Looking back on his baseball career, Connor Iniguez is pretty confident of when his thoughts of playing in college truly began.
As the stakes of the sport began to increase, partly fueled by the drive of a crosstown rivalry between the West Flagstaff and Continental All-Star teams, Iniguez noticed the fun he had been having with his friends started to transition to a realization of his natural talent.
鈥淥nce I got to that 10, 11 and 12U, those three years, it kind of struck me: 鈥業 am pretty good at this.鈥� When you get into those tournaments against your crosstown rivals and all the good teams down in the Valley, the competitiveness just takes it up a little bit and it makes you really love the game a lot more,鈥� Iniguez said.
On Monday, Flagstaff鈥檚 two-time All-Grand Canyon Region First Team pitcher made those dreams a reality as he officially signed on to play at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Iniguez followed up a standout junior season in 2024, one that included a 2.66 ERA in 58 innings with 53 strikeouts, with a bump in velocity during the offseason and a 2.62 ERA in 64 innings with 65 strikeouts this spring.
The right-hander credits the velocity increase with helping make his upcoming college career a possibility, as well as his pitching coach, who Iniguez said has added to his consistency on the mound.
鈥淲e go over game plans, and I just feel like we know what we鈥檙e going to do when we go into these games,鈥� Iniguez said. 鈥淏eing able to execute pitches allows me to go deeper into those games and keep up the same intensity with the same level of execution.鈥�
As his career with the Eagles winds down, Iniguez has played a central role in not only one of Flagstaff鈥檚 best seasons in team history, but also one of the most successful runs for the school鈥檚 baseball program overall. Reaching the 4A Conference semifinals on the winner鈥檚 side of the bracket as a No. 14 seed and winning eight consecutive games in the past month, the Eagles are on the precipice of their first state championship appearance.
Having reached the 4A semifinals last season and coming just a game shy of the same round in 2023, Iniguez has seen the Eagles grow together during the run.
鈥淭he team chemistry has been a lot different this year,鈥� Iniguez said. 鈥淭his year, me and a couple of the other guys have really made an emphasis to focus on the team chemistry part. I think that鈥檚 why we鈥檝e been able to make such a deep playoff run. We have that team camaraderie; we鈥檙e able to bond together, play well together and have good energy in the dugout all the time.鈥�
Playing alongside fellow West Flagstaff All-Stars Jace Adams, Will Carpenter, Aeneyas Clerry, Canyon Kirkman, Payne Lowry, Wyatt Schmidt and Christian Welker for much of his life on the diamond, Iniguez is excited for the mark the group will leave on Flagstaff baseball before he takes the next step in his career.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be able to leave a legacy for the younger generation that鈥檚 coming up,鈥� Iniguez said. 鈥淜ids are going to want to go to Flag High, they鈥檙e going to want to play baseball, and they鈥檙e going to want to make runs at a state title.鈥�
Named Second Team All-State within the 4A Conference by the Arizona Baseball Coaches Association, Iniguez is scheduled to participate in the 4A All-Star Game hosted at Goodyear Ballpark on May 25 once his run with the Eagles has concluded.