On Thursday, July 25, nineteen teams went head-to-head in the 60th Annual Southwest All-Indian Baseball Tournament. For three days, teams played games at the Salt River, Lehi and Accelerated Learning Academy baseball fields. This year, however, was a little special for families who have been enjoying this year-round event.

Before the opening game, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Recreation Services took a moment to recognize those who’s families have played in this tournament for many years: Paul Smith Sr., Brian Smith, Daniel Smith Sr., David Smith, Mike Villalpando, Steve Cooper and Arnold Makil. The Southwest Tournament has been a tradition for years, not only for families in the Salt River Community, but for those in surrounding communities as well.

“It’s been going on for a long time, so I think competition-wise everybody looks forward to it,” said Raiders shortstop Aaron Makil. “Everybody knows when it is, so I think that’s why everybody looks forward to it. And still being able to get 20 teams is pretty cool,” Makil added.

It was a windy first-game win for the Lehi Raiders against the Night Riders. As they were playing at the Salt River ballfield, the Desert Dingers, another team representing Salt River, played their opener against the Los Yaquis in Lehi. However, the Dingers came up short and were pushed into the consolation bracket early in the tournament.

The following day, both teams played two games (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) in the summer heat in hopes of continued game play.

On the morning of the final day of the tournament, the Desert Dingers lost to the Guadalupe Stixx (7-3), finishing the tournament with a 2-2 record. The Lehi Raiders went on to defeat the same team (13-4) to advance to the championship game against the Mesa Rays.

The championship game was played at the Salt River baseball field Saturday evening at 7 p.m. For the next hour and a half, the Lehi Raiders posted a complete shutout, finally winning the game with a score of 11-0. They finished the tournament with a record of 6-1 and hold onto the championship title until next year’s Southwest Tournament.

“This is the first time the Lehi team has done this,” said Lehi’s general manager, Vince Makil. “This will be our second championship [with the team], and we are looking for a third one next year. I was very confident with the players … they have been playing together for a while, so I knew they were going to [be able to] correct any hitting mishaps and make adjustments.”

The tournament ended with awards and trophies given out to the first- and second-place teams. All-Tourney awards were presented to David Smith and Gregory Joe. The Defensive Player Award went to Aaron Makil, and the MVP plaque was presented to Arnold Thomas.