A greater Tucson Majors baseball team has claimed a national tournament championship in Omaha, Neb.
The Arizona Toros 14-and-under squad has players from Canyon Del Oro, Catalina Foothills, Tucson, Sunnyside, Salpointe Catholic and Sabino high schools, as well as players from Phoenix and Texas.
It played eight games to win the 48-team Slumpbuster tourney, beating teams from Michigan and Minnesota in pool play, then topping clubs from Minnesota, Iowa, California and Nebraska to reach the title game. The Arizona Toros defeated the Simi Valley, Calif., Devils 6-3 in the finale last weekend.
The locals scored nearly 10 runs a game, allowed less than two earned runs a contest, and batted .481 as a team.
Members of the squad are Austin Baldwin and Benjamin Bon of Catalina Foothills, Taylor Martin of Phoenix Basha, Christian Bitar of Maricopa, Santiago Nieto, Luis Gonzalez and Ryan Ramsower of Salpointe Catholic, Ruben Bracamontes of Sunnyside, Matthew Bushman of Sabino, Tyler Brown of Canyon Del Oro, Rigo Aguilar and Eder Erives of El Paso, and Alex Robles of Tucson.
Jim Baldwin is the head coach, assisted by Rigo Aguilar and Paul Brown.
Since last September, the Arizona Toros have competed in 15 tournaments, winning 11, including a state championship in Phoenix. They were ranked sixth in the nation headed into the Slumpbuster. Along the way, team members attended College World Series games being played for the final season at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium.
