Driving Hawk on an approved AIA form. According to the corrective action, Moreno will also serve discipline. However, at the time the initially corrective action was submitted to the AIA, it did not include a full year suspension.

Moreno said parents, players and administration felt him being away from the team for a year was excessive. They lobbied for 10 games or to miss half of Queen Creek's power-point contests.

But Moreno didn't want to take the risk of that still not being enough for the AIA board.

"They thought that was extreme." Moreno said. "In order to give the boys the best chance moving forward, I felt we needed to do that. I would have been really upset if we did half the season and the boys didn't get the opportunity. I wanted to put our best foot forward."

Moreno said his players were in disbelief of his willingness to sacrifice himself for their own good. They tried to have him change course.

But Moreno declined.

He owned his mistake with pitch counts. He acknowledged it was an error on his part, not anybody else. So, he felt the best action was to remove himself from the situation for the time being in hopes of giving his players a chance to win a title.

"I live my life the way I live my life," Moreno said. "Maybe 10 games would've worked. I don't know. I wasn't willing to risk an opportunity for the boys for my needs.

"My boys are very important to me and I do the best I can to get them prepared for whatever comes their way in life or baseball. It's a severe penalty but again, it's one I felt needed to happen for the boys.

Have an interesting story? Contact Zach Alvira at (480)898-5630 or zalvira@timespublications.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZachAlvira.