DEPARTMENT OF ARIZONA AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Post 7 Tucson (Tucson High) battled back to beat Post 109 Bolts (Mica Mountain) 11-8 Thursday night at the Kino Sports Complex to advance to the Arizona American Legion Championship Series set to start on Tuesday, July 18. Tucson will take on Post 73 Crush (Sunnyside) in the best-of-3 series after Sunnyside swept Post 8 Spartans (Vista Grande) in two games.
Tucson is now 12-3 in American Legion play this summer with Mica Mountain (9-5) accounting for two of those losses and Sunnyside (10-4) accounting for the other. Mica Mountain beat Tucson 10-9 during the regular season and again 12-4 Wednesday night in the playoffs to even up the semifinal series at one game each. The deciding game was played Thursday night and Mica Mountain got off to a great start.
The Bolts plated five runs in the top of the third, with four runs scored with two outs, but Tucson scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game up at 5-5. Mica Mountain rebounded with three runs in the top of the fourth to take what looked like a safe 8-5 lead but Tucson scored three in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game back up at 8-8.
Tucson took the final lead in the bottom of the six after Gennaro Brito walked to lead off and Sebastian Pino knocked him in one out later for a 9-8 lead. Aldo Teilon doubled in Pino to make it 10-8 and then Jorge Castro brought in Teilon for the 11-8 final.
Castro went 3-4 with a double and four RBIs; Teilon went 2-3 with a double and two RBIs; Pino went 2-3 with a double and an RBI; Brito went 2-3; Abram Vergara went 2-2 with an RBI and Jaden Leon and Emrick Thompson had an RBI each. Pino and Uziel Castillo took the mound for Tucson.
Nico Pesquiera had a double and three RBIs for Mica Mountain; Eliel Gonzalez-Cotto went 2-3 with a double; Camren Hanamoto went 2-3 with an RBI; Jackson Barlet and an RBI and Ethan Hunt had an RBI. Raydon Rocha, Pesquiera, Ryan McCammond and Miguel Brito pitched for the Bolts.
Sunnyside beat Tucson 7-5 to end the regular season and Tucson beat Sunnyside 4-3 in early June so expect a tight championship series.
SEMIFINALS BEST OF 3 SERIES
TUESDAY, JULY 11
Post 7 Tucson 6, Post 109 Bolts 0
Post 73 Crush 4, Post 8 Spartans 1
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12
Post 109 Bolts 12, Post 7 Tucson 4
Post 73 Crush 11, Post 8 Spartans 1 (Crush wins series 2-0)
THURSDAY, JULY 13
Post 7 Tucson 11, Post 109 Bolts 8 (Tucson wins series 2-1)
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BEST OF 3 SERIES
TUESDAY, JULY 18
Post 73 Crush vs. Post 7 Tucson, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19
Post 73 Crush vs. Post 7 Tucson, 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, JULY 20 (If necessary)
Post 73 Crush vs. Post 7 Tucson, 6:30 p.m.
WEST REGION FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2
Arizona vs. Texas, 9:30 a.m.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3
Arizona vs. TBD
WORLD SERIES
AUGUST 11-16
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Named one of “Arizona’s Heart & Sol” by KOLD and Casino del Sol, Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and a 2019 AZ Education News recognition. He was a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling and his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is a 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. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019, became a member of the Sunnyside Los Mezquites Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2021 and he was a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee. He earned a Distinguished Service Award from Amphitheater and he was recognized by City Councilman Richard Fimbres. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com
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