More than most, Cody Yount truly has baseball in his blood. Father Larry spent a decade as a high-level professional player and Uncle Robin is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But it goes deeper. Cousin Dustin and brother Austin both were All-Arizona players at Chaparral under Coach Jerry Dawson. Dustin has gone on to a professional career in the Orioles organization and Austin is a two-way player at Stanford.
Like the rest of his family, Cody quickly stands out on the field and not only because of his impressive size (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) and baseball build. He is a pure hitter from the left-side of the plate. The past two seasons, he has been Chaparral’s most consistent batsman while switching between first and third base in the field. He also is undefeated as a pitcher, serving mostly as a starter last year when he was 6-0 and as a closer this year with an earned run average at about 1.0.
But what Cody shares most is a competitive fire and a determination to achieve victory. It’s why he takes such pride in playing at Chaparral, which year-in and year-out over the past three decades has established itself as one of the top programs in the nation.

“Coach Dawson knows what it takes to win, and he imparts that knowledge to us,” says Yount. “That’s what my family is all about and that is what is best about playing at Chaparral. It’s a goal and a responsibility to give it your very best effort.”
It is the chief motivating factor for Cody as his senior years enters the home stretch. The Firebirds are 18-6 and 8-1 in the Desert Sky Region. A couple more victories ought to clinch another region title (the 16th in a row and 23rd overall) for Chaparral and put the Firebirds in ideal position to regain the Class 4A state championship after last year’s disappointing semifinal loss to region rival and eventual titlist McClintock. A title this year would be Chaparral’s eighth.
“I can’t wait for another chance at the state championship,” says Yount. “It was tough to lose last year after we had won four in a row.”

Yount has done his part and then some. So far this year, he is hitting .460 with a .508 on-base percentage and a .571 slugging average for an OPS of 1.078, which is substantially better than his All-Region performance last year of a .387 batting average to go with a .495 on-base percentage and a .480 slugging average.
“Cody always has had a lot of talent, and he always works hard,” says Dawson, who appreciates Yount’s dedication and persistence as much as his ability. “That combination has allowed him to improve greatly in both his physical and mental approach to the game. He is very important to our success as a team and it is clear that he will only get better and better as he continues to grow and fill out.”
Yount takes pride in his success against the toughest competition. In an exciting 3-2 extra-inning victory over Sandra Day O’Connor (in a game featuring two of the top three or four teams in the state) he had a pair of hits off ace Maverick Lasker, a San Diego State University signee. He also hit a massive opposite-field home run into a fierce wind in a key victory over Saguaro last season.

Although Cody has not selected a school for next season, he is regarded as a strong Division I prospect and could easily wind up in the Pac 10 or Atlantic Coast Conference. “He has the talent,” says Dave Hilton, who has 30 years in organized baseball as a player, coach and scout. “He has the bat speed and knowledge to be a successful hitter against even the best pitching. He’ll be a lot of fun to watch over the next few years.”

For now, the fun will come for Chaparral fans as they follow their team into the playoffs. Yount will be important to the outcome and is confident of ultimate success, which can only be a good thing.

Notes – The next three games are important to the Firebirds as they work to hold off Saguaro in the race for the region championship. At 8-1, they are a half-game ahead of the Sabrecats, 8-2. That means if Chaparral can take two of three against Paradise Valley (at home today) and Apache Junction (twice next week), the title is theirs. From here, the prospects look good, especially with Chase Brewer starting things off on the mound today. And then, Danny Coulombe will be ready on Tuesday, fresh off an amazing 20-strikeout performance two days ago at Paradise Valley. The records are not complete, but it probably is a state record for a 7-inning game. Brewer delivers more of the same today.