All but one player from Southern Arizona was involved in the second game of the championship series of the Sun Belt College Baseball League on Wednesday night between the Show Sluggers and Old Pueblo Kings at the Kino Sports Complex.
The game was competitive, well played, and dramatic at the end. The Show held off the Kings, who had the bases loaded in the seventh, to win 5-3. The victory earned the Show the sweep of the first two games of the best-of-three series.
In the first game Monday night, the Sluggers rallied for all five of their runs in the last two innings to win 5-2.
The Show Sluggers are the 2025 Sun Belt College League champions after their 5-3 win over the Old Pueblo Kings. Former Tucson High pitcher Juan Hernandez, who is headed to @BaseballPima, earned the Most Outstanding Player award as voted by his coaches. Stellar performance for the… pic.twitter.com/3TsLca9BXu
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 17, 2025
“Heck of a game; great series,” said Kino Baseball League president Bill Leith, who created the Sun Belt College League in 2012. “You can’t ask for better baseball.”
The cynics might say an abundance of local talent plays in the Sun Belt College League because the league is in Tucson.
Not the case.
It’s one thing to have a token league. It’s another to have a league that has the talent worthy of displaying their skills. If these Southern Arizona prospects did not have talent, they would not be continuing their careers in college in various parts of the country.
.@LancerHardball alum Aciel Guillen is headed to @BaseballPima with big-time momentum, winning a state title with Salpointe and then a Sun Belt College League championship tonight with the Show Sluggers. He talks about the accomplishment and the amount of talented players from… pic.twitter.com/9SvKJ6jGle
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 17, 2025
“From my childhood, there’s a lot of guys I’ve played with and a lot of these guys are going to colleges, including going to Pima (Community College) with me,” said Salpointe graduate Aciel Guillen, a standout shortstop who was an integral member of the Lancers’ state championship team. “Tucson really does have some guys who can make a difference on a college team and go pretty far.
“It’s great to be here and playing here in Tucson because those guys make you better.”
Joining Guillen at Pima will be Juan Hernandez, a Tucson High grad who was voted by team coaches as the Show’s Most Outstanding Player after his pitching performance Wednesday as the starter. The right-hander earned the win, pitching five scoreless innings while allowing only two hits. He struck out six and walked four.
Hernandez also went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a stolen base, batting second in the order after Guillen (2 for 3, run, double, two RBIs and a stolen base).
The Show Sluggers RHP Juan Hernandez (Tucson High/@BaseballPima) talks about his performance in tonight’s championship game that merited him the Most Outstanding Player award. He pitched five scoreless innings in his start with only two hits allowed with six strikeouts and four… pic.twitter.com/NwpS1QUhs6
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 17, 2025
“We’re really competitive and we have a lot of talent,” Hernandez said of the Show and the Kings. “We just put it all out on the field.”
Interesting to note that Hernandez and Guillen were part of the Sunnyside Little League team that became a sensation in Tucson when it came a game away from reaching the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa., in 2019.
Two other members of that team — Cienega graduate Andrew Romo and Desert View alum Jorge Zazueta — were teammates with the Show this summer.
Sunnyside High School grad Mike Muñiz, with the Old Tucson Gauchos of the Sun Belt League, also played for the 2019 Sunnyside Little League team. He and Desert View alum Damian Lorta will join their former Sunnyside teammates Hernandez, Guillen and Romo at Pima.
Zazueta is headed to Central Arizona College, and Salpointe alum Izaiah Moraga, yet another standout from that 2019 Sunnyside team, is bound for South Mountain Community College.
Francisco Rivero, a senior at Canyon del Oro who is the reigning 5A Sonoran Player of the Year, was also a member of Sunnyside’s team that year. His father, Francisco Sr., managed the team.
The development of the players from Sunnyside’s Little League team six years ago indicates how players can grow in the sport around here.
The talent blossoms because of the sincere community feel that exists between coaches and players from different high schools and clubs throughout Southern Arizona.
