Head Coach Sam Messina--Bio
 
The 2022 season is Sam Messina’s thirty-first year of coaching baseball and thirty-second year in education. Coach Messina began his coaching career at his alma mater, Phoenix-Cortez High School in 1989. Messina served as an assistant coach for Ken Corley (1989-90) and Bob Treese (1992-94).  During his tenure at Cortez, Messina taught Mathematics at Royal Palm Middle School in Phoenix (1990-94) and served at a wrestling coach for 4 years.
 
Messina left the Metro area during the summer of 1994 and headed to the Southwest valley. At Avondale-Agua Fria High School Messina served as an assistant coach for Wayne DesCombes (1995-99).  When at Agua Fria, Messina taught Mathematics and coached freshmen and JV football (1994-97). 
 
In the fall of 1999 Goodyear-Millennium High School opened its doors and Messina was named as its first head baseball coach.  Under Messina’s leadership the Tigers went 149-93-2 over eight years (2000-07) making the state playoffs ‘02 through ‘07 and making it to the 4A quarter finals in ’03, ‘04’ and ’05 with region championships in ’03, ’04, and ’06. Including teaching Mathematics during his time at Millennium, Messina wore many different hats, Math Department Chair, Teacher on Assignment (Dean of Attendance), Head Swim Coach (1999) and freshmen football coach (2001).  For the 2005-06 school year, Messina was named Millennium’s “Westside Impact Teacher of the Year.” 
 
The move to Scottsdale-Chaparral High School came in the fall of 2007.  Coach Messina assisted Jerry Dawson (2008-10).  Following the 2010 season Coach Dawson retired after 37 years and Coach Messina became only the second head baseball coach at Chaparral.  Messina guided the Firebirds from 2011 to 2017 where they accumulated a record of 169-65-3. Chaparral made the state playoffs in each of Messina’s 7 years ’11 through ’17, which included being the 5A-II state champions in 2011, Division 1 state champions in 2012, Division 1 state runners-up 2013, Division 1 state semifinals in ’14 and ’16 and region championship in ’17.  In his ten years in the classroom (2007-17) Messina taught Mathematics and was the Athletic Director (2011-12). For the 2009-10 school year, Messina was presented as Chaparral’s “Scottsdale-Charros Outstanding Educator”.  After the 2017 season Messina stepped down as the head baseball coach to become an assistant principal and the athletic director at Chaparral (2017-19).   
 
Following retirement, Messina returned to his roots in the fall of 2019 at Phoenix-Pinnacle High School teaching Mathematics and serving as the head baseball coach.  The Pioneer 2020 baseball season was off to a good start, 6-2 prior to being cut short by COVID.  Last spring the Pinnacle baseball team finished the season with a 6-12 record. 
 
Messina graduated from Cortez High School in 1983 where he was a three-year letterman in baseball.  He traveled south to Tucson after graduation where he spent the ’84 season on the University of Arizona JV baseball team.  In ’85 Messina opted to transfer to Arizona Western Junior College in Yuma, AZ. He returned to play at the University of Arizona in ’86 and ’87 and he graduated in the spring of ’88.  He has been married to his wife Kimberly for 31 years and has two children and one grandchild.