Desert Oasis holding aces as baseball postseason begins

Nolan Kingham is considered one of the top baseball players in the senior class, owns a fastball that has scouts flocking to his games and probably is the top high school prospect in the area for the major league draft.

And he’s not the ace for the Desert Oasis baseball team. That honor goes to A.J. Landis, who is 9-0 with a 0.92 ERA.

That’s what makes the Diamondbacks so dangerous as they start the playoffs. Desert Oasis (25-7) hosts Palo Verde (10-18) on Tuesday in the Sunset Region tournament. The Sunrise and I-A Southern Region tournaments also begin Tuesday.

“A.J. Landis and Nolan Kingham, those are our go-to guys,” Desert Oasis senior third baseman Caeden Marin said. “When you put them out there, it’s almost a definite win. Especially with A.J. on the mound. He’s just been a straight stud this year; 9-0, you can’t ask much more than that from him.”

Landis can’t match Kingham’s fastball, which has been clocked as high as 96 mph. But Desert Oasis coach Paul Buboltz said Landis, who has signed with Colorado-Mesa, throws in the mid-to-upper 80s. And that’s plenty of velocity to go with his curveball, slider and changeup.

“He throws four pitches for strikes, and he keeps people off balance, and that’s the key to pitching,” Buboltz said. “That’s why he has success. Not to mention having enough velocity to where you can’t sit on a pitch.”

Landis has thrown seven complete games in nine starts. The Diamondbacks had just one game scheduled during the final week of the regular season, so Landis gave way after five innings to Kingham, who finished a 3-1 win over Centennial to clinch the Northwest League title.

“For him to get to 15 pitches in an inning is a lot of pitches,” Buboltz said. “He forces contact and keeps his pitch count down, which allows him to basically throw a complete game every time he’s been out there.”

Kingham is 4-3 with a 2.19 ERA, and the team’s next two starters are no slouches, either. Sophomore Cade Adams is 6-1 with a 0.92 ERA, and senior Chris Van Kuren is 5-0 with a 0.75 ERA.

Landis said the strong pitching helps take the pressure off in other areas.

“When you have good pitching, everything else just falls in place,” Landis said. “We also have a really good defense, and our bats have been pretty live right now. When you have good pitching like we do, it just all comes together.”

That has meant the school’s first league title in baseball.

“This is the first thing that this group of kids has really won,” Buboltz said. “And they were pretty excited having a chance to win our league. We were 1-2 (in the Northwest) a few weeks ago. To win five straight games in the league that we’re in, just a phenomenal job of staying focused and working hard. It’s rewarding for me to see these guys have success, because they deserve every bit of it.”

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.