Marana was the epitome of the scrappy underdog ready for the challenge, but Oro Valley’s Majors (10-12) team was literally too powerful in the Little League District 5 championship at Arthur Pack Regional Park on Tuesday night.
Cleanup hitter Evan Wheeler blasted two home runs, including a grand slam in the top of the sixth, to propel Oro Valley to the district title with the 10-7 victory. He also pitched three scoreless innings in relief allowing one hit with six strikeouts and three walks to earn the win on the mound.
Oro Valley advances to the state tournament that begins July 16 in Tempe.
Oro Valley is the District 5 Majors champions. Defeated Marana 10-7. They advance to the state tournament that starts July 16 in Tempe. pic.twitter.com/mkdBSW1d9R
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 30, 2021
“I think we have a good chance; I think we’ll do good,” said Wheeler, whose team went unbeaten in four games in the district tournament. “It feels good because I was able to win it for us because we were down and I put us up and I closed it out pitching.”
Through the first three innings, it appeared Marana’s Cinderella story would continue. It led 7-3 after a five-run third inning highlighted by a bases-loaded walk by Sophie Silverstein and a three-run double by Emmitt Lee, who scored on the play because of a throwing error.
Only three of Marana’s players are 12-years-old — the maximum age for the Majors division — and two of the players that took the mound in Tuesday’s game never pitched in an all-star district tournament because of the bullpen wearing thin from Marana’s four previous games in the tournament.
Awesome: Sophie Silverstein of Marana is a 10-year-old girl playing with the Majors baseball team. She just hit a rope snagged by the pitcher. pic.twitter.com/RbHVsYAAys
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 30, 2021
Marana lost the first round game against Canyon View but then won three straight games in the elimination bracket, including a win over Canyon View in a rematch.
“Very proud of these kids,” said Marana coach Nate Chanek, who called playing Oro Valley a “David and Goliath” matchup. “We weren’t supposed to go this far, but they believed in themselves and showed a lot of heart.”
Oro Valley’s Nick Aronson put his team ahead 2-0 in the top of the second on a two-run home run with two outs that plated Daniel Armenta, who earlier singled.
Oro Valley, which averaged 10.3 runs in the four games of the district tournament, appeared to be ready to pull away.
“I was so excited,” Aronson said of his home run with a smile. “I stomped on (home plate) and I kind of messed up my knees.”
Marana immediately answered in the bottom of the second with two RBI singles by Lee and Ryan Heimpel with two outs. Lee finished with 2 for 3 with four RBIs.
The five runs mounted by Marana in the third inning equaled what Oro Valley allowed in its previous three wins combined. It outscored opponents 31-5 to reach the championship.
“We told our team that Marana is an amazing team,” Oro Valley coach Ena Madrid said. “They’ve been fighting this whole time through the loser’s bracket, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
An RBI single by Aaron White in the fourth inning cut Marana’s lead to 7-4. Wheeler took the mound in the bottom of that inning and worked out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the deficit at three runs.
Marana could not muster a rally in the fifth and sixth innings against Wheeler.
Oro Valley’s Evan Wheeler with two HRs, including a grand slam in the sixth that put his team ahead. Also pitched three innings of scoreless relief with six Ks for the 10-7 win over Marana in the District 5 Majors championship. pic.twitter.com/PjWqNpTLuV
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 30, 2021
Oro Valley’s Nick Aronson displays the balance of his team’s lineup batting eight and still showing plenty of power with a two-run homer in the 10-7 win over Marana in the District 5 Majors championship game. pic.twitter.com/HJkE8MpuOQ
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 30, 2021
Meanwhile, Oro Valley cut the lead to 7-5 in the fifth on Wheeler’s solo home run and then sent 11 batters to the plate in their five-run sixth inning buoyed by Wheeler’s grand slam.
“The last one (homer) wasn’t that good, but it it got out, so it counts,” Wheeler said. “I didn’t think it was going out, but it did. So we went ahead and I just had to pitch and we were done.”
Sito Graves and Fabian Acuna walked and Izzy Delgado singled to load the bases before Wheeler’s home run.
An insurance run was tacked on when Armenta, who singled, scored with two outs on Graves’ RBI single.
Former @Amphipanthers and @PimaAthletics softball standout Ena Madrid is the manager of Oro Valley’s District 5 Little League Majors baseball championship team. Her team heads to the state tournament at Tempe starting July 16. pic.twitter.com/1HferOS1DY
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 30, 2021
“The biggest thing we kept telling them is to have heart and they proved that all the way through,” Madrid said of her team. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.
“We haven’t had days off. I think Sundays are the only days we’ve had off. They’ve proved what hard work is. We were tired but it’s worth it. I think that’s what separates us from everybody else.”
The District 12 Majors baseball tournament gets underway at Field of Dreams on Wednesday. The District 8 tournament that includes Nogales, Douglas, Sierra Vista, Willcox and Santa Cruz also starts Wednesday.
This is the age group that advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in August.
District 5 & 12 LITTLE LEAGUE RESULTS THROUGH TUESDAY’S GAMES
Note: * denotes elimination bracket game
Little League Softball
District 12
9-10-11
Sunnyside is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Payson on July 15.
