2026 Arizona High School 5A/6A Softball/Baseball State Championships

Within my second week interning at Arizona's Family (KTVK 3TV/KPHO CBS5), I covered Arizona's softball and baseball championships for the top two high school divisions. All of these VOSOTs were shown on Arizona Family's nightly show Extra Point.

I attended these games alone for the station as a multimedia journalist. This included a camera, tripod and mic for interviews and a laptop and LiveU for scripting and editing.

Throughout each game, I kept a shot sheet tracking key plays. At the end of each game I submitted a script on ENPS used for the show, then set up the equipment on the field. I tracked down the players I wanted to talk to and ensured quality soundbites for the VOSOTs.

I did not shoot any of the game highlights for the Finals, however I did shoot all of the video from the Semifinal game. Any of the non-broadcast video in the Finals games were shot by me.

I edited all of the highlights except the 6A Baseball Final. That game ended at 10 p.m. The Extra Point begins at 10:35 p.m. At the conclusion of the game, I submitted the script that was used on the show, I set up the tripod, camera and LiveU, called the station to confirm the LiveU was rolling and conducted the interview, so the editor could craft the VOSOT in time for the show.

I wrote and edited the 5A Baseball Final with the laptop at the stadium which took place directly before the 6A Baseball Final. The softball games were close enough to the station with enough time between games that I was able to go back and forth to edit.

I posted the VOSOTs on my Instagram page. The VOSOTs from last year's finals were posted nowhere. I was able to collaborate on Instagram with Arizona's Family and the respective schools. Without my posting the videos, they never would have been posted. The 6A Final VOSOT has 39.1K views and 1,800+ likes 10 days after being posted. The least viewed still has 6,500+ views and 100+ likes two weeks after.

(Voiced on the Extra Point by Mark McClune)