Nogales High School’s baseball program, traditionally strong under coach OJ Favella, had a banner season involving its alumni at the collegiate level, highlighted by two former Apaches earning an NAIA World Series championship Saturday night.
Brayan Espinoza and Thomas Teel won the NAIA title with Tennessee Wesleyan in a 21-3 rout of Taylor (Indiana) 21-3 at Lewiston, Idaho. Espinoza, a senior second baseman who transferred from Glendale Community College, went 4 for 6 with three runs, and double and three RBIs in the championship game.
Two other former Apaches were part of a college World Series team, and pitcher Luis Martin Romero is with St. Mary’s, which upset top-seeded UCLA in Los Angeles on Friday in an NCAA tournament regional game. St. Mary’s lost to Cal Poly 14-1 on Saturday night and will have a rematch with UCLA in an elimination game Sunday at 1 p.m.
Derek and Denzel Montijo were members of the South Mountain Community College team that lost 4-3 in 11 innings to Pearl River (Fla.) in the NJCAA Division II World Series championship at Enid, Okla., on Saturday. Four other players from Southern Arizona were with the Cougars — Izaiah Moraga of Salpointe, Gennaro Brito of Tucson and Ernie Alvarez and Grant Young of Canyon del Oro.
“One of the things we preach is to go out and continue representing themselves, their family, the program, and the community of Nogales,” Favela stated. “It brings a lot of pride not only to our staff and program, but the entire community.
“As a staff and program, it’s rewarding for our players to go out and have success and bring that winning attitude to their respective teams.”
Favela has reached 454 career victories in 21 years as Nogales’ coach. He has two state championships (2017 and 2018) to go along with three runner-up finishes (2014, 2019 and 2022).
He took the job in 2006 after serving as an assistant at Rio Rico and Salpointe under former head coach Kent Winslow.
His grandfather, Arnold “Chapo” Riesgo, was a catcher for Arizona.
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