3 of a kind

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior second baseman Andy Juday (16) catches a throw from sophomore third baseman Erik Torres for a double play against the Aggies Saturday at Frank Sancet Field. Juday transferred from the University of Kansas and is fourth on the team in hitting.

The pitcher must understand that pitchers and catchers must be on the same wavelength. The center fielder has to know the exact tendencies of the two fielders that flank him to the left and right and the infielders must know the range each of them possess.

But, in order to learn the ins and outs of your teammates, you have to play together for a long time.

One of the reasons that this year's Arizona baseball team has had early success is because three of the starters have known each other and played together since Little League.

Senior second baseman Andy Juday, junior catcher Dennis Anderson and freshman right fielder Shelley Duncan all attended and played baseball for Canyon Del Oro (CDO) High School in Oro Valley, Ariz., under the direction of former Dorado head coach Phil Wright.

"Phil Wright is one of the really great coaches in Arizona high school history," UA head coach Jerry Stitt said. "He is a great fundamental coach. They (Juday, Anderson and Duncan) all know their fundamentals very well."

While Juday, Anderson and Duncan are all different ages, they still came to the University of Arizona in the same recruiting class, but in different ways.

"That has got to be a first," Anderson said.

Juday transferred from the University of Kansas, Anderson transferred from Pima Community College, where his father is the head coach, and Duncan came straight from CDO.

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior catcher Dennis Anderson (26) walks back to the dugout during the game against UNLV last week. Anderson leads the team in batting average with a .436 mark and doubles with seven.

"I was fortunate enough to adjust slowly to better pitching and fielding," Anderson said of his transformation from CDO to Pima to UA. "Shelley, I think he is handling it great. He doesn't let the little things get to him."

The time they spent on different teams has not affected them at all in their togetherness as Duncan is tops on the team in home runs with eight and first on the team in RBI with 22. He was also named one of the top five players of the week by Collegiate Baseball and the first Pac-10 player of the week by hitting five home runs in five games.

Anderson leads the team in batting average with a .436 mark and in doubles with seven, while Juday is fourth on the team in hitting at .367 and has only recorded two errors at second base.

Besides having the baseball talent, perhaps one of the reasons these three have had success is because every time they run out onto Frank Sancet Field they have a crowd behind them which has watched them play for many years.

"There are certain kids you see that are so much better off playing at home and other kids that need to get out of town," Stitt said. "They don't seem to be distracted by anything. In fact, I think it has been very good for them."

Wright also mentioned his joy of watching the three of them play at UA now.

"It's pretty exciting to go to (Sancet) Field nowadays," he said. "You like to think they developed those winning attitudes in high school."

Juday, the former Jayhawk who hit .335 with 13 home runs in his three years in Lawrence, Kan., decided to come back to Tucson to play out his final year of eligibility in a Wildcat uniform.

"He wanted to play in Tucson. His parents had been traveling a lot, but they hadn't been able to see him play too often," Stitt said. "Fortunately for us he came when there was a spot open for him because Omar Moraga got drafted."

Under Wright at CDO, Juday was on a state championship team in 1994 and was an All-State, All-Southern Arizona and All-City player as a senior.

"Andy might have been the most competitive player I've ever coached," Wright said. "He's a scrappy guy, kind of a sneaky dirtball. People don't realize how tough he is."

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman right fielder Shelley Duncan (18) swings at a pitch against the Texas A&M Aggies Saturday at Frank Sancet Field. Duncan, senior second baseman Andy Juday and junior catcher Dennis Anderson have all played together since Little League.

Anderson earned two letters as a catcher and outfielder at CDO. He was a Mizuno High School All-American, Southern Arizona Player of the Year as well as All-State and All-Region.

He also set single-season CDO records in batting average (.505), home runs (5) and hits (54).

"Dennis is probably the smartest kid I've ever coached. He's a real student of the game and another really strong competitor," Wright said. "He's the most improved kid I've seen from freshman year of high school to now. He's always been a good hitter, he hit .500 as a senior, but he's just improved so much defensively. He's worked really hard. He didn't come with the accomplishments like Shelley Duncan did. He's become a real complete player."

Anderson has also been selected twice in the Major League Baseball Amateur draft as he was taken in the 26th round by the New York Mets in 1996 and 36th round by the San Francisco Giants in 1997.

Duncan, who is the youngest of the three and has the distinction of never being on a losing team, came in the with the most accolades as he was a first team All-American as both a junior and a senior at CDO, and was named Arizona High School Player of the Year in both 1997 and 1998 by the Arizona Republic.

"I haven't experienced being on a losing team. You've experienced winning all through little league and up to high school and you just don't know what it's (losing) like," Duncan said.

He led CDO to a state title in 1997 and set school records for hits, doubles and home runs. He set the single season record for home runs by a Tucson high school player with 14 in 1997.

"Shelley is the best player I've ever coached. He has the ability to play in clutch situations and always comes through," Wright said. "There are not too many freshmen in the country capable of doing what he's doing."

Duncan, Anderson and Juday all know they have a job to do as Wildcats, but that does not distract them from talking about the old days as Dorados.

"We love to talk about the old times. I'm in awe of Andy's team (1994 state champions). I was in eighth grade when they won it. I always used to talk to them about it," Duncan said.

As for the success they are having in college, Anderson attributed that to the knowledge they gained from Wright in high school.

"Coach Wright taught us how to compete and win. Basically how to play the game right," he said. "He teaches his players how to play baseball and that is why CDO is so good."

Dan Rosen can be reached at Dan.Rosen@wildcat.arizona.edu.