Cassidy Morrow has two home runs for Sahuaro. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

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Marana Mountain View and Sahuaro run-ruled their respective opponents in the 5A Play-In Tournament last year, only to have both come up one run short in the opening round of the state tournament three days later. Mountain View lost to Centennial 1-0 in 11 innings and Sahuaro lost to Cienega 5-4 in eight innings. What might have been?

Cienega went on to beat Centennial 2-1 in an epic 12-inning semifinal game before taking out Ironwood Ridge 8-2 in the state final. It’s easy to imagine how history might have been written had those elimination games gone the other way, but that’s all in the past. The two teams aren’t even competing in the same conference anymore….

GAME STORY AT AZPREPS365.COM

Jessica Niegocki shut the door on Sahuaro. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

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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