One coach is in his first season and doesn’t know yet if he can return to coach again at a school that’s in search of its first baseball state title.

The other coach is in his 24^th season at a school that’s won a national record 29 high school baseball championships.

What brought Tucson High’s Oscar Romero and Desert Mountain’s first-year coach Brian Stephenson together Thursday was a state semifinal game that featured the top seeds in a Division I state tournament game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Commitment and competitiveness are the foundations that these coaches stand on.

What also binds them is that Romero and Stephenson are good men who yearn for their first state championship as head coaches. They won’t say so publicly, but it’s highly unlikely that they aren’t thinking about a trophy, especially since they are so close to playing for one.

With Thursday’s 5-4 victory over Tucson, Stephenson and his team are now one win away from reaching their objective. But Tucson isn’t out of it.

                     (Desert Mountain coach Brian Stephenson)

Romero and his squad will play in an elimination game against Chaparral on Saturday with the final berth in Tuesday’s final on the line. There are good reasons why Romero and Stephenson each deserve a championship.

A budget override proposal that didn’t pass in November is forcing the Scottsdale Unified School District to reduce its workforce, and Stephenson was one of the casualties. If Stephenson’s contract won’t get extended, then exiting Desert Mountain as a state champion is an appropriate send off for a coach who has paid his dues.

Before landing at Desert Mountain, Stephenson coached Westwood’s baseball program for eight seasons, and prior to that he served a stint as a coach at Yuma High. He left his teaching post at Yuma High to be closer to his then fiancee now wife, Kori.

“Brian has sacrificed a lot,” Kori said.

The Stephensons are expecting their second child in July, but they are not worrying about what the future holds for Stephenson.

Kori also is a coach and recently guided Mesa Community College’s women’s basketball program to its first Division II national title game. As coaches, the Stephenson’s are only focused on the task at hand: Desert Mountain’s baseball season.

The D-I Scottsdale team is ranked No. 19 in the nation by Maxpreps, but the coach isn’t taking any credit for his team’s success this year.

“It’s not about me,” Stephenson said. “It never has been and never will be. It’s about the 14 seniors and 18 ballplayers on this team. It’s not about me. It’s about them. I want them to accomplish something that is pretty special.”

There’s a chance that a teaching spot might open up for Stephenson at Desert Mountain, but he hasn’t heard anything yet.

                     (Tucson coach Oscar Romero)

As for Romero, his coaching roots are firmly planted at Tucson High, the school the veteran coach also graduated from. According to one of his former players, Mike Leon, Romero bleeds Tucson High red.

Not only does he coach the high school team, but Romero also is busy throughout the year helping prepare his players. He’s never won a state title in his 24 seasons as that program’s leader, but he’s come close.

This season, Romero has the luxury of presenting a roster with 15 seniors who helped Tucson (29-5) earn the No. 2 seed in the D-I tournament. Tucson lost a state championship game in 2002 with Romero at the helm.

When Tucson won a state championship in 1988, the last of its 29 baseball titles, Romero was an assistant coach on that team.

“We hope to be there Tuesday (in the championship game),” said Romero after Thursday’s loss. 

Three members of Tucson High’s 1988 state title team, Leon, Steve Armenta and Robert Hernandez attended Thursday’s Desert Mountain-Tucson game, which was held at the same site that Tucson won its 1988 title, Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Hernandez delivered the game-winning hit in the 1988 game, Leon’s step-son, Isaac Federico, is Tucson’s center fielder, and Armenta played third base for Tucson. The former players attended the game to root for Tucson and Romero.

 “He (Romero) is a friend,” Armenta said. “You won’t find anybody who has anything bad to say about him. He’s like a relative. We want him to win one (state championship) before he leaves.” 

            (Former Tucson High players from 1988 state title team (L-R) Robert Hernandez, Mike Leon, Steve Armenta.)