It’s March, but Valley Vista and Campo Verde battled Thursday as if they were playing in a baseball postseason game in May.

What was at stake Thursday was Campo Verde’s shiny tournament title trophy, and each team gave championship worthy performances. A combined four errors were committed, but what left fans talking were the handful of defensive gems that were executed in the game and not the errors.

The pitching wasn’t shabby either. Valley Vista returned home to Surprise with a hard-fought 3-1 win and the trophy after scoring just enough runs late in the game to claim the third annual Game on Germann tournament title for the first time.

              (Valley Vista's baseball team).

Campo Verde is located on Germann Road in Gilbert. Valley Vista is off to a 11-1 start despite dressing seven new starters this year and a first-year coach, Mark Flatten.

But the coach is no slouch and neither are his players. Flatten is a former scout for the Toronto Blue Jays, was an assistant coach at two Division I schools and was Higley’s head coach before moving to Valley Vista.

“I think we’ve exceeded expectations in the fact that you never know what you are going to get out of young kids that haven’t played (varsity before),” Flatten said.

Valley Vista also is home to arguably the state’s No. 1 catcher, Logan Porter.

Porter showed off his mighty right arm when he threw out three runners and then went to the mound to pick up the save. The senior picked off one of the runners from his knees when he threw to second base in the fifth inning.

Campo Verde coach Shawn Dukes said he timed Porter’s throws to second base at two seconds flat.

“Our team chemistry is amazing this year,” Porter said. “We are always hanging out. We are family. From Day 1 until the end of the season to whenever, we will always be a close team. That’s what we really got.”

Another player who handcuffed Campo Verde, at least for the first five innings, was left-handed pitcher Taylor Bickel.

Bickel was tossing a no-hitter and didn’t allow Campo Verde to hit a ball out of the infield until the start of the sixth inning, when he gave up a leadoff double to Campo Verde’s No. 9 hitter, Dylan Smith, and then an RBI triple to Ryan Rodriguez.

But Bickel only gave up those two hits in 5 2/3 innings before being replaced by Porter.

“He (Bickel) came in on us a little more than we expected,” Dukes said. “He took the inside part of the plate away from us and it threw us off. But toward the end we caught up.”

Another lefty, Campo Verde’s Alex Lamberson, also had a good outing but also ran into trouble in the sixth inning, when Valley Vista loaded the bases with no outs.

Valley Vista wound up scoring two runs in that inning to take a 3-0 lead. But a stellar defensive play by Campo Verde’s third baseman that led to an out at home and Lamberson’s composure kept Valley Vista from breaking the game open in the sixth inning.

Campo Verde left fielder Colby Snider also robbed Valley Vista of a run when Snider made a spectacular catch in the seventh inning to keep Valley Vista’s Jon Jimenez from collecting his second homer of the game. Snider slammed into the left field fence as he made the home-run saving grab.

“That was remarkable,” Dukes said. “I was hoping ESPN was out here watching.”

Campo Verde (12-2) had runners on base three times in the final two innings, but Porter made sure that Valley Vista was the only team celebrating at the end.

Notes

Sports 620 KTAR radio host Dave Burns served as the public address announcer during Thursday’s Game on Germann final. Burns’ son, Jake, is a junior varsity player at Campo Verde. “It’s great,” Burns said about the PA announcer gig. “It’s high school baseball, and it’s fun.” … University of Arizona took a look at Valley Vista catcher Logan Porter but didn’t offer Porter a scholarship. But Northwestern Oklahoma State, a Division II school, did, and that’s where Porter likely will end up. “I’m happy with the place I’m going to,” Porter said. The senior used to be a middle infielder until Valley Vista assistant coach Enrique Cotto suggested that Porter move behind the plate during Porter’s sophomore season. “I honestly believe (Porter) is the best catcher in the state,” Valley Vista coach Mark Flatten said. “I just think if you watch him every single day, there’s really nothing that he doesn’t do well. He’s an offensive player, and behind the plate he is amazing.

“He’s a game changer behind the plate.”