For the 10th year, West Valley Preps has announced honors for the best baseball players it covers in the northwest Valley.

Here is the complete All-West Valley Preps baseball team:

First team

C – Chance Greene (Senior) Shadow Ridge
1B – Cannon Peery (Senior) Mountain Ridge
2B - Alex Sanchez (Senior) Deer Valley
SS – Cooper Neville (Senior) Mountain Ridge
3B – Cristian Mogen (Senior) Centennial
OF – Demario Faison (Senior) Estrella Foothills
OF – Carson McEntire (Senior) Mountain Ridge
OF – Christian Roncal (Senior) Ironwood
UT - Brandon Ornelas (Junior) Sunrise Mountain
P – Gunnar Penzkover (Junior) Northwest Christian
P — Smith Bailey (Junior) Mountain Ridge
P – Dominic Tizzano (Senior) Valley Vista

Second team

C – Ian Anderson (Junior) Dysart
1B - Bryan Lorenz (Junior) Northwest Christian
2B – Austin Matranga (Senior) Shadow Ridge

Player of the year

Christian Mogen, Centennial - Mogen wins for the second straight year, and by a more comfortable margin this time. He was not quite as dominant offensively, though a .460 average and 30 RBI are nothing to sneeze at. He hit five home runs, up from one in 2022, and increased his on base percentage and OPS as more opponents simply walked him. Mogen also developed into an elite pitcher as a senior, slicing his ERA from 4.23 to 1.52, and winning seven starts, while striking out 65 batters in 46 innings. New Mexico is getting a steal.
Runner-up: Gunnar Penzkover, Northwest Christian - The junior became the focal point of the Crusaders' repeat bid as the 3A champs' ace and one of its top hitters. We don't have the batting stats, but a 12-1 record on the mound leading a dynamic junior duo with Simms is a great place to start. He also hit near .450 and posed a threat with both his speed and power. He's a key reason Northwest Christian has to be favored for a three-peat.
Second runner-up: Smith Bailey, Mountain Ridge - This Arizona-bound junior ace could not match  the versatility of the top two. But with Bailey on the mound the Mountain Lions were a 6A title threat and could beat any team in the state. He lost his final start in a 6A winners bracket semifinal against eventual champion Hamilton, but had held down the powerful Huskies' offense to a 3-3 tie before the Mountain Lions made three errors, allowing Hamilton to pull away.

Coach of the year

Bobby Howry, Northwest Christian - Howry repeated his 2022 win, just like his team. And even with the bulls eye on his Crusaders, they finished 29-2 - two wins better than last year. Only top seed Valley Christian posed much of a challenge in a 4-2 state final. Northwest Christian outscored its playoff opponents 42-6. 
Runner-up: Eddie Bonine, Mountain Ridge - The loss in the final six of the 6A playoffs to rival O'Connor still stings. But it can't discount the great regular season Bonine directed in his second year as coach. Mountain Ridge went 22-4 and won the always rough Desert Valley Region. MaxPreps ended the season with the Mountain Lions still ranked #2 in Arizona, ahead of 5A champ Casteel and 6A runner up Queen Creek.
Second runner-up: Antonio Tizzano, Valley Vista - 12-10-1 this year is virtually identical to 12-11 last year. The Monsoon inched up from third in the region last year to second this year. But Tizzano's first season as manager featured a sweep or rival Shadow Ridge that allowed Valley Vista edge out the Stallions for the final spot in the 6A play-in tournament. It was the first postseason game of any kind since 2017 for this once-proud program.

Underclassmen to watch

Cactus – Hunton Kuczkowski IF/P (Soph.); Centennial – Isaac Flores C/1B (Soph.), J.T. Price P/3B/2B (Soph.), Will Strand 1B/C (Soph.); Deer Valley – Jayden Hosey IF (Fr.); Desert Edge – Tyson Kinnear C (Soph.), Rene Ruiz UT (Fr.); Dysart – Juan Anaya IB/P (Fr.); Estrella Foothills - Blake Miller IF (Soph.), Landon Sloan IF/P (Soph.); Glendale Prep — Nathaniel Jensen OF/P (Soph.), Logan Mittendorf IF/P (Soph.); Highland Prep — Elijah Rodda SS/P (Fr.); Ironwood – Xavier Escontrias SS/C (Fr.), Lane Stillwell OF/P (Fr.); Kellis – Jose Ortiz Felix SS/P (Soph.); Liberty – Lucas Mitchell IF (Soph.); Millennium - Preston Armstrong C/3B (Soph.); Mountain Ridge - Joe Forbes C (Soph.), Coby Neville OF (Soph.); Northwest Christian – Kevin Hill C (Soph.); Paradise Honors – Jaydan Herrera C/IF (Soph.), Jack Moore P/3B (Soph.); Peoria - Diego Zamora P/C (Fr.); Shadow Ridge – Owen Gorman UT (Soph.); Sunrise Mountain – Bryce Madison P/1B (Soph.); Valley Vista – Elias Garza UT/P (Soph.); Willow Canyon – Avyn Baron OF (Soph.).