(Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson)
The Sun Belt College Baseball League was on the rise before the pandemic hit, and it was set to grow into one of the larger summer leagues in the country, but the talent level and the excitement is still there and that was evident Sunday night at the Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium when over 50 of the All-Stars from the league took to the field with a couple of weeks left in the season.
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The All-Stars were separated into Team Sonora and Team Kino and the game was played in seven innings rather than nine to help preserve arms down the stretch. Sonora scored first after Alberto Nieto (Casa Grande/Dickinson State) drew a leadoff walk from starting pitcher Michael Bacica (Maine/Arizona). Nieto stole second base and a single from Cougar Cooke (Show Low/Utah Valley) moved hm over to third where he scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0.
Shane Melick (Ironwood Ridge/Mary Hardin-Baylor) doubled for Kino in the bottom half of the first but the team was unable to even things up until Nick Arias (Tucson/Grand Canyon) singled and Terrell Huggins (Cienega/North Dakota State) followed on a fielder’s choice to put one on with Drew Calloway (Sabino/Arizona) pitching for Sonora. Ivan Villa (Walden Grove/Central Lakes) singled and Huggins crossed the plate on a passed ball to make it 1-1.
Our @AllSportsTucson Sun Belt All-Star game MVP is former Vista Grande and @GCU_Baseball commit Emilio Barreras-Rojo. 2 for 2, 2 RBI and run scored. Turned out to be game-winning RBI pic.twitter.com/HRykEAj63M
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) July 4, 2022
Sonora took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third after Liam Padden (CDO/Mercy) walked, Emilio Barreras-Rojo (Vista Grande/GCU) singled and Wyatt Wilharm (Benson/Dickinson State) singled them both in.
That lead held until the top of the sixth when Sonora added two more runs after Joel Esparza (Tombstone/Ottawa) walked, Carlos Molina (Pueblo/Paradise Valley) singled for Barreras-Rojo who knocked them both in for a 5-1 lead.
Kino made things interesting in the bottom of the sixth when Alexander Milone (Milwaukee Area Tech) drew a leadoff walk. Cobi Cooper (Mountain View/Rockford University) followed that up with a single but a double play left Milone at third base with two outs where Angel Ochoa (CDO/Pima/SE Oklahoma State) brought him in on an RBI single to make it 5-2.
Arias singled Ochoa in to cut the lead down to 5-3 and then Huggins walked to move Arias over …….
Source: http://allsportstucson.com/2022/07/04/sun-belt-college-baseball-league-all-star-game/