Freedom beat Sunnyside 6-1 Monday night at Thomas Jay Park to capture the District 12 9-11 Baseball Championship. Freedom advances to the State Tournament taking place in Flagstaff starting on July 15.
Freedom (4-0) beat Sunnyside 12-0 last Thursday to send Sunnyside to the elimination bracket and Sunnyside (2-2) beat Rincon 11-10 on Saturday to set up the rematch.
Yaxel Ledesma collected 12 strikeouts and scattered four hits to pick up the win. He gave up a triple to Emrick Thompson to open up the game but he fanned the next three batters to get out of that first-inning jam. Sunnyside scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second after Omar Ruiz drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on an infield hit by Angel Rodriguez, took third on an error and then scored on a passed ball.
“I knew these kids could hit and I was worried about it but I got that out of my head,” Ledesma said. “I mixed it up a bit and threw my hardest and we got the win.”
Ledesma also recorded a double in the top of the first to score Elliot Pickrell and Adrian Villela and his hit proved to be the game-winner. Pickrell reached on a leadoff single and Villela doubled to left field.
Ledesma scored later in the inning and J’mien Acosta was walked with the bases loaded to score Zach Cervantes. Freedom added two more runs in the second with Cervantes knocking in Ledesma and Austin Lev bringing in Mateo Sbarra.
Freedom beat Sunnyside 6-1 9-11 District 12 champions pic.twitter.com/EkX5iFzzHs— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) July 2, 2019
Ledesma went the distance for Freedom and Adriano Jose got the start for Sunnyside. Mitzael Lopez also saw action for Sunnyside.
Sunnyside beat San Xavier 38-1 to win the District 12 8-10 Softball championship and the team will travel to Cottonwood for the State Tournament starting on July 9.
Sunnyside beat Santa Rita 3-1 to advance to the championship of the District 12 8-10 Baseball bracket. Santa Rita will play Rincon Tuesday night for a shot at Sunnyside on Friday night. The 8-10 State Tournament for Baseball is slated for Tempe starting on July 12.
In District 12 Little League Baseball action, Copper Hills, Santa Rita, Sunnyside and Southwestern are all undefeated in the Winner’s Bracket while San Xavier, Palo Verde, Rincon and Pantano are hanging on in the Elimination Bracket.
MONDAY, JULY 1
D12 BASEBALL 8-10
Sunnyside 3, Santa Rita 1
Rincon 8, Copper Hills 7
D12 SOFTBALL 8-10
Sunnyside 38, San Xavier 1 (Championship)
D12 BASEBALL 9-11
Freedom 6, Sunnyside 1 (Championship)
D12 BASEBALL LITTLE LEAGUE
Sunnyside 14, Rincon 0
San Xavier 10, Randolph 2
TUESDAY, JULY 2
D12 BASEBALL 8-10
Santa Rita vs. Rincon, 6:30 p.m. Dreams (Elimination)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 3
D12 BASEBALL LITTLE LEAGUE
Copper Hills vs. Santa Rita, 5:15 p.m. Dreams
Pantano vs. Rincon, 5:15 p.m. Dreams (Elimination)
Southwestern vs. Sunnyside, 7:45 p.m. Dreams
Palo Verde vs. San Xavier, 7:45 p.m. (Elimination)
FRIDAY, JULY 5
D12 BASEBALL 8-10
Sunnyside vs. TBD, 6:30 p.m. Dreams (Championship)
STATE BASEBALL 50/70
Tucson Mountain vs. Sierra Vista, 5 p.m. Udall
SATURDAY, JULY 6
STATE BASEBALL 50/70
Sunnyside vs. TBD, 5 p.m. Udall
THURSDAY, JULY 18
WEST REGION JUNIOR SOFTBALL
(Arthur Pack)
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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
