Arizona AD Dave Heeke: Conference tournament makes Pac-12 'relevant'

SCOTTSDALE — Dave Heeke knows what a postseason tournament can do for a conference and its members.

Arizona’s athletic director twice has served on the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. He chaired the committee in 2014 and ’15.

The selection committee for this year’s NCAA Tournament will pay considerably more attention to the Pac-12 this weekend than in past years. The conference is conducting a postseason tournament for the first time.

The Pac-12 has become relevant in late May in a way it never has been before.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to highlight our conference, be relevant at this time of the year where determinations are being made for seeding and for qualification to the NCAA Tournament,” Heeke said after Arizona defeated Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament opener Wednesday.

“Also, it’s a tremendous environment to put the teams and the players in to prepare for that next step, to prepare for the NCAA Tournament, going to a regional. Rather than coming off of a normal weekend series, to be in a competitive tournament atmosphere begins to prepare you for next week.”

Arizona likely punched its ticket by defeating the Ducks. The fifth-seeded Wildcats fell to top-seeded Stanford 15-8 a winners-bracket game Thursday evening at Scottsdale Stadium. The UA will play in an elimination game Friday afternoon against No. 8 seed Arizona State, which ousted Oregon on Thursday morning. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Day 1 of the tournament was well-received by fans and participants, even though games began at 9 a.m. and continued past 1 a.m.

“This is really fun for me,” said UA catcher Daniel Susac, who had two home runs in the opening game. “I always grew up watching ... the SEC Tournament and all those. I was like, ‘Man, that’d be cool.’ Even last year, we were watching the SEC Tournament after we were done (with their final regular-season series). It’s really cool to have our own.”

Hi Corbett renovation

The clubhouse area at Hi Corbett Field will be renovated this offseason, Heeke confirmed. Areas that will be upgraded include the training room, equipment room, video room and coaches’ locker room. The players’ locker room was remodeled entering the 2018 season.

The project will cost between $2 million and $2.5 million, Heeke said. It will be privately funded. A “good portion” of the money already has been raised, Heeke said.

Heeke described the clubhouse project as “phase one” of planned improvements at Hi Corbett. He said he and his staff are “in the midst of formulating a larger plan” for the area of the stadium that runs along the first-base line. That project would include “fan amenities,” Heeke said. Early estimates place the cost in the high seven figures.

Whether the second phase of upgrades will include some type of shade structure remains to be seen.

“One of our challenges, quite frankly, is you can’t build a shade or structure large enough in that stadium,” Heeke said. “When you’re playing day games there and you’re facing that direction, the sun is in your face almost until it begins to set.”

Going deep

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Some of the dimensions at Scottsdale Stadium are similar to Hi Corbett Field. For example: It’s 360 feet down the left-field line at Scottsdale Stadium, 366 at Hi Corbett.

Both of those figures are well above average. The Wildcats had no trouble clearing the wall in left Wednesday. Garen Caulfield’s second-inning home run landed on the berm in left-center. Both of Susac’s cleared the bullpen in straightaway left.

“We are used to a big ballpark,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “It’s sort of built like ours. Not 430.”

That was a reference to the distance in straightaway center. Not only is the center-field wall a long way from the plate, it’s also 30 feet high.

“I’ve managed here in the Arizona Fall League, and I’ve seen in-the-park home runs to center field because that monster is in play,” Hale said. “You have to hit it over.”

Cal’s Dylan Beavers hit an inside-the-park home run against UCLA in their tournament opener. Washington’s Michael Snyder hit one against UCLA in the game before Arizona-Stanford.

Heeke on Hale

Heeke said he’s pleased with how Year 1 has gone for the Wildcats under Hale. Heeke also emphasized that the final story of the 2022 season has yet to be written.

“We’re still in it. We’ve still got a ways to go,” Heeke said. “We’ve had a good year, and I look forward to seeing how it culminates here. Hopefully, we’ve got a lot of weekends left.”

Arizona, which was 36-21 entering Thursday, finished fifth in the Pac-12 after winning the regular-season title last year. Heeke acknowledged that Hale came in at a disadvantage because of the timing of his hiring.

“It’s challenging when you go all the way to the College World Series, to Omaha, and then you lose your head coach,” Heeke said. “You’re obviously late in the cycle. That brings some challenges to getting started, getting your staff together.

“But I thought Chip handled it really well, and we were able to get ourselves in a good spot.”

Inside pitch

No. 3 seed UCLA eliminated No. 7 seed Washington in the afternoon game Thursday. UCLA will face the loser of Oregon State-Cal in the second elimination game Friday.

Pac-12 networks announcer Roxy Bernstein, on the call for Arizona-Stanford and OSU-Cal, said he left Scottsdale Stadium at 1:45 a.m. Thursday.