Former Ironwood Ridge standout Kamden Kautz took the mound for Sonora. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

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The Sun Belt College Baseball League, sponsored by the Kino Baseball League, held an All-Star game Wednesday night under the lights of Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium. The All-Star game was the highlight of the “Fourth of July Diamonds in the Sky Celebration” put on by Pima County. Oh, and there were fireworks also.

Over 6,000 fans enjoyed games for the kids, live music, good food and great baseball, played mostly by former local high school standouts either playing at the collegiate level or entering college this fall. The Sun Belt League is part of 17 collegiate leagues that make up the National Baseball Congress (NBC) and the All-Star game figures to be the biggest of all the leagues.

The league will receive an automatic berth to the NBC World Series to be played in Wichita, Kansas from July 22 to August 6 and the league features seven teams with over 60 standouts taking part in the All-Star game Wednesday night.

Team Kino All-Stars came out on top 3-1 over Team Sonora in a game dominated by strong pitching performances, timely hitting and excellent defense, as one would expect from a collegiate league. Tyson Coleman (Benson/Cochise/Javelinas) singled in the bottom of the first and scored on a single from Matthew Hackman (Empire/Pima/Team Tucson) to give Kino a 1-0 lead.

Kino added two more in the third with Oscar Larranaga (Sunnyside/Saint Anselm/Kings) and Sergio Cordova (Pueblo/Oklahoma Panhandle State/Javelinas) crossing the plate. Tyler Wiltshire (Sabino/Minot State/Team Tucson) reached on a single and Johnny Radomskiy (Chino Hills/Presentation College/Kings) and Marcus Catalano (Salpointe/Bryan College/Kings) each collected a sacrifice fly.

Sonora picked up a run in the seventh on a single from Gilbert Aguilar (Catalina Foothills/Presentation College/Knights) and an RBI from Ricky Martinez (Tucson/Paradise Valley/Stars).

Trevelle Hill (Tucson/Texas-Rio Grande/Kings) got the start for Kino and Mateo Orozco (Marana/Arizona Club/Stars) took the mound for Sonora.

Sun Belt schedules and more can be found HERE.

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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