The Disney version of the 2025 Santa Cruz Little League season would surely have featured a different ending.
The scrappy collection of nine 8- to 10-year-olds – barely enough to field a team – who had never before won a single district playoff game would not only fight through the losers bracket to win the district championship, but then take down the big-city kids from Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff and all points in between to claim a state title.
Real life had other ideas, of course. Santa Cruz’s “Mighty Nine,” as they came to be known, did claw their way through the losers bracket to win the District 8 title, and they even knocked off a couple of big-city opponents in the state tournament.
But their storybook season ended a few wins short of the ultimate goal.
But here’s the thing about baseball: There’s always next season. And next season is now. So what does Santa Cruz do for an encore?
The sequel has yet to be written, but for the league’s coaches and administrators it’s the same old story they’ve been telling for the past several years: Show up, have fun, give it your best effort, focus on improvement and play the game the right way. Then let the chips fall where they may.
So far, so good. The Santa Cruz minor leaguers (8- to 10-year-olds) finished the regular season with a 12-0 record, playing against teams from Benson and Sierra Vista. Santa Cruz also capitalized on last season’s success to attract enough kids for a major league team (10- to 12-year-olds). The major leaguers compiled a 9-3 record. Next up for both teams are the District 8 tournaments in Sierra Vista starting later this month.
Aaron Thomas, Santa Cruz league president, said both programs had 14 players this year, a 20% increase, although not all will stick around over summer vacation for the district tournament. As a whole, the league had 72 kids at four levels: T-ball (ages 4 to 6), coach pitch (6 to 8), minors and majors.
“We’re happy to have all the kids that want to come out and play,” Thomas said.
The league has never lacked for community support, and Thomas said it’s exciting to see that rise to a new level.
“Last summer was so much fun. We caught lightning in a bottle, went to state, and it just brought a lot of great publicity to our league and given us a lot of awareness,” he said.
“Our volunteers have been great, our coaches have been great, parental involvement has been great, and I attribute a lot of that to our success last year. Everybody wants in on the fun.”
Thomas also tipped his cap to the league’s sponsors. “Our local sponsors have always been great to us,” he said. “They always show up and let us do fun things, like let us pick our own jerseys.”
The league has also been able to make a couple of enhancements at the Sonoita Fairgrounds ball field. South32 provided a grant for installing a batting cage, and the county provided the labor to tear out the grass infield and replace it with dirt, which is easier to maintain.
The younger leagues play their games at the Sonoita field. The older teams travel to Benson and Sierra Vista, but they were able to host one home game this year.
As for the on-field product, that, too, has taken an upturn.
“All those kids who got to play all that extra baseball last year are helping bring the newer kids up to their level,” Thomas said. “The success is breeding more success. It’s nice to try to hold them to a higher standard on the field.”
As the postseason looms, Santa Cruz won’t be able to sneak up on anyone this year. “We definitely have a target on our back,” Thomas said.
Thomas acknowledged that being able to practice and play with a single team for the entire season allows for some competitive advantages, but Santa Cruz doesn’t have any choice but to play the hand it’s dealt.
“We would love to be able to do multiple teams,” Thomas said, “I just don’t know if our community has the numbers. There’s just not enough kids.”