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The baseball season for Southern Arizona began at exactly 3:58 pm as Cholla’s Matt Burr delivered the first pitch at the Cowboy Up Classic.

13 local teams will play at Reid Park from Wednesday, February 22 to Saturday, February 25 along with teams from Coolidge, Flagstaff and Yuma.

The first two games featured Cholla vs. Sahuaro and Rio Rico vs. Empire.

The Cholla/Sahuaro match began a few minutes earlier and the game remained close until the sixth inning where the Cougars scored 10 of their 14 runs.

Sahuaro scored two runs to start the game off on a double by Alex Verdugo and a passed ball but Cholla came right back with two of their own in the bottom of the first inning on a single by Alejandro Salazar and a couple of errors.

Sahuaro would score two more in the fourth inning before exploding for ten runs in the sixth. Cholla scored two more in the bottom of the sixth.

The Empire/Rio Rico game also started out pretty even with both teams entering the second inning tied 1-1.

Kiki Silva broke things open for Rio Rico with a 2 RBI double in the second inning to pace the Hawks to a 5-1 lead.

Rio Rico scored five more runs in the top of the third inning thanks to seven hits including a triple by Memo Martinez.

Robby Craig hit a double in the bottom half of the inning an Empire responded with two runs to make it 10-3 Rio Rico.

Luke Stangl drove in a run for Empire in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cole Plouck hit a triple in the sixth inning and Empire was able to close the gap to 10-5. Each team scored again in the seventh and final inning.

The Cowboy Up Classic is hosted by Cienega and Sahuaro.

COWBOY UP SCHEDULE

Wednesday, February 22
Sahuaro 14, Cholla 4
Rio Rico 11, Empire 6
Cienega 12, Catalina Foothills 1 (5)
Salpointe 10, Pueblo 0 (5)
Sabino 12, Flowing Wells 0 (5)

Thursday, February 23
Field 1
1 pm: Cat Foothills vs. Empire
4 pm: Pueblo vs. Yuma
7 pm: Rio Rico vs. Cienega
Field 2
1 pm: Salpointe vs. Mountain View
4 pm: Rincon vs. Cholla
7 pm: Coolidge vs. Sahuaro
Field 4
1 pm, Flagstaff vs. Desert View
4 pm, Flowing Well vs. Flagstaff
7 pm, Desert View vs. Sabino

Friday, February 24
Field 1
1 pm: Empire vs. Cienega
4 pm: Cat Foothill vs. Rio Rico
7 pm: Desert View vs. Flowing Wells
Field 2
1 pm: Sahuaro vs. Rincon
4 pm: Coolidge vs. Rincon
7 pm: Cholla vs. Coolidge
Field 4
1 pm, Yuma vs. Salpointe
4 pm, Mtn View vs. Yuma
7 pm, Mtn View vs. Pueblo
Field 5
1 pm: Flagstaff vs. Sabino

Saturday, February 24
Bracket play begins at 9 am.
Championship game at 6 pm

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