It took six school years, but Williams Field now has a championship trophy to call its own.

Apache Junction High School's Navy JROTC Academic Team capped an outstanding school year with a Top 10 finish April 27 at the NJROTC National Academic Competition in Orlando, Fla. This was the first time the high school qualified for the national level after making several appearances at the Western Regionals in California. The level of competition in Orlando was intense with the top four students from the top three schools in each region of the United States competing with one another. AJHS made it through to the semifinals among academically top-ranked public and private high schools in the nation with much larger NJROTC programs. Apache Junction High School's NJROTC is now ranked ninth in the entire nation for academics and is looking forward to climbing the ranks in 2013-14. Congratulations to team members Grifyn Davis, freshman; Nick Knight, sophomore; Uziel Pilas, junior; and Grace Kennedy, senior.

What a difference a year makes.

BOOM! ... And then BUST!

This is Year 2 of the new 24-team playoff field in baseball, and it went off without a hitch in Division I last season.

Mattie Merrell pitched a complete game, two-hitter, while also hitting a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to lead host Queen Creek to a 2-1 victory over Higley on Thursday.

Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.

Down a run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, McClintock’s Andi Blodgett smacked a clutch two-run single to complete a nine-run rally as the Chargers’ beat visiting Westwood 10-9, Tuesday.

All-Tribune First Team

It’s a shame St. Mary’s doesn’t keep girls basketball statistics, because it would be nice to quantify the dominance of Chantel Osahor.

EastValleyTribune.com/Get Out's Mandy Zajac and Stephanie Perrault share ideas on weekend fun in the Valley of the Sun!

EastValleyTribune.com/Get Out's Mandy Zajac and Stephanie Perrault share ideas on weekend fun in the Valley of the Sun!

“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” starts off with a recipe for grade-A comedy. The cast includes names such as Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini, and Jim Carrey. The director is Don Scardino of “30 Rock” while Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis of “Horrible Bosses” penned the screenplay. The premise regarding rivaling magicians offers endless comedic possibilities. So how is it that the final product is just mediocre?

The lead singer from Gladys Knight and the Pips performs all-time favorite hits of the ‘60s and ‘70s including “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

Led by Skyler Palermo’s two home runs on the day, Hamilton baseball used a four-run fourth inning to break a tie game and pull away from visiting Basha, 6-4, Tuesday.

Updated baseball rankings, as of March 18:

Sera Talley and Dallas McBride combined to give up just one run on one hit to lead visiting Chaparral to a 6-1 victory over Westview on Thursday.

Updated baseball rankings, as of March 11:

Tribune softball rankings as of March 4:

Sophomore infielder Sammy Rea set a new Desert Mountain school record with nine RBI in a 18-6 win over McClintock on Friday in Division I softball.