(Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

The long road is over. 42 teams from Southern Arizona started on a journey some three months ago. Of those 42, 26 made the playoffs. Of those 26, four won a state softball championship. Benson won the 2A championship, Empire took the 3A title, Canyon del Oro claimed the 4A trophy and Cienega beat Sahuaro 4-1 Monday night to win the 5A championship.

6A? Tucson took third place and St. David was impressive in a 1A quarterfinal appearance. The list of semifinalists from Southern Arizona is also impressive with San Manuel (2A), Sabino (3A) and Salpointe (4A) representing but the last night of the season belonged to Cienega and Sahuaro…..

GAME STORY AT AZPreps365.com

NOTES

Cienega assistant coach Pat Kennedy was given the game ball. The longtime youth coach was in remission from cancer but recently found out he must go through more treatments over the summer. The team wore “Team Pat” ribbons in their hair during the game.

Taylor Lambert tied the career stolen base record for Cienega with 77. Kennedy’s daughter, Shelby, also had 77 career stolen bases. Lambert set the single-season record with 40 this year.

(Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

SOUTHERN ARIZONA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

San Manuel (9)
1977: 4A (Sheila Baize)
1979: 4A (Sheila Baize)
1980: 4A (Sheila Baize)
1981: 3A (Sheila Baize)
1982: 3A (Sheila Baize)
1990: 3A (Jeff Rupright)
1994: 3A (Jeff Rupright)
2013: D4 (Deanne Brewer)
2014: D4 (Deanne Brewer)

Canyon del Oro (9)
1991: 5A (Kathy McQuown)
2001: 5A (Dee Dinota)
2005: 5A (Kelly Fowler)
2007: 4A-I (Amy Swiderski)
2008: 4A-I (Amy Swiderski)
2009: 4A-I (Amy Swiderski)
2011: 4A-I (Kelly Fowler)
2012: D-II (Stephanie Nicholson)
2017: 4A (Kelly Fowler)

Sahuaro (8)
1984: 5A (Jim Higgins)
1985: 5A (Jim Higgins)
1988: 5A (Billy Lopez)
1989: 4A/5A (Billy Lopez)
1991: 5A (Billy Lopez)
1992: 4A (Billy Lopez)
1993: 4A (Billy Lopez)
2001: 4A (Billy Lopez)

Santa Cruz (5)
1979: 3A (Rosie Starks)
1980: 3A (Rosie Starks)
2000: 3A (Ernie Montijo)
2006: 3A (Andrea Reyes)
2008: 3A (Andrea Reyes)

Benson (4)
2006: 2A (Shad Housley)
2008: 2A (Shad Housley)
2011: 2A (Manny Ellsworth)
2017: 2A (Yogi Wilson)

Flowing Wells (4)
1984: 4A (Debbie Cutrer)
1999: 5A (Armando Quiroz)
2000: 5A (Armando Quiroz)
2002: 5A (Armando Quiroz)

Cienega (3)
2010: 4A-I (Eric Tatham)
2015: D-II (Eric Tatham)
2017: 5A (Eric Tatham)

Desert Christian (2)
1998: 1A (Bill Moten)
1999: 1A (Gerald Dawson)

Ironwood Ridge (2)
2014: D-II (Rich Alday)
2016: D-II (Rich Alday)

Palo Verde Christian/Pusch Ridge (2)
1997: 1A (Tom Armour)
2012: D-IV (Bob Vance)

Pueblo (2)
1990: 4A (Lisa Pina)
2016: D-IV (Curtis Ruiz)

Empire (2)
2015: D-III (Shannon Woolridge)
2017: 3A (Shannon Woolridge)

Sabino (2)
1991: 4A (Bill Belt)
2005: 4A (Galen Paton)

Sahuarita (2)
1999: 3A (Chris Fanning)
2011: 4A-II (Chris Fanning)

Salpointe (2)
1993: 5A (Stacy Hill Iveson)
1996: 5A (Phil Gruensfelder)

Thatcher (2)
2002: 2A (Rachel Motes)
2003: 2A (Rachel Motes)

Bowie/San Simon (1)
1990: 1A (Mike Peterson)

Catalina Foothills (1)
2016: D-III (Mark Stevens)

Desert View (1)
2000: 4A (Bert Otero)

Rincon (1)
2002: 4A (Russ Proctor)

Santa Rita (1)
1980: 5A (Jan Dunlap)

Sunnyside (1)
2007: 5A-II (Pete Palomarez)

Willcox (1)
2010: 1A (Mike Patterson)

2017 GIRLS TENNIS ALL-STARS
BEACH VOLLEYBALL ALL-STARS
2017 SOFTBALL/BASEBALL All-FRESHMAN TEAM

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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com