Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Willcox won the 2018 title to tie Morenci for most tourney title games played in and most first-place finishes, but leads in most consecutive championship games qualified.
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – “Lions, and Tigers, and Bearcats, oh my!”
No, a remake of the 1939 film classic ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is not in the works locally. It is the time of the season for the Morenci Lions Club Invitational baseball tournament.
Over the past 40 seasons, the group has hosted school teams with mascots ranging from insects to big game as well as Apaches to Vikings.
This year, the 41st, Kangaroos will be making their initial appearance in Francis Waldorf Stadium. It will be the 18th tourney with an out of state entrant.
The Lions welcome 12 teams, the Washington Kirkland Lake Washington Kangaroos, the Duncan Wildkats, the Heber Mogollon Mustangs, the Phoenix Christian Cougars, the Safford Bulldogs, the Thatcher Eagles, and the host Morenci Wildcats along with the Miami Vandals, the Pima Roughriders, the Saint Johns Redskins, the Willcox Cowboys, and the Elfrida Valley Union Blue Devils to Morenci from Thursday through Saturday, April 11-13.
The opening game on the first day has Thatcher versus Duncan at 8 a.m., followed by Mogollon vs. Safford at 10:30 a.m., Phoenix Christian vs. Pima at 1 p.m., Lake Washington vs. Saint Johns at 3:30 p.m., Willcox vs. Miami at 6 p.m., and capped by host Morenci vs. Valley Union at 8:30 p.m.
Day two has the Lake Washington – Saint Johns loser vs. the Thatcher – Duncan loser at 8 a.m., Mogollon – Safford loser vs. Phoenix Christian – Pima loser at 10:30 a.m., Morenci – Valley Union loser vs. Willcox – Miami loser at 1 p.m., Phoenix Christian – Pima winner vs. Thatcher – Duncan winner at 3:30 p.m., Lake Washington – Saint Johns winner vs. Mogollon – Safford winner at 6 p.m., and Morenci – Valley Union winner vs. Willcox – Miami winner at 8:30 p.m.
The third place game is at 3:30 p.m. and the championship game at 8:30 p.m. on day three.
Coming out of the weekend, 3A Safford (9-9 overall, 4-8 seeding, 1-5 South Region for No. 6/6) was ranked No. 19 of 39 teams; 2A Phoenix Christian (17-0 overall, 14-0 seeding, 5-0 Valley Region for No. 1) No. 1 of 45 teams, Thatcher (12-4, 10-2, 6-2 East region for No. 3/7) No. 4, Saint Johns (9-7, 9-3, 4-0 North Region for No. 2/8) No. 11, Morenci (11-7, 7-5, 6-3 East region for No. 4/7) No. 14, Miami (11-6, 9-3, 9-0 South Region for No. 1) No. 15, Willcox (8-6, 5-5, 2-5 East Region for No. 5/7) No. 19, and Pima (2-11, 1-8, 0-7 East Region for No. 7/7) No. 27; and from the state’s smallest enrollment group, 1A Mogollon (11-2, 8-2, 4-0 Central Region for No. 1) is ranked No. 3, Duncan (4-5-1, 1-1 East Region for No. 4/7) No. 18, and Valley Union (2-10-2, 1-7, 1-2 South Region for No. 3/4) No. 20. Lake Washington was 9-1 overall and 6-0 in its district.
The three-day tournament is the Morenci Lions Club’s largest fundraiser of the year. The service group provides a venue to make dreams come true, not only for the participants and spectators but for those needing aid with vision problems in Greenlee County. A week-long camp for special needs youngsters ages seven and up is also financed by the group. All proceeds from this athletic meet go towards that end. The club treasurer reported a net intake of $9,000 after the final bills were received for the 2018 tournament, with $4,000 immediately earmarked for student scholarships.
Beginning as a three-team affair in 1979,
“We didn’t even know if we would have a second one whenever we started,” tourney founder and then-Morenci High Athletic Director Tom Powers said. “The baseball coach at the time asked me if we could have a tournament and I said sure.”
One of the three teams in the inaugural tourney went on to qualify as a state finalist, ending as a state champion. It reached five more title games in a row, thrice ending as a state champion. In the second year, two of the participating teams were state finalists, one a state champion.
Last season’s 10 participating teams went a combined 4-9 in their respective state tourneys plus 12 individuals were selected for post-season honors at the state level and 56 for region recognition, or than half of the possible starters. Three student-athletes received region defensive player of the year nods, one region offensive player of the year, and two were named region players of the year. Additionally, one of the coaching staffs was selected to coach a state futures all-star team.
Through the previous 40 tourneys, 24 state finalists have prepared for the post-season in Morenci, 14 ended as state champions.
Although one of the teams entered hails from a suburb of the Emerald City, the participating student-athletes will not be clicking their heels three times in order to go home. They will use man-made modes of transportation for their return trips.
However, similar to the movie, their success or failure lies within; they can achieve whatever they set their minds on. The sky is the limit and anything is possible, both on the athletic field and in their lives.
2018 Tourney Team Backgrounds
Of the original three teams, only Morenci has been in all of the previous 40 meets. The Wildcats have finished first in 13 of 20 times they qualified for the final and have been the only team to win three in a row. Morenci is also a 7-time runner-up.
Thatcher was unable to attend the first tourney but has not missed one since. The Eagles have
The Willcox Cowboys are in their 35th tourney and also 20-time finalists, 13-time champions plus 7-time runners-up. Willcox has qualified for the most consecutive finals (6).
