Gilbert head baseball coach Ashley Burnett has over 600 career wins. He’s coached almost 1,000 games.
Sunday’s game against Riverside, he said, was one of the hardest.
In the other dugout stood one of his closest friends.
Joey Leo — now in his first year as head coach at Riverside — served as an assistant coach for Burnett at Gilbert for nearly a decade.
“I told Joey before the game, today is probably one of the toughest games I’ve ever had to coach,” said Burnett. “That’s because he’s just such a good friend. That always makes it so difficult.”
Leo’s Riverside team rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat Gilbert 4-3 and win the 2026 Absolute Glass Invitational championship. The Warriors finished the tournament unbeaten at 4-0.
Burnett had jokes for his former assistant after the game.
“I’m proud of the success he’s having so far. I just wasn’t as proud of him for having success today,” Burnett said, laughing. “In seriousness, I’ll tell you this. Riverside got themselves a good one.”
Leo said it felt “surreal” to be back at the tournament hosted by his former school.
He was bombarded with handshakes and hugs from friends and former colleagues. The PA announcer boomed, “Welcome home, Coach Leo,” and referred to him as “one of Gilbert’s own” when introducing him before each game.
“I spent almost a decade down there at Gilbert,” said Leo. “That place will always be so, so special to my family and me. It’s comfortable, in a way, to be back on that field, because of how familiar it is. But it’s also nerve-wracking, because you want those people there to see a good product.
“You want to impress the people you care about.”
Safe to say Leo and his Warriors did just that. Riverside defeated Bishop England, Chapman, Saluda, and then Gilbert on Sunday to claim the tournament title.
Pitching was dominant for the Warriors throughout the weekend, as Riverside didn’t allow more than four runs in any of its wins.
“I’m super proud of our pitching staff,” said junior Grayson Lanich, who threw four no-hit innings in Riverside’s championship win vs. Gilbert. “We’ve been working hard since day one. We’ve seen so much improvement through our whole pitching lineup.”
Dominant performances on the mound, Leo says, are what he hangs his hat on as a coach.
“When I was at Gilbert, my job primarily was working with pitchers and catchers,” said Leo. “So, when I took over at Riverside, I looked at the guys on the pitching staff and pretty much told them, ‘Buckle up, boys.’ I’m very demanding of our arms… if you have two pitches you can throw across the plate consistently, that gives you a very good chance to win.”
Despite Leo’s intense demand from his pitchers, they say playing for him has been nothing but a joy and a privilege so far.
“Getting to know Coach Leo has been one of the highlights of my year,” said Lanich. “He keeps everything and everyone organized and disciplined. He encourages us to perform to the best of our ability, and he’s only made this program better.”
"All the guys love Coach Leo and what he's brought to the team this year," said senior Tyson Fine. "He's brought a ton of energy and a new dynamic to the team."
Those positive words come as no surprise to those who know Leo best.
“Truly, everybody back here loves Joey,” said Burnett. “You won’t find anyone who has a negative thing to say about Coach Leo. He’s just a quality man and an all-around great guy. And not to mention, one heck of a baseball coach.”
Leo says this weekend, for multiple reasons, is one he’ll never forget.
“I’ll always remember, on Saturday before we were set to play, I looked over and saw half the Gilbert boys sitting with my Riverside players,” said Leo, laughing. “They were all smiling and sharing stories about me, probably making some fun jokes about me.
“You can’t help but laugh about that. I actually had to be the one to come over and say, ‘Alright, guys, don’t forget, we’ve actually got a game to play here.’ And then those Gilbert players stuck around to watch us play, because it’s me. That kind of thing is really special to me. It means so much.”
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