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2021 Tucson Saguaros Season Recap - Back-to-Back Pecos League Champions
The 2021 Tucson Saguaros didn't have the best regular-season record in franchise history, they didn't dominate the Pecos League from beginning to end and they didn't even have the luxury of playing their home games at Kino Stadium. What they did have was a championship team. When the final out of the 2021 Pecos League season was recorded, the Tucson Saguaros had accomplished something no Pecos League team had done before: they were back-to-back champions.
The circumstances surrounding those two championships could hardly have been more different. The 2020 Saguaros never played a game in Tucson because COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Pecos League from operating its normal schedule in its member cities. Instead, the entire 2020 season was moved to Coastal Baseball Park in Houston, Texas, where four teams competed under extraordinarily difficult conditions, primarily during daytime hours in the middle of a Houston summer. Tucson dominated that abbreviated season, going 26-4 and sweeping the Salina Stockade in the Championship Series to win the 2020 Pecos League title.
One year later, the league returned to its traditional markets, the Saguaros returned to Arizona and Sean McNeill's club won it again. Tucson finished the 2021 regular season 32-23 before navigating the Mountain Division playoffs and defeating the Roswell Invaders in the Pecos League Championship Series. The championship was Tucson's third in franchise history following titles in 2016 and 2020. More importantly, it completed one of the strangest back-to-back championship runs in independent baseball. One championship had been won in a COVID bubble in Houston. The next was won back home in Tucson.
The Championship That Started in Houston
To understand the significance of Tucson's 2021 championship, the story really has to begin one year earlier. The Pecos League's original plans for 2020 disappeared when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted professional baseball throughout the country. The league was unable to operate its normal season in its regular cities with fans, so rather than cancel the season entirely, it created an unusual four-team operation at Coastal Baseball Park in Houston.
The Tucson Saguaros, Roswell Invaders, Salina Stockade and Houston Apollos played the season at the same facility. There were no traditional road trips, no games in Tucson, no normal home crowds and not even night games. Instead, players competed in daytime games on artificial turf during the Houston summer while the league operated under the constant uncertainty created by COVID-19.
Tucson handled those circumstances better than anyone. Under manager Sean McNeill, the Saguaros went 26-4 and then swept Salina in the Championship Series. The Tucson Saguaros were the 2020 Pecos League Champions. It was an official league championship even though the Saguaros never saw Tucson during the season, and that created an unusual opportunity entering 2021. Tucson could become the first team to win consecutive Pecos League championships, but this time it would have to do it under completely different circumstances.
Professional Baseball Returns to Tucson
The 2021 season represented a return toward normal operations for the Pecos League. Teams returned to their home markets and the Mountain Division resumed operations throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Kansas. For Tucson, however, there was another significant change. The Saguaros weren't playing their traditional home schedule at Kino Stadium.
The club instead played its Tucson home games at Amphitheater High School. It was a considerably different setting from Kino, but the objective remained the same: win. Sean McNeill returned as manager after leading the Saguaros through the unusual 2020 season. The championship in Houston had established McNeill as a winning manager, and the challenge in 2021 was proving that success could continue when the Pecos League returned to its normal format.
A New Team Attempts to Defend the Championship
Winning consecutive championships in independent baseball presents a challenge that doesn't exist in quite the same way at higher levels of professional baseball because rosters can change dramatically from one summer to the next. Players move to other independent leagues, some sign with affiliated organizations and others retire or move on from professional baseball altogether.
That meant Tucson wasn't simply bringing back the same 26-4 team that had dominated in Houston. McNeill had to construct another roster capable of winning. The 2021 Saguaros included pitchers Augie Martinez, Blake Garrett, Duncan Snider, Ian Schweppe, Jack Dicenso and Jeff Serin. The roster also featured several players who would become central to Tucson's championship run, including Leo Gallegos and B.J. Minarcin.
It was another collection of players from different backgrounds attempting to accomplish the same objective: get to the playoffs, then win the last game of the season.
Tucson Finds Its Way Through the Regular Season
Unlike the 2020 team, the 2021 Saguaros were not going to run away from the rest of the league. The Mountain Division was considerably more difficult, with Tucson having to deal with traditional rivals including the Roswell Invaders, Alpine Cowboys and Santa Fe Fuego. The Saguaros experienced both excellent stretches and difficult stretches throughout the summer.
One example of Tucson's offensive potential came July 8 at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe, when the Saguaros defeated the Fuego 12-6. Leo Gallegos hit two home runs and Jeff Serin earned the victory by working five innings. The win moved Tucson to 22-10, and at that point the defending champions appeared capable of producing another dominant regular season.
The second half proved more difficult, however, and Tucson eventually finished 32-23. It wasn't the overwhelming 26-4 winning percentage of the Houston season, but that didn't matter. The Saguaros had reached the postseason and still had an opportunity to defend their championship.
Roswell and Tucson Remain on a Collision Course
If there was one opponent that represented the greatest obstacle between Tucson and another championship, it was Roswell. The Invaders were already one of the most successful franchises in Pecos League history, having won league championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Tucson had won championships in 2016 and 2020.
During the 2021 regular season, there was almost nothing separating the two clubs head-to-head. Tucson and Roswell played each other 16 times, with Tucson winning eight and Roswell winning eight. Two additional scheduled games between the clubs were rained out and weren't made up. Even their season series had finished dead even.
It increasingly appeared that the Pecos League championship might eventually have to go through one of those two teams. That is exactly what happened.
The Saguaros Survive the Mountain Division
The 2021 postseason required Tucson to survive the Mountain Division before it could defend its league championship. This was a very different postseason challenge from Houston in 2020. There was travel again, there were actual home and road environments and there were familiar Mountain Division rivalries. The Saguaros also weren't entering the postseason as an overwhelming favorite based on their regular-season record.