Pima’s Roughriders were 2017 tourney champions and are in their 34th meet; the Duncan Wildkats in their 31st; both the Heber Mogollon Mustangs and the Saint Johns Redskins in their 19th; the Miami Vandals in their 14th, ending as champions in 1980; the Elfrida Valley Union Blue Devils in their 13th; the Safford Bulldogs in their fourth venture to Wildcat Country; and both the Phoenix Christian Cougars and the Lake Washington Kangaroos are being welcomed to the relocated “Hill” for the first time.
Tourney Field
Eleven of the 12 Morenci Lions Tourney 2019 participants have gone a combined 124-115 at Arizona state championship tourneys during the past 16 seasons (2003-18) with seven teams earning a combined 10 titles.
Phoenix Christian was the 2A state champion in 2003, 2017, and 2018; Pima the 2016 Division V state champion and a Division IV semifinalist in 2013; Safford the 3A state champion in 2008 and runner-up in 2017; Valley Union the 1A state champion in 2008 and runner-up in 2017; Mogollon the 1A state champion in 2006; Duncan the 1A state champion in 2004 and 2005 plus the state runner-up in 2006; Thatcher the 2A state runner-up in 2005; Morenci a 2A semifinalist in 2008 and 2006; and Willcox the 2A state runner-up in 2017 and a semifinalist in 2006.
In that same 16-year span, state tourneys (team records) have included Saint Johns (11-15) in each year; Valley Union (16-14) in 15 years; Phoenix Christian (22-8) and Mogollon (6-11) in 12 years; Thatcher (11-11), Willcox (10-11), Morenci (9-11), and Miami (6-11) in 11 years; Duncan (13-8) in 10 years; Pima (10-8) in nine years; and Safford (10-7) in eight years.
Washington Kirkland Lake Washington, 8-6 in seven of the 16 years, was the 3A Washington state champion in 2016, 2A state runners-up in 2014, and a 4A state semifinalist in 2004, 1994, 1992, 1977.
The largest Morenci Lions Tourney field in 2002 had 15 teams ranging in enrollment size from 1A schools
Eleven tourney configurations have also included three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 entrants.
To date, 39 different teams (30 from 2003-2019) will have participated at least once.
There have been 17 previous meets with an out-of-state entrant. The Golden State and the Land of Enchantment have been represented, with the 15th (1993) and 27th (2005) meets including a pair of
The Evergreen State entrant is in the 41st (2019) meet.
2018 Tourney Results
The Adrian Fuentes-coached Cowboys brought their “A-game” while Morenci did not. Willcox led 10-0 before Morenci crossed the plate in the bottom of the third inning. The Cowboys scored twice in the first, added four runs in both the second and third, and another in the fourth. Morenci scored once and went three up and three down during both the fourth and fifth.
Willcox recorded 11 hits, struck out twice, and committed one error compared to four hits, nine strikeouts, and four errors by Morenci.
Josh Rios batted 1.000 (3-3), Eli Madrid (3 RBIs), A.J. Fuentes (double, 2 RBIs), and Sherrick Sanborn (double) .500 apiece, and both Kade Norris (RBI) and Boady Welch .333 (1-3).
On the mound, Sanborn struck out nine and allowed four hits and a walk while facing 20 batters during five innings.
For Morenci, Antonio Gallegos batted 1.000 (2-2, RBI), and both David Corona and Christopher Roybal .500 (1-2).
Mound starter Zach Waltrip yielded three hits while facing six batters during an inning; long reliever Roybal struck out one and gave up seven hits and three walks while facing 20 batters during 2 2/3 innings; and closer Derek Waltrip yielded a hit while facing four batters during 1 1/3 innings
Willcox (3-0) qualified for its 20th championship game by topping Mogollon 11-0 in five innings Thursday and Safford 7-4 in six innings Friday.
Morenci (2-1) reached its 20th final via wins of 11-3 in five innings over Joseph City Thursday and 6-5 in six innings over Thatcher Friday.
Safford (3-1) topped Thatcher 14-3 in five innings to finish third. The Bulldogs downed Pima 15-0 in five innings Saturday morning and Saint Johns 16-2 in four innings Thursday evening; Thatcher (2-2) bested Mogollon 5-3 Saturday afternoon and Miami 3-2 Thursday afternoon; Miami (3-1) posted five-inning wins, 12-6 over Joseph City (0-3) Saturday morning and 9-1 over Duncan Thursday morning; Mogollon (1-2) edged Saint Johns 6-5 Friday afternoon; Pima (2-2) run-ruled Joseph City in five innings Friday afternoon and won the tie-breaker over Miami in the morning; and Saint Johns (2-2) defeated Duncan (0-2) 12-2 in five innings Friday morning and Pima 6-2 Thursday morning.
2018 All-Tourney Team
Willcox and Morenci both landed four players on the all-tourney team. The Cowboys had seniors Sherrick Sanborn and Jimmy Norris plus juniors Eli Madrid and A.J. Fuentes, while the Wildcats had seniors Michael Ortiz, Derek Waltrip, David Corona, and Jacob Munoz.
Additionally, Madrid was the recipient of the Robert Sotelo Sportsmanship Award and Sanborn the fifth Daniel Lopez Memorial Most Valuable Player Award.
Others selected to the all-tourney team were Safford’s Curtis Bevens and Austin Villalba, Thatcher juniors Javon Montoya and Clark, Saint Johns seniors John Robertson and Joseph Ramsey, Miami senior Zabe Saenz and sophomore Jayden Goss, Pima senior Manny Rivera and junior Jacob Nelson, Mogollon senior John Zent, Joseph City senior Jesse Hurley, and Duncan senior Cesar Contreras.
Montoya, Nelson, and Waltrip were on the 2017 team as well.
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