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While the sun began its slow westerly tumble out of a blue sky, Joey Rohe turned his head from left to right, surveying his teammates smacking baseballs and scooping grounders.

It was April 26, the senior pitcher's first practice after playing his last regular-season home game at Catalina Foothills High School, a 5-1 victory over Cienega.

Among the feelings that accompany the final semester of high school, none are more overwhelming than the heightened sense of finality and imminent change.

"I'm going to miss coming out here every day," Rohe said. "It's been a big part of my life."

For him and the six other seniors on the team, this is it. Foothills has come as close as a team can to winning a state title, losing in the final game the past two years.

Second-seeded Catalina Foothills (25-3) will take on Phoenix Pinnacle in the 4A-I quarterfinals at 4 p.m. today at Maryvale Baseball Park.

"It's your last shot," senior catcher Ross Coelet said.

The team's grassy home field overlooks Tucson, similar to the Falcons' place this year in local standings. They entered the postseason as the top seed in the Kino.

Rohe finished 8-1, and the Falcons were 24-3 overall and 9-1 in the conference. Before an April 27 loss to Sahuaro, Foothills had not dropped one since mid-March — a 14-game streak. That is what first-year head coach J.J. Northam calls a "challenging year."

Struggles are subjective.

At the end of last year, the Falcons' 11-year coach, Jason Hisey, left to become an assistant coach at Pima College, and the Foothills program was turned over to Northam, an assistant for seven years.

Players said the transition has been simple because Northam maintained Hisey's methods and built on them. The Falcons continued six-days-a-week workouts starting in October to prepare for the season.

"We're in midseason form come the first day," Coelet said.

As the season ages, Northam has become more comfortable in his position as head coach. At the end of April, it was Rohe who was stressing.

He is feeling uneasy having to select a college, having been accepted at Arizona and Gonzaga, but no immediate baseball scholarships are presenting themselves.

Wherever his destination, Rohe will not play with Chapman University-bound Coelet — the catcher with whom he has been developing his fastball, changeup, curve and splitter since Pony League.

"There are times when it seems we have the same mind," Coelet said.

The future is different for each of them, but the seniors leave knowing they have passed on the winning tradition, said sophomore pitcher Kayvon Bahramzadeh.

Bahramzadeh has two more years to glean knowledge.

For Coelet, Rohe and the five other senior Falcons, the sun is setting.