“We love coaching these guys,” said the Show coach Matt Garcia, who coaches at Desert View. “Being a high school coach, getting to coach some of the kids coming back … some of the kids you don’t think you’ll get to coach again, they come back to Tucson and play in the league … I can truly say I care about these kids, I love these kids and I’m so happy we get a chance to coach them again one more time.”
Desert View coach Matt Garcia and his wife Claudia have spent more time at the ballpark this summer than their home. Garcia has coached Desert View’s summer team in a high school league organized by the Kino Baseball League, the champion Show Sluggers of the Sun Belt College… pic.twitter.com/qluZ7earw3
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 17, 2025
A noteworthy player who returned this summer is Tucson High Class of 2023 outfield prospect Jeremiah Odum, who has spent the last two years with the San Jose State program. He redshirted and also had to take a medical redshirt because of a broken hand.
Odum went 2 for 3 with a run and three stolen bases in Wednesday’s victory.
“What separates me from a lot of the guys (in the Sun Belt League) is not very big,” Odum said about being part of a Division I program that competes in the Mountain West. “I just want to let that be known. It’s who you’re exposed to and the opportunities that present themselves when you’re in big tournaments.
“A lot of it is word of mouth. For young kids, I didn’t have my offer until April 29th (of his senior year in 2023). The enrollment day was May 1, so my process started late. I didn’t have a lot of offers. I had a coach (San Jose State’s Brad Sanfilippo) who took a chance on me and believed and trusted I can develop. That’s what I tell our guys. You watch me play. I can blend in some times, but just the mental aspect puts people over the edge.”
Odum’s father, Derrick, coached with Brent Brennan at San Jose State and Oregon State. The elder Odum remained at San Jose State as the defensive coordinator after Brennan took the Arizona head coaching job before last season.
Tucson Class of 2023 graduate Jeremiah Odum, a left fielder, has not been able to play in his first two years in the San Jose State program because of a redshirt and then a medical redshirt due to a broken hand. He persevered to continue with the sport and is excelling heading… pic.twitter.com/9AH8CoLWeK
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 17, 2025
Odum credits Sanfilippo’s coaching staff and his San Jose State teammates for getting him back on track. He contemplated an end to his baseball career after suffering the hand injury and having to redshirt another year.
He also indicated that being with Garcia again during the summer “is the reason why I am playing baseball.”
“It means a lot to share this field and this opportunity with him because without him, I wouldn’t know where I’m at,” Odum said. “He truly did save me, so all glory to Matt right there. He’s an amazing coach (and) tremendous guy.”
RECAP
Similar to Monday’s victory, the Show rallied late for the win Wednesday night over the Kings.
A five-run fifth inning, with the runs scored before an out was recorded, was the difference.
Consecutive singles by Bryson Haymore (Buena) and Odum started the rally. Romo walked to load the bases and Logan Douglas (Catalina Foothills) followed with another walk to force in Haymore with a run.
Guillen then lined a double to left field that scored Odum and Romo, putting the Show ahead 3-0.
Hernandez reached on a two-base error that allowed two more runs to score.
The Kings rallied for a run in the top of the sixth after Ethan Bess (Sahuaro/Dickinson State) walked, Benji Cazares (Tucson High/Pima/Oklahoma Christian) hit a single and Jorge Castro (Tucson High) walked to load the bases. Jacob Solis (Sahuaro/Arizona Christian) followed with a sacrifice fly to score Bess and cut the lead to 5-1.
The sixth and seventh innings ended for the Kings with the bases loaded.
The Show’s right-handed reliever Matthew Greiner (Tanque Verde/Bemidji State), with a submarine delivery, relieved Kai Irlmeier (Buena/Cochise College) with runners on second and third with one out in the seventh inning.
Greiner struck out the first batter he faced for the second out.
Cazares then reached on a two-base error that allowed two runs to score, cutting the lead to 5-3.
After Castro walked to load the bases, Greiner got the last batter to pop out to first base to end the game and earn the save. The Kings left 13 runners on base in the game.
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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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