Sunnyside Junior Baseball (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
GAME TOTAL: 74
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Sunnyside beat Palo Verde 9-3 Monday night at Mission Manor Park to capture the District 12 Junior Baseball championship. Sunnyside advances to the State Tournament, scheduled to start July 5 at Tempe Diablo Complex.
Roman Basurto held Palo Verde to four hits and no earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work and Francisco Valenzuela took care of all four batters he faced in relief of Basurto.
“I think we are a young but good team,” Basurto said. “I honestly think we have some of Tucson’s best players. Everyone helped us win.”
Basurto will be an eight grader next year and the standout pitcher/outfielder will be headed to Salpointe for high school.
Jackson Merriott went 2-for 4 to lead Palo Verde and Joseph Benitez and Zayden Pratt had hits for Palo Verde. Benitez and Julian Flores saw pitching action for Palo Verde. Gabe Ortiz went 2-4 to lead Sunnyside, Valenzuela had an RBI single, Basurto had a single and two RBI, Elijah Espinosa had a single, Gerardo Ortiz had an RBI single and Jerry Coyle had a hit.
No championships will be decided Tuesday night but there are seven games on tap.
Roman Basurto (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
D-5 8-10 BASEBALL
Oro Valley 12, Canyon View 0
Maggie Morales
allsportstucson.com
District 5 8-10 Baseball returned to action Monday night with Oro Valley and Canyon View facing off for a chance to move on to the championship game. Both teams went into the game undefeated, but Oro Valley was able to continue their strain of run-rule victories with a 12-0 victory over Canyon View.
Regen Mazura led off the game with a single and a stolen base and Ayven Sholl tripled through the right side to score Mazura, bringing across the first run of the game. DiAngelo Alexander walked to put runners on the corners and he took second. Christian Soder’s ground ball to the short stop allowed two more runners to score and Cody Milne singled through the right side to score Soder. Clifford Graves and Cole Newton reached on a hit by pitch and a walk, but Isaac Kirkendall was able to get out of it with no more damage.
Zach Schaefer singled to lead off for Canyon View but Oro Valley was able to escape the inning with no damage done, leading 4-0.
Chad Butterbrodt started the second off with a walk but a great throw by Canyon View’s catcher helped clear the bases. Sholl, Alexander, and Soder all picked up back-to-back singles for Oro Valley. Alexander’s single scored Sholl and Soder’s single scored Alexander. Canyon View was able to limit the damage to those two runs.
Chase Cesarek walked to start the bottom half of the second but another pickoff by Peyton Carson kept runners off the bases. Braden Guest and Troy Kuhlman followed up with back-to-back walks, but nothing came of it and Oro Valley took a 6-0 lead into the third.
Graves, Newton, and Butterbrodt each singled to load the bases before Sholl cleared them with a single to center. Alexander reached on a ball to the infield, scoring Sholl. Oro Valley extended the lead to 10. Schaefer and Johnny Abramian each walked in the third, but Alexander was able to get out of it unscathed.
Milne tripled down the left field line to start the fourth and Lucas Anderson singled to right to score Milne. Newton and Mazura singled to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Anderson to score.
Canyon View returns to play Tuesday night at Arthur Pack where they will take on Thornydale at 6:30 p.m. Thornydale is coming off a 12-10 victory over Tucson Mountain to allow their season to continue. The winner will play Oro Valley at 6:30 on Wednesday night in the championship game.
Maggie Morales is a senior at the University of Minnesota Crookston where she is a three-time Academic All-American on the softball team. Maggie grew up in Tucson and played softball at Canyon del Oro where she won a state title.
CHAMPION ROLL CALL
D-5 8-10 SOFTBALL: Thornydale
D-12 8-10 SOFTBALL: Copper Hills
D-5 9-11 SOFTBALL: Marana
D-12 JUNIOR BASEBALL: Sunnyside
MONDAY, JUNE 25
D-5 8-10 BASEBALL
Thornydale 12, Tucson Mountain 10
Oro Valley 12, Canyon View 0
D-5 9-11 BASEBALL
Canyon View 15, Tucson Mountain 4
Western 19, Marana 11
D-5 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Western 15, Tucson Mountain 1
Canyon del Oro 14, Oro Valley 2
D-5 LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL
Tucson Mountain vs. Canyon View, Arthur Pack 6:30 p.m.
D-12 8-10 BASEBALL
Sunnyside 14, Copper Hills 2
Freedom 26, Southwestern 17
San Xavier 17, Pantano 0
Rincon 5, Palo Verde 0
D-12 LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL
Copper Hills 4, San Xavier 2
D-12 JUNIOR BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunnyside 9, Palo Verde 3
TUESDAY, JUNE 26
D-5 8-10 BASEBALL
Thornydale vs. Canyon View, Arthur Pack 6:30 p.m.
D-5 9-11 BASEBALL
Canyon View vs. Marana, Mehl 6:30 p.m.
D-5 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Western vs. Oro Valley Kriegh 6:30 p.m.
D-12 8-10 BASEBALL
Southwestern vs. Santa Rita, Anamax 5:15 p.m.
Randolph vs. Palo Verde, Anamax 6:30 p.m.
Pantano vs. Tucson American, Anamax 7:45 p.m.
D-12 LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL
Copper Hills vs. Sunnyside, Mission Manor 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27
D-12 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Freedom vs. Pantano, Perry 6:30 p.m.
San Xavier vs. American, Perry 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, JUNE 28
D-12 8-10 BASEBALL
Sunnyside vs. Rincon, Anamax 5:15 p.m.
Freedom vs. San Xavier, Anamax 7:45 p.m.
D-12 LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Randolph vs. Santa Rita, Perry 5:15 p.m.
Rincon vs. Copper Hills, Perry 5:15 p.m.
FRIDAY, JUNE 29
D-12 9-11 BASEBALL
Copper Hills vs. Rincon, Rincon 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 30
D-5 9-11 BASEBALL
Sunnyside vs. Santa Rita, Rincon 6:30 p.m.
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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 is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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