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Sunnyside advances to Softball Little League State Tournament

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(Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson)

LINK: FREE SUNNYSIDE/SAN XAVIER PHOTOS

Sunnyside beat San Xavier 15-2 Tuesday night at Mission Manor Park to advance to the Little League State Tournament slated to start on July 6 in Queen Creek. Representing District 12, Sunnyside (3-0) will face the District 8 champion on the first night at 7:45 p.m.

San Pedro (2-0) and Sierra Vista (1-1) are playing Tuesday night to decide the District 8 champion. San Pedro beat Sierra Vista 2-0 Saturday night and Sierra Vista eliminated Willcox 8-2 Monday night. Results of the game Tuesday night have not been turned in but Sierra Vista would have to beat San Pedro twice in the double-elimination format. San Pedro is comprised of players from the Benson and St. David area.

The District 5 champion, Marana (2-0), will face District 3 at 5:45 p.m. on July 6 but it appears there will be no District 3 representative according to the District’s web page. District 3 is located in East Phoenix.

Sunnyside beat Copper Hills 13-0 in the first round on Friday night and then San Xavier 15-0 on Saturday night. San Xavier eliminated Copper Hills 24-14 on Monday night to set up the rematch with Sunnyside Tuesday night on the legendary field at Mission Manor Park named after Fernando Romero.

Sunnyside scored five runs in the first inning and two more in the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead on San Xavier and the team scored four more in the fourth and four more in the fifth for the win. San Xavier scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to avoid elimination on a 2-run shot from Isabelle Arredondo. Arredondo went 2-2.

Isabelle Arredondo. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson)

Aviana Lopez went the distance form the circle for Sunnyside and she limited San Xavier to three hits while striking out eight batters. Carissa Palomarez came up big at the plate for Sunnyside with a 2-run home run, and RBI triple and a double and Anyssa Pacho went 4-4 with 2 RBI.

The West Region Tournament is scheduled to start on July 24 in San Bernardino and Arizona will face Hawaii on the first day at 9 a.m. The Softball World Series will start on August 11 in Greenville, North Carolina and the top two teams from the West Region will qualify. One team will play in the Jennie Finch Bracket and the other in the Jessica Mendoza Bracket.

Sunnyside won the Softball World Series championship in 2013 and that team was the only one from Tucson to win it all at this level.

2013 SUNNYSIDE ROSTER
Alexandra Tapia
Alexis Anderson
Alyssa Ortiz
Anacely Gutierrez
Angel Sallas
Arlett Arreola
Danitza Aguirre
Destyni Payan (Park University/Basketball)
Jaylen Marquez
Jazmin Ayala (Pima)
Viviana Orantez
Yannira Acuña (ASU)
Zuleika Barnett
Manager: Manuel Tapia
Coach: Rene Ayala
Coach: Sam Gutierrez

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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017, a 2019 AZ Education News award winner and he has been 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. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the 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 and he is a member of the Amphi COVID-19 Blue Ribbon Committee. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com

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