Destanee Nez had 8 strikeouts for Thornydale (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

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Thornydale defeated Tucson Mountain 12-2 in the 9-10 softball championship game Friday night and the team from the Marana area will travel to Litchfield Park on July 17 to take part in the state tournament.

Thornydale also defeated Tucson Mountain 13-3 in the Little League softball championship game. Thornydale will advance to the state tournament to be held at Old McQueen Park in Gilbert starting July 5.

The 9-11 Thornydale softball team will host the state tournament for that age group at Arthur Park starting on July 10.

Thornydale and Tucson Mountain will square off against each other one more time in Junior Softball action on Monday, June 26 in a best-of-three series.

Sunnyside will play San Xavier tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the District 12 Junior Softball championship game.

The Thornydale Little League team went 3-0 as it cruised through bracket play, outscoring opponents 43-4, but the championship game against Tucson Mountain Friday night was close through the first three innings of action.

Thornydale scored two in the bottom of the first with Clarissa Figueroa bringing in Mia Gutierrez to start the scoring off but Tucson Mountain tied the game up in the top of the second after loading the bases on three straight walks with no outs.

Destanee Nez recovered and collected two straight strikeouts but Maya Jones picked up an infield single to score Mikayla Sneyd. Joleena Herrera scored on an error on the next batter to tie the game up.

Thornydale got the two runs back in the bottom of the second with Nez and Deborah Wallace collecting RBIs. Tucson Mountain plated a run in the top of the third to cut the lead down to 4-3 thanks to a triple from Angelique Ochoa and an RBI double from Sneyd.

Thornydale slowly pulled away by scoring three in the bottom of the third, fourth and fifth innings for the 13-3 win.

For Tucson Mountain, Jones went 2-3, Vanity Valles picked up a hit as did Melina Morales (no relation). Ochoa had the triple and Sneyd the double. Morales and Bailey Grubbs both saw pitching action.

Nez led Thornydale with eight strikeouts and Lora Ormsby added three more after taking over in the circle in the fourth inning.

Wallace went 2-3 and Talia Martin, Figueroa, Ormsby, Bella Beauchamp, Caelen Beatty, Emma Kelly and Nez all had singles in the game for Thornydale.

DISTRICT 5 LITTLE LEAGUE ALL-STARS

8-10 Baseball: Arthur Pack

Friday, June 23
Thornydale 11, Flowing Wells Continental 7
Tucson Mountain 20, Continental Ranch 15
Marana 20, CDO 12

Saturday, June 24: Consolation Championship
Thornydale vs. Tucson Mountain, 6:30 p.m.

Monday, June 26: Championship Bracket
Canyon View vs. Marana, 5 p.m.
Sabino Canyon vs. Oro Valley, 7:30 p.m.

9-10 Softball: Arthur Pack

Friday, June 23: Championship Game
Thornydale 12, Tucson Mountain 2

(Jacquie Treatch Photo)

9-11 Baseball: Kreigh Park

Friday, June 23: Consolation Bracket
Flowing Wells Continental 13, Marana 0
Continental Ranch 19, Tanque Verde 3

Saturday, June 24: Consolation Championship
Flowing Wells vs. Continental Ranch, 6:30 p.m.

Monday, June 26: Championship Bracket
Western vs. Tucson Mountain, 5 p.m.
CDO vs. Oro Valley, 7:30 p.m.

9-11 Softball
(Thornydale to State Tournament, July 10)

LL Baseball: Mehl Park

Friday, June 23
Thornydale 11, Continental Ranch 1
Sabino Canyon 27, Tanque Verde 7
Marana 11, Frontier 0

Saturday, June 24: Consolation Championship
Thornydale vs. Sabino Canyon, 6:30 p.m.

Monday, June 26: Championship Bracket
Oro Valley vs. Marana, 5 p.m.
Tucson Mountain vs. Western, 7:30 p.m.

LL Softball: Arthur Pack

Friday, June 23: Championship Game
Thornydale 13, Tucson Mountain 3

(Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Junior Baseball: Arthur Pack

Tuesday, June 27
Tucson Mountain vs. Continental Ranch, 6:30 p.m.

Junior Softball: Arthur Pack

Monday, June 26
Tucson Mountain vs. Thornydale, 6:30 p.m.

DISTRICT 12 LITTLE LEAGUE ALL-STARS

8-10 Baseball: Palo Verde/Freedom Park

Starts Saturday, July 1

8-10 Softball: Anamax Park

Monday, June 26
Copper Hills vs. San Xavier, 5:15 p.m.

9-11 Baseball: Freedom Park

Monday, June 26
Sunnyside vs. Rincon, 5:15 p.m.
Freedom vs. Randolph, 6:30 p.m.
Pantano vs. Copper Hills, 7:45 p.m.

LL Baseball: Purple Heart

Tuesday, June 27
Santa Rita vs. American, 5:15 p.m.
Copper Hills vs. Sunnyside, 6:30 p.m.
San Xavier vs. Rincon, 7:45 p.m.

LL Softball: Anamax Park

Friday, June 23
Sunnyside 11, Freedom 3
Copper Hills 14, Southwestern 2

Saturday, June 24
Southwestern vs. San Xavier, 5:15 p.m.
Sunnyside vs. Copper Hills, 7:5 p.m.

50/70 Baseball: Vista del Prado

Monday, June 26
Copper Hills vs. Sunnyside, 6:30 p.m.

Junior Baseball: Manzanita Park

Starts Monday, July 3

Junior Softball: Mission Manor

Friday, June 23
Sunnyside 5, San Xavier 2

Saturday, June 24: Championship Game
Sunnyside vs. San Xavier, 6:30 p.m.

Senior Baseball: Manzanita

Tuesday, June 27
Sunnyside vs. San Xavier, 6:30 p.m.

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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. 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 was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com