Baseball season has arrived in the desert, with several pre-season tournaments getting started yesterday. One big tournament we will keep an eye on very closely is the Scottsdale Invitational Tournament. Several of the state’s top teams will matchup this week and next.

In the tourney opener yesterday C Kevin Cron (TCU commit) of Mountain Pointe lived up to all of the pre-season hype, going 3-for-3 with 2 doubles, an RBI and a walk. After spending the first five innings behind the plate, Cron took the mound and nailed down a 2-inning save to preserve a 5-3 victory over a formidable Chaparral squad. One of Cron’s doubles was a deep fly ball of the CF fence off of LHP Nevin Wilson (Arkansas commit), who is a recent transfer from Florida.

Other opening day highlights from Scottsdale Invitational:

• Defending 4A Division I champs Saguaro got their 2011 season off to a good start by knocking off the defending 5A Division II champions, Horizon, by a score of 9-3. Horizon will look to bounce back against another defending champ, 2010 5A Division I winner Desert Ridge this afternoon. This is a loaded field.

• Another big matchup coming up this weekend is Mountain Pointe vs Gilbert on Saturday at noon.