Copper Hills withstood Rincon’s four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game by responding with a four-run rally of its own in the seventh inning to claim the District 12 9-11 Minors championship with an 11-8 victory Saturday night at Anamax Park at Sahuarita.
Copper Hills, which went 3-0 in the event, advances to the state tournament that starts July 9 at Flagstaff.
“It shows their maturity — they all come from all these different teams throughout the league, and getting them to buy into being one team, playing for Copper Hills,” manager Carlos Armijo said of his all-star team. “We’re not playing for the name on the back of the jersey; we’re playing for the name on the front.
“They all bought into that, and they all had each other’s back throughout the whole thing. I referred to it as a roller coaster. At one point we’re up, and at one point we might be down, but they stuck with each other through this all.”
Congratulations to Copper Hills for earning the District 12 9-11 Minors championship tonight in a seven-inning 11-8 win over Rincon. Copper Hills advances to the state tournament at Flagstaff starting July 9. Congratulations to Rincon as well for a great run through the… pic.twitter.com/T6PGbKouJJ
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2025
Copper Hills’ effective starter Trent Youngs recorded a strikeout for the second out of the bottom of the sixth but had to be removed because he surpassed 85 pitches with 86.
Rincon had a runner on second base — Jed Hall, who earlier hit an RBI double that cut the lead to 7-4.
An error allowed Hall to score. After Warren Clarke hit a single, Logan Reller followed with a slow-rolling infield single that allowed two runs to score to tie the game at 7.
Mateo Palacios ended the inning by pitching a strikeout.
Copper Hills starter Trent Youngs pitched a strong 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight with no walks in his team’s 11-8 win in seven innings over Rincon in the District 12 9-11 Minors championship tonight. pic.twitter.com/KijQ2VaIbL
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2025
With Axel Yslas the automatic runner at second base to start the extra inning (seventh), Luca Grijalva followed with a triple to right field that scored Yslas and put Copper Hills ahead 8-7.
An error off the bat of Abraham Soto put runners on first and third before Calvin Dunn singled to score Grijalva.
Felix Peralta then produced his third hit of the game, which scored Soto to increase the lead to 10-7.
After a double play was turned by Rincon, Palacios and Gage Saenz each singled before Max McPherson followed with another single that scored Palacios for Copper Hills’ last run.
Max McPherson, first baseman with Copper Hills with his dad Stephen, one of the coaches. Max went 2 for 4 with a run, two stolen bases and three RBIs in Copper Hills’ 11-8 win in seven innings over Rincon in the District 12 9-11 Minors championship game tonight. pic.twitter.com/EWmnlzjOfd
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2025
Palacios retired the three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to close the game and victory (a ground out and a sacrifice fly allowed automatic runner Levi Barr to score in the meantime).
“They’re battle tested,” Armijo said of his group. “We return eight to nine kids from last year’s (8 to 10) team, and we actually got eliminated by Rincon.
“So they’ve had some experience in these scenarios where they’re gonna punch you and we gotta punch back. How do you respond to these situations?”
Youngs finished with eight strikeouts and no walks in his 5 2/3 innings.
Palacios got the win, pitching the last 1 1/3 innings. Palacios also had two hits, two runs and two walks.
Peralta was 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI as the leadoff batter for Copper Hills.
Copper Hills leadoff hitter Felix Peralta set the tone for his team’s 11-8 win in seven innings over Rincon in the District 12 9-11 Minors championship tonight. Felix went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI. pic.twitter.com/cmqzSu4IJ0
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 29, 2025
Saenz, Madden Romero and Dunn each recorded two hits, as did McPherson, who was 2 for 4 with a run and three RBIs.
“As long as we can throw strikes and we play defense like we can and keep hitting the ball, anything’s possible in the state tournament,” Armijo said. “I think we have a good shot.”
Hall went 3 for 3 with two doubles and three RBIs to lead Rincon.
Reller was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and also pitched effectively out of the bullpen in the middle innings, allowing three hits without an earned run in three innings while striking out one without a walk.
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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 in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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