Rio Rico’s Daniel Quijada didn’t expect to be mobbed after a game-ending groundout, especially by a bunch of players he had just met hours earlier.
But that was the final scene as Team Copper beat Team Teal 9-4 on Tuesday night at Kino Stadium in the Division III, IV and V senior game, kicking off the Garb Athletics/OC Sports Southern Arizona All-Star series.
The unique ending to Tuesday’s game came as a result of Team Copper batting in the bottom of the ninth, despite already having the game secured. After Quijada grounded out, his teammates celebrated as if had hit a walk-off home run instead.
Nogales coach O.J. Favela served as the skipper for Team Copper and said it looked like the guys had played together forever.
“Most of the guys didn’t know each other three hours ago when they showed up to the clubhouse and they’re giving each other crap in the dugout,” Favela said. “It’s like baseball is just a huge family, I guess.”
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The Southern Arizona All-Star series continues Wednesday at Kino Stadium, with the Division II seniors game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Play moved to Catalina Foothills on Thursday and Friday for the two futures games.
Team Teal on Tuesday night featured players from Bisbee, Desert View, Douglas, Empire, Pueblo, Safford, Sahuarita, St. Augustine and Thatcher.
Team Copper’s roster had players from Amphitheater, Catalina, Cholla, Coolidge, Florence, Morenci, Nogales, Palo Verde, Pusch Ridge, Rio Rico and Elfrida Valley Union.
“Obviously the few kids that we played against we knew them,” Favela said. “But going into the locker room, it was like, ‘Who wants to pitch tonight? Who wants to do this? Who wants to do that?’”
After a scoreless first two innings, Copper took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Coolidge’s Tracer Wainscott. Teal tied it up in the fifth when Sahuarita’s Juan Ponce brought in Desert View’s Marcus Mendez, who got on with a double.
However, Copper responded with six runs in the home half of the fifth to pull away for good,
The inning featured RBIs from Morenci’s Miguel Ruiz and Amphitheater’s Manny Murrillo and a two-run double by Amphi’s Michael Delgado
“It was a pretty nice experience, playing out here with a great group of guys and it was a lot of fun just having an experience,” Delgado said.
Valley Union’s Jose Gamez provided a spark for Teal in the seventh inning, when he hit a two-run triple but that was as close as it got. Sahuarita’s Sam Gelardi, a friendly rival of Favela’s, coached the squad.
“The kid that came in and hit the triple,” Favela said. “I said, ‘Good job coach, you had the best hitter on the bench until the seventh inning.’”
Gamez said the game and playing with some of his old rivals was a nice way to close out his career.
“It was really cool,” Gamez said “It’s the last baseball game of my high school career so it was really fun.”
