BASEBALL: Tucson claims 6A Southern Region title

April 23, 2018 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Michael Corral is greated at home after his solo home run. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Tucson High clinched a playoff spot thanks to a 4-2 win over San Luis in the 6A Southern Region championship game played Monday at Cherry Field in Tucson. Ranked No. 20 coming in, Tucson (11-7 in power-ranking games, 5-0 in region play) needed the win to protect against falling out of contention for the play-in bracket.

No. 8 San Luis (15-3, 4-3) dropped two games in a row and the Sidewinders are in danger of falling out of the top eight and into a play-in game. The 6A Play-In Tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25 and it will feature teams ranked from No. 9 to No. 24. On a side note, a region champion that falls outside the top 24 will bounce a team out of the playoffs per rule.

Michael Corral got things started with a solo shot in the bottom of the second and George Arias came up with an RBI triple later in the inning to score Josue Barcelo. The Sidewinders came right back and tied things up in the top of the third after Arturo Gil drew a one-out walk and Christopher Bazua doubled to put two on. Gerardo Hernandez picked up an RBI ground out and Daniel Ortega followed with an RBI single to make it 2-2.

The Badgers took the lead for good in the bottom half of the third with Omer Escobedo reaching on a leadoff single and Matthew Mungaray walking to put two on. Alex Kelch knocked in Escobedo for the winning RBI and Barcelo brought in Mungaray to make it 4-2.

Raymundo Leon (4-1) threw five innings for the Badgers to pick up the win. Corral threw an inning and Arias earned a save (2) with three strikeouts in the seventh with two on. Hernandez started for the Sidewinders and Bazua also saw some action on the mound. Bazua went 2-for-3 to lead San Luis at the plate.

The final rankings and Play-In brackets will be released on Tuesday.

In the 6A Southern Region softball championship, No. 5 Cibola beat No. 10 Tucson 4-3 to claim the automatic berth from the region. Cibola (17-1, 7-0) appears to have clinched a bye while Tucson (12-6, 3-2) looks to host a play-in game on Wednesday.