What Tucson did have was experience. Sean McNeill had already managed a team through a championship series, and several players understood the pressure of independent baseball's short postseason format. Tucson advanced through the bracket and earned another opportunity to play for the Pecos League Championship. Waiting for the Saguaros were the Roswell Invaders.
Two Pecos League Powers Meet for the Championship
The 2021 Pecos League Championship Series was a matchup between two of the most accomplished organizations in league history. Roswell entered the series as a three-time champion, having won titles in 2011, 2013 and 2015 while also reaching the Championship Series in 2017. Tucson had championships from 2016 and 2020 and was trying to become the first back-to-back champion in Pecos League history.
The matchup was also appropriate because of how evenly the teams had played throughout the summer. Their regular-season series had finished 8-8. There was no mystery between them. They knew each other and had played repeatedly throughout the season. Now one series would determine the champion.
The Championship Comes Down to Tucson
Unlike the previous year's championship, which had been decided at Coastal Baseball Park in Houston, the 2021 title would be decided in Tucson. The Championship Series was played at Amphitheater High School, giving the Saguaros an opportunity that hadn't existed one year earlier: they could win a championship in Tucson.
The 2020 team had carried the Tucson name while playing every game hundreds of miles away in Houston. The 2021 club had brought professional baseball back to the city. Now it had the opportunity to finish the season there.
August 18, 2021 - Tucson Finishes the Job
On August 18, Tucson defeated Roswell 7-6. It was an appropriately close game between two teams that had spent the entire season playing one another almost evenly. Leo Gallegos delivered one of the biggest offensive performances of the game, going 3-for-4 and hitting a home run. B.J. Minarcin added a hit, and Jesse Palafox earned the victory out of the bullpen.
When the game ended, so did the Pecos League season. The Tucson Saguaros were the 2021 Pecos League Champions. Again.
Back-to-Back Means Houston and Tucson
There will always be something unusual about describing the 2020 and 2021 Tucson championships as back-to-back titles. The 2020 Saguaros never played in Tucson, and the season wasn't played under anything resembling normal Pecos League conditions. Every game was played at Coastal Baseball Park in Houston, the league was reduced to four teams and games were played during the day while players and staff operated through the COVID-19 pandemic and the constant possibility that the season might not be completed.
But the season was completed. The games counted, there was a Championship Series and Tucson won it. The Pecos League officially recognizes the Tucson Saguaros as its 2020 champions, which makes what happened in 2021 historically significant. Tucson didn't merely win another championship. The Saguaros successfully defended their title.
The league itself would later describe Tucson as the "back to back Pecos League Champion" when announcing the team's return to Kino Stadium for 2022. The circumstances were unconventional, but the accomplishment was real.
Sean McNeill Wins Two Championships in Two Seasons
The consecutive championships also established Sean McNeill as one of the most successful managers in Pecos League history. His first season managing Tucson had been unlike anything a Pecos League manager had previously experienced. He managed the Saguaros through the Houston COVID season and finished 26-4 with a championship.
Then he essentially had to start over. It was a new season with a new roster, a different ballpark, normal travel and traditional division opponents. The Saguaros didn't dominate the standings in the same fashion, yet the result was identical. Champions.
McNeill was now two-for-two. Two seasons managing the Tucson Saguaros had produced two Pecos League Championships.
Three Championships in Six Seasons
The 2021 championship also continued Tucson's remarkable start as a Pecos League franchise. The Saguaros had debuted in 2016 and won the championship immediately under J.D. Droddy. Tucson returned to the playoffs in 2017 and 2018, then finished 30-30 in 2019 and missed the postseason.
Then came the Houston season. Tucson won the 2020 championship and followed it by winning the 2021 championship. Six seasons of Saguaros baseball had produced three Pecos League Championships: 2016, 2020 and 2021. No matter where the league placed Tucson or where the Saguaros had to play, the organization kept finding ways to contend.
The End of the Amphitheater High School Season
The 2021 season would also become a unique one-year chapter in the history of the franchise because of where the Saguaros played their home games. Tucson's championship was won at Amphitheater High School rather than Kino Stadium, and that arrangement would not continue.
The Pecos League announced following the season that the Saguaros would return to Kino Stadium for 2022. That announcement referred to Tucson as the back-to-back Pecos League Champion and summarized an extraordinary first six seasons for the franchise. Tucson had played in different divisions, in different ballparks and had even played an entire season in another state. Yet the Saguaros had accumulated three championships.
The Legacy of the 2021 Tucson Saguaros
The 2021 Saguaros deserve a special place in Pecos League history because their championship completed a run that may never be duplicated under similar circumstances. In 2020, Tucson played an entire season in Houston because of a global pandemic. The Saguaros went 26-4, swept Salina and won the championship.
In 2021, the league returned to its cities and Tucson returned home. The Saguaros went 32-23, survived a much more traditional Pecos League season and eventually met three-time champion Roswell with another title at stake. Tucson won.
It wasn't the same roster, it wasn't the same ballpark, it wasn't the same schedule and it wasn't remotely the same type of season. But it was the same manager and ultimately the same result. Sean McNeill and the Tucson Saguaros were Pecos League Champions again.
The Houston championship counted. The Tucson championship counted. Together, they made the 2020 and 2021 Tucson Saguaros the first back-to-back champions in Pecos League history.
For a franchise that had existed for only six seasons, Tucson had already won three titles. The Saguaros had moved beyond being one of the Pecos League's successful newer teams. By the end of 2021, they had become one of its defining franchises.
