Very sad news: Kelly Pierce, who coached Salpointe Catholic to girls state soccer championships in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025, died Friday from sudden cardiac arrest. Pierce also played for two Salpointe state soccer champions, in 1998 and 1999. She is survived by her three sons, Tyler, 22; Brady, 17; and Camden, 14. Pierce has coached for FC Tucson and been involved in youth soccer in Tucson for almost 20 years. She was also the head coach at Mountain View High School, 2013-17. Pierce was 43. What a tragedy.
FC Tucson Women’s coach Kelly Pierce, left, shares a laugh with her players.
– Seventeen days after he was drafted in the fourth round by the Boston Red Sox and paid a $682,000 signing bonus, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s All-Pac-12 shortstop, Mason White, has joined the Red Sox’s Class A affiliate in Salem, Virginia. The Salem team has 17 regular-season games remaining. White, from Salpointe, faces an imposing task to move up in the Red Sox system. According to , four of the Red Sox’s top-10 prospects are middle infielders: 1, Franklin Arias; 7, Mikey Romero; 9, Yoeilin Cespedes; and 10, Dorian Soto. It’s likely the Red Sox will use White as a second baseman, as well.
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– Three of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s top basketball players of the Sean Miller years are now playing in Japan. Rawle Alkins last week signed with the Kobe Storks. Stanley Johnson recently signed with the Nagasaki Velca and Brandon Ashley has been a Japanese All-Star playing for Altiri Chiba. Alkins has already played professionally in Germany, Greece, Israel, Portugal and Puerto Rico.
– I had the pleasure last week to watch former Tucson Sidewinders play-by-play radio voice Brett Dolan in his new job for the MLB Network as a sideline/dugout reporter. Dolan also now works for ESPN in the same capacity. Since leaving the Sidewinders, where he was employed from 2000-05, Dolan has been the play-by-play man for the Houston Astros and for the Arkansas Razorbacks in football and basketball.
– Taylor McQuillin, who was an All-Pac-12 softball pitcher at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ in 2017 and 2018, last week was promoted to assistant head coach at Southern Utah University. McQuillin played for Mexico in the 2020 Olympics and later in the pro softball league in Japan and in the AUSL. She will be coaching ex-Sabino standout Riley Nielson, who was 20-2 when the Sabercats won the 2022 state championship. Nielson will be a junior at Southern Utah next season.
– Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a starting forward on ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s 2015 Elite Eight basketball team, is hoping to get back into basketball. Now 30, he has played in Israel, Italy, Turkey, Puerto Rico and the Philippines since his 305-game NBA career ended in 2022. Hollis-Jefferson last week tweeted this message on X: “Good morning, NBA. I was wondering if any teams had a training camp opening for a kind chap like myself. I’m like a SUV — got a lot of miles but for the long haul you can count on me. I also keep good air-flow among teammates. I also can guard just about anyone.†I’d give him a shot. He is a defensive stopper.
– In my list of Top 25 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ victories for the quarter century, 2000-25, I made one serious omission. I did not list Dave Rubio’s 2001 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ volleyball team that went 25-5 and reached the Final Four for the only time in UA history. Big miss on my part. Rubio’s 2001 team beat No. 2 USC to reach the Final Four before losing to Long Beach State. That team, led by Dana Burkholder and Jill Talbot, was a powerhouse.
Recalling Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg's quick stop in Tucson | Greg Hansen
