Back-to-back champions
Wildcats rally past Page for 3A North Region baseball crown

CHINLE

In an improbably finish, the Chinle Wildcats defended its 3A North Region tournament title on Saturday.

As the No. 2 seed, Chinle (19-8) trailed by five runs after three innings of play against top-seeded Page Sand Devils (18-9) on a windy afternoon. Despite facing an uphill battle, the Wildcats stayed the course and scored six unanswered runs to pull off a stunning 9-8 win at Chinle High School.

“We’ve been there a lot this year and if we can teach them anything, it’s to never give up,” longtime Chinle coach Charles Kimbrough said. “You never give up in life, in sports and in family. That is what we want them to learn, and we’re teaching them that.”

The one-run win earned Chinle its second consecutive regional title as the Wildcats hosted this season’s league tournament thanks to winning it last year.

“The region tournament trophy stays here,” Kimbrough said. “We wanted to win the region tournament so that we can keep the tournament here again next year.”

The Wildcats got the go-ahead score from junior utility player Bryceson Sam on a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, and Chinle relief pitcher Mackaden Arthur sealed the win with his eighth strikeout with two runners on.

“He came in as a utility substitute and he did awesome,” Kimbrough said of Sam, who botched a bunt attempt during his at-bat before he nailed his wind-aided homer to center field.

“My coach gave me a bunt sign, which I missed and that really affected me inside,” Sam said.

That mishap gave Chinle its second out as senior Covington Jones was picked off between third and home. Nonetheless, Sam picked himself up as he hit his next offering deep into the center field as the ball got over the fence.

“I was kind of mad about missing that bunt and I had to make it up another way,” Sam said. “I just got back into the box, and I waited. I was aiming for aiming for a line drive, but I guess it snuck out.”

That whack was his only hit of the game, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I’ve had some wall balls and I’ve hit some in the warning tracks, but I never thought I would hit home run during regionals,” Sam said.

Page coach Jordan Halvorsen acknowledged that his team was on the cusp of winning the regional tournament, but Sam’s homer gave the Wildcats some new life.

“It’s tough because we were one out away from wrapping it up,” he said. “And, you know, a kid just put a swing on it, and it got over. It’s tough, but that’s part of baseball.”

With the one-run lead, it was up to Arthur to preserve the win as Page had its meat of the order coming up. Things look good from the start with shortstop Michael Gonzales nailing a double with a line drive to right field.

But the Chinle pitcher settled down the next two batters with his sixth and seventh strikeouts. Next-at-bat, Cole Tate added a little suspense with a single base hit to shortstop Hage Tsosie, who sustained a gash to his cheek while trying to prevent a game-tying run as Gonzales advanced to third where he remained.

Arthur then struck out midfielder Andrew Cummings to complete the rally as the Wildcats started to celebrate.

“I had so many emotions with that last at-bat because I really wanted it, and because the boys wanted it,” Arthur said. “For that last inning, I just believed in my defense, and I believed in my pitching too.”

The Chinle coach said Arthur came up clutch as the senior lefty finished the game by giving up two hits while striking out eight in four innings of work.

“Mackaden pitched some good innings,” Kimbrough said. “He just does everything smooth, and I contemplated on starting him today. But we closed with him and, you know, we might have had a different outcome had we went the other way, but we won’t ever know that.”

Chinle started Tsosie on the bump as he gave up eight runs on 11 hits through the first three innings as Kimbrough was going to limit him to 75 throws in preparation for Wednesday’s Arizona Interscholastic Association 3A Conference Play-In game with the Snowflake Lobos.

“Hage was about ready to come out and we pulled him,” the Chinle coach said as his ace who threw 71 pitches and 48 strikes.

Of those early Page hits, Tate produced a two-run homer in the bottom of the second for a 4-1 cushion.

The Sand Devils added a pair of unearned runs as they upped their lead to 6-1 heading into the third.

In the next frame, Chinle got two of those runs back, including a run-scoring double from centerfielder Covington Jones as the Wildcats trailed 6-3.

Page capped the inning by plating two more runs behind an RBI single from Cummings and run-scoring double from Kevin Sam for an 8-3 cushion.

“We jumped on them early, but we knew they were going to come back,” Halvorsen said of Chinle. “We knew they were going to keep fighting because that’s what they do.”

The Sand Devils finished with 13 hits with Tate going 3-for-5 with a single, double and a home run and two RBIs. Kevin Sam and Cummings added three hits each.

Freshman Kyan Scott started the game and pitched 3.1 innings for the Sand Devils, as he surrendered four runs on five hits. Gonzales came in relief as Chinle tagged him with three runs on three hits in 2.1 innings of work. Junior righthander Kevin Sam closed as he gave up three runs on three hits.

“That’s the tough part of this tournament,” Halvorsen said of trying to save his pitchers for Wednesday’s 3A Conference Play-In game with ALA-West Foothills. “We were trying to win the game, but we had to sort of keep an eye on the future to keep our guys available to pitch on Wednesday.”

To stage its comeback, the Wildcats plated two runs in the fourth with senior Kaleb Guy scoring on a passed ball while Tsosie nailed a grounder to left that scored Arthur with Chinle pulling within 8-5.

In the sixth, Tsosie hammered a pop fly that went over the right fence for a two-run homer as the Wildcats closed within 8-7 to set up Sam’s last at-bat.

The Wildcats amassed 11 hits with Tsosie, Arthur and Jones finishing with two hits each.

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