The ARIZONA WILDFIRE BASEBALL CLUB

                     Is one of the few competitive youth and sports organizations in the state fortunate enough to have a qualified professional coaching staff who are involved in the program for “the love of the game.” This means unbiased decision-making based upon a professional player’s experience and perspective. Former professional player Don Peters serves as Founder and Executive Director for the Wildfire Baseball Club. Don was a 1st round draft pick (26th pick overall) of the Oakland A's in 1990, and subsequently played in the San Francisco Giants organization, followed by four years in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. Don also played for Team USA in 1989, and led the College of St. Francis to a second place finish in the 1989 NAIA World Series. Don was named NAIA Player of the Year in 1989 as well. Don currently is the assistant Varisty coach at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, AZ.

Manager/Head Coach, Ron Payne,

                      Played junior college baseball at Pitt College in N. Carolina. He was the Chicago Cub's 24th pick of the 1996 MLB amateur draft. After returning to school, Ron signed with the Cubs in 1997. He played four years in the organization, reaching the AAA level. Ron excelled at hitting, outfield and base-stealing as a player. He took over the day-to-day managing duties of the Wildire in February 2005 and is committed to developing and preparing each Wildfire player to compete in high school baseball. Assistant Coach, Kevin Sweeney, was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1996. The same year he became the first Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year and the Pioneer League MVP, after leading all minor league hitters with a .424 batting average. Kevin graduated from Mercyhurst College (Erie, PA) where he was named to the Division II NCAA All-American team. Kevin will assist the Wildfire on a part-time basis and also looks forward to developing each player to compete in high school. Assistant Coach, Jeff Fassero, just completed his 14th year in the major leagues. Jeff is a left-handed pitcher, with over 100 Major League wins. He assists the Wildfire during his off-season with team instruction and focuses on working with the pitchers.

Baseball Program
                                          

                   All players who express an interest will be considered for the ARIZONA WILDFIRE BASEBALL CLUB. The number of players selected will be based upon the number of teams that the club is planning to field. Evaluations will be based upon a combination of factors which makeup a competitive level baseball players. Those factors include speed, skill, knowledge, baseball instinct, and compatibility. Financial status is not a factor.

                                   Mission Statement
Arizona Wildfire strives to be an “Equal Opportunity” baseball club and training academy for committed young adults who have the skills and desire to compete at the highest levels of competition within their age group. Our goals are to build character, integrity, sportsmanship and baseball skills through competitive baseball.  For additional information, please call Coach Ron Payne @ 480-628-7062.