Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
New warning about valley fever as Arizona cases hit 13-year high
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Do you know the signs and symptoms of valley fever?
Cases hit a decade-high, and doctors want to ensure you know what to look for, especially with friends and family coming into town for the holidays.
The Arizona Department of Health Services has seen more than 14,000 cases of valley fever so far this year.
Valley fever is caused by a fungal infection. It’s not contagious, but it is often misdiagnosed and can make you very sick.
Its symptoms are the same as those of the flu or COVID-19, so many people brush it off as a virus – sometimes even doctors.
“That’s not an unusual situation where we have people visiting from out of state, and they go back to their home state, and then they develop an illness that ends up being diagnosed as valley fever,” said Dr. Wassim Ballan, an infectious disease specialist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Ballan is encouraging Arizonans to educate visiting loved ones about the illness.
“Usually, we don’t expect that there would be this awareness of valley fever outside the state of Arizona, so it’s something we want people to keep in mind,” Ballan said.
The fungus that causes valley fever is unique to southwestern soil.
According to CDC data, valley fever cases increase during hot and dry periods. The Phoenix area has not had rain in months.
“The fungus releasing, if you want to call them spores, they hang out in the air and then they get breathed in through the lungs,” Ballan said.
Ballan says about 40% of those infected get symptoms, which can worsen over time.
“They seek medical care. They get diagnosed with pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia, so they start on antibiotics, and they don’t respond. So they get on a different course of antibiotics and so on,” said Ballan.
He says many have never even heard of valley fever, especially if they aren’t from Arizona or recently moved here.
This is the case with one Valley resident, Michael, who was hiking on Friday.
“I’ve not been here that long, maybe 18 months, so I’ve still got a lot to learn, I guess,” he said.
Ballan says it’s important to stay vigilant this holiday season.
“Because valley fever can present in a similar way to other respiratory infections, that’s a good reminder to try to prevent those other infections by making sure you’re vaccinated,” he said.
You can get valley fever from hiking or being out in the desert, but also, because it’s in the air, anyone can be exposed.
Valley fever is treated with antifungal medications.
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In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.
We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.
Cardinals 4-round mock draft
Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.
- Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
- Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
- Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
- Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber
What we think of the picks
The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.
Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.
Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.
Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.
Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State
Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.
Concern level 0/10
There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.
His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.
He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
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