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TUCSON — With a four-run comeback the night before, the Sierra Vista American Legion Post 52 baseball team tried to continue its rise in the double-elimination American Legion Arizona State Baseball Tournament.
But that rise ran into the more experienced and deeper Tucson High Post 7 Badgers on Thursday at Hi Corbett Field. The Eagles lost 13-3 in seven innings, in a game cut short of the full nine innings due to the 10-run mercy rule. Tucson High scored 13 unanswered runs from the second to the seventh innings.
“One thing is, I feel good about our whole starting lineup,” Post 7 and Tucson High School varsity baseball head coach Oscar Romero said. “Once you give us opportunities, we’re going to score some runs.”
Post 52 reached the tournament semifinal, before it was eliminated from the tournament. Tucson High
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Tucson High Post 7 won the Arizona state championship by beating Arizona’s Finest from Tempe on Thursday night at Hi Corbett Field.
It will advance to the region tournament, which will begin on Wednesday in Kearns, Utah, a few minutes’ drive outside of Salt Lake City.
While playing on the same field that the Colorado Rockies hold their spring training games, the Eagles allowed three runs on two critical errors and an RBI triple by Chris Moon in the top of the fourth inning.
Moon, a draftee of the Atlanta Braves and a Tucson High graduate who will play for the University of Arizona, hit an RBI triple.
Third baseman Kyle Cormier had one of his worst defensive innings of his young playing career. Cormier’s off-balance throw sailed high over first baseman Calen Pennington, which scored a run for a 5-3 Tucson High lead. Cormier, who played baseball and soccer at Douglas High, allowed a ground ball to go between his feet for another run, and the error gave Post 7 a 7-3 lead.
“I only made like, four or five errors all season,” Cormier said. “We were popping up. We didn’t hit very well tonight.”
The Badgers tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Moon hit a shot true to his name, one that bounced off the top of the wall in deep left-center for another RBI triple off of Patrick Lesley. He scored on a wild pitch by Lesley.
Tucson took the lead for good at 4-3 in the top of the third inning. Matt Macias singled in a run. Post 52 took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Jerry Acosta reached on an infield single, Mike Mecucci singled him to third, then Pima Community College pitcher Ray Luna walked Pennington to load the bases. Lesley hit into an RBI groundout, Cormier hit a sacrifice fly to score another run, then Alex Navarette hit an RBI double that scored Lesley.
Pennington, who played baseball at Buena High School, was one of three players who donned the Post 52 red, white and blue uniforms for the last time. After playing for one season at Biola University, Pennington said he will try out for the Cochise College and Phoenix College baseball teams.
“It was fun with a good group of guys,” Pennington said. “Playing high-caliber ball against college baseball players, coming up here getting paid to play, that’s as good as it gets.”
The players received $10 for food, plus free hotel stays in the Tucson area.
Post 7 tied the game in the top of the second. Cochise College hitter Kevin Hussey reached on a balk by Eagles starting pitcher Carlos Lopez. On a 3-1 count, Lopez put the ball into his hands, separated them, then he put his hands back together.
That meant ball four, which turned out to be big. Aaron Tapia reached on an error by the right fielder Navarette, who dropped a fly ball.
Ricky Alfonso hit a two-run triple to the corner in left field, before Marc Damon dropped in a game-tying single for a 3-all score.
“I thought, ‘Holy cats, I hope we wake up,’ ” Romero said.
Lopez threw four innings, allowing seven runs, four earned, on four hits and three errors behind him.
Post 52 finished the season 16-6.
Because Tucson-area teams did not want to play in Sierra Vista because of supposed poor field conditions, the Eagles had to play on fields at Santa Rita High, Cholla High and other places in Tucson.
Polly Jones wrote on Dec 28, 2007 4:50 PM: