Saguaros Rally Past Wind, 9-4

The Tucson Saguaros overcame an early deficit and pulled away for a 9-4 victory over the Garden City Wind on Saturday night at Clint Lightner Field.

Tucson opened the scoring in the second inning when Connor Kiefer grounded out to bring home Angel Faras. Garden City answered with three runs in the bottom half. Rob Morosetti delivered an RBI single, Mason DeVerna added a sacrifice fly, and Darius Freeman drove in another run with a single to give the Wind a 3-1 lead.

The Saguaros quickly took control in the third. Sloan Laird was hit by a pitch and Trent Mallonee singled before Gavy Perez-Torres launched a three- run home run, putting Tucson ahead 4-3. Cedric Reynaud extended the lead in the fourth with an RBI double that scored Mallonee.

Tucson added two more runs in the sixth when Diego Zuniga singled home Kiefer and Perez-Torres. Garden City answered with one run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI groundout by Aidan Grabowski, but the Wind could get no closer.

The Saguaros finished the scoring with two runs in the ninth. Kiefer singled home Will Thomas, and Mallonee followed with a sacrifice fly that brought in Demitrius DiMatteo.

Perez-Torres led Tucson with a three-run homer and finished with two hits, two runs and three RBIs. Zuniga collected two hits and drove in two runs, while Kiefer added two RBIs. Thomas went 3-for-4 with a walk and scored once. Tucson totaled 16 hits in the victory.

DiMatteo turned in a complete-game performance for the Saguaros. He allowed four runs on nine hits over nine innings, walking four and striking out two while throwing 123 pitches.

Freeman led Garden City with three hits, one RBI and three stolen bases. Connor Huzicka and Morosetti each had two hits, with Huzicka scoring twice. DeVerna took the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits and six walks over 5 2/3 innings.