Majors
Tuesday, June 29
Championship — Sunnyside 15, San Xavier 2.
Sunnyside is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Queen Creek on July 6.
Sunnyside advances to the Softball Little League state tournament. The program won the World Series in 2013 can the team do it again? https://t.co/9f7ZBZEpXK pic.twitter.com/6B7H0tfhj5
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) June 30, 2021
District 5
8-9-10
Continental Ranch is the district champion advancing to the state tournament at Cottonwood beginning July 9.
Majors
Monday, June 28
Game One (Best of 3): Marana 11, Thornydale 1
Tuesday, June 29
Game Two (Best of 3): Marana 14, Thornydale 1
Marana is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Queen Creek on July 6.
https://t.co/T9I71iF9ta Marana softball was on fire tonight 🔥🔥🔥 here’s the story in their performance tonight. @AllSportsTucson
— Nathaniel Martinez (@NateMartTSports) June 30, 2021
Juniors
Monday, June 28
Game One (Best of 3): Thornydale 11, Flowing Wells 1
Tuesday, June 29
Game Two (Best of 3): Thornydale 28, Flowing Wells 18
Thornydale is the district champion heading to the state tournament that will be held at Arthur Pack starting July 5.
Little League Baseball
District 12
Intermediate 50/70
Copper Hills is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Nogales on July 16.
8-9-10 (Jesse Owens)
Tuesday, June 29
Game Five: Rincon 15, Copper Hills 0
*Game Six: Cactus 29, Sunnyside 3
Thursday, July 1
*Game Seven: Cactus vs. Copper Hills, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, July 2
Game Eight: Championship (Rincon vs. Winner Game Seven), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 3
Game Nine: Championship (if necessary, if Game Seven winner wins Game Eight), 6:30 p.m.
9-10-11 (Field of Dreams)
Tuesday, June 29
*Game Five: Sunnyside 16, Southwestern 0
*Game Six: Los Niños 25, Randolph 3
Thursday, July 1
Game Seven: Copper Hills vs. Rincon, 5:15 p.m.
*Game Eight: Sunnyside vs. Los Niños, 7:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 3
*Game Nine: Loser Game Seven vs. Winner Game Eight, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, July 5
Game Ten: Championship (Winner Game Seven vs. Loser Game Nine), 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 6
Game Eleven: Championship (if necessary, if Loser Game Nine wins Game Ten), 6:30 p.m.
Majors (Field of Dreams)
Wednesday, June 30
Game One (Field 1): Copper Hills vs. Sunnyside, 5:15 p.m.
Game Two (Field 2): Cactus vs. Empire, 5:15 p.m.
Game Three (Field 1): San Xavier vs. Southwestern, 7:45 p.m.
Game Four (Field 2): Rincon vs. Randolph, 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, July 1
*Game Five (Field 1): Loser Game One vs. Loser Game Two, 5:15 p.m.
*Game Six (Field 1): Loser Game Three vs. Loser Game Four, 7:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 3
Game Seven (Field 1): Game One Winner vs. Game Two Winner, 5:15 p.m.
Game Eight (Field 1): Game Three Winner vs. Game Four Winner, 7:45 p.m.
Monday, July 5
*Game Nine (Field 1): Winner Game Five vs. Loser Game Eight, 5:15 p.m.
*Game Ten (Field 1): Winner Game Six vs. Loser Game Seven, 7:45 p.m.
Tuesday, July 6
Game Eleven (Field 1): Winner Game Seven vs. Winner Game Eight, 5:15 p.m.
*Game Twelve (Field 1): Winner Game Nine vs. Winner Game Ten, 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday, July 7
*Game Thirteen (Field 1): Winner Game Twelve vs. Loser Game Eleven, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, July 9
Game Fourteen (Field 1): Championship (Winner Game Eleven vs. Winner Game Thirteen), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 10
Game Fifteen (Field 1): Championship (if necessary, if Winner Game Thirteen wins Game Fourteen), 6:30 p.m.
Juniors (Jesse Owens)
Tuesday, June 29
*Game Five: San Xavier 18, Southwestern 14
Thursday, July 1
Game Six: Championship — Sunnyside vs. San Xavier, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, July 2
Game Seven: Championship (if necessary, if San Xavier beats Sunnyside in Game Six), 6:30 p.m.
District 5
8-9-10
Tuesday, June 29
Championship — Canyon View 20, Tanque Verde 4
Canyon View is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Silver Lake Park starting July 17.
9-10-11
Tuesday, June 29
Championship — Canyon View 7, CDO 0
Canyon View is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Litchfield Park starting July 16.
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Majors
Tuesday, June 29
Championship — Oro Valley 10, Marana 7
Oro Valley is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Tempe starting July 16.
Intermediate 50/70
Monday, June 28
Game One (Best of 3): Continental Ranch 16, Western 1
Tuesday, June 29
Game Two (Best of 3): Continental Ranch 14, Western 7
Continental Ranch is the district champion heading to the state tournament at Nogales starting July 16.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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