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The Saguaros won the Pecos League Championship Series on Monday night at home, their 20th victory in their last 21 games and finished the playoffs 6-1.

After dropping the first game of the series on Saturday to the San Rafael Pacifics, Tucson won the next two, including the decisive third game 11-7 at Kino Stadium.

“These guys are resilient,” said Saguaros Manager Sean McNeill, who won his third title with Tucson. “We get guys from all over the country and we never know what to expect and then we just grind and grind and grind, the big message for us this year is being resilient and also ‘championship rounds’ because I’m a big boxing fan.”

The Saguaros took home the Pecos League title in 2016, 2020 and 2021 but San Rafael beat them two games to one in the 2023 championship series.

“It feels awesome, I mean, it’s my third year here, my first year, we lost to those guys in the championship, so even though it’s two years later, to get redemption on them is awesome,” said pitcher Jaymon Cervantes, who went to Empire High School in Vail. “And to bring a championship back to my hometown is even better.”

On Monday San Rafael, which is in the Bay Area, scored at least four runs in an early inning for the third straight game. However, Tucson countered the Pacifics’ four runs in the second with three of their own in the second at bat.

Catcher Hal Perez got the Saguaros on the board with a two-RBI double. Then he scored on a passed ball.

Tucson added a run in the third and one in the fourth to take the lead and after San Rafael retook the lead in the fifth with a two-run homer by infielder Chris Wright, the Saguaros responded in the home half of the fifth.

Tucson relief pitcher Blake Garrett hit a triple with two outs that scored two and got Tucson back in the lead.

In the eighth, the Saguaros pulled away with an RBI single from infielder Gavy Perez-Torres, a run on a wild pitch, sacrifice fly by infielder Antonio Fernandez and a bases loaded walk drawn by catcher Cedric Reynaud.

Fernandez, a Sabino High School alum, relished the chance to play for the Saguaros and win a title. After high school, he went to McPherson College, Washington Adventist University, Texas A&M-Texarkana College, Christian Brothers University and the Billings Mustangs in the professional ranks.

“It’s awesome to do it, ever since I graduated from high school I’ve been states away from my family and everything,” Fernandez said. “They’ve never really been able to come see me play, so being able to come back home, play a season for them, with them in the stands, it’s awesome. Especially doing it for your home town in front of your home town crowd and getting backed by the community every single home game, it’s the best thing ever.”

In Game 2 San Rafael jumped ahead 4-0 in the second inning. However, Tucson scored three of their own in the bottom of that inning in response.

After they both scored a pair in the third, Tucson tied it up in the fourth and then took the lead with a five spot in the fifth. The Saguaros added another in the bottom of the sixth but San Rafael retook the lead with seven in the seventh.

Tucson came back again in the eighth with four runs.

While the Saguaros played their first playoff series at home and went to Kansas to earn a spot in the champion series, San Rafael had the week off after they won the Pacific Division.

McNeill said the Tucson layoff and San Rafael rest did and didn’t impact the series.

“So if you go back and look at us, to be honest with you, we always, when we have a road trip one day off in between, we end up losing unless it’s like a weaker team,” McNeill said. “So losing that game was tough, but we showed resilience. But being able to come back Game 2, being able to win Game 3 is huge, right?

“This is how we normally play.”

Cervantes started Sunday’s season on the long game, going 4²⁄³ innings, almost twice as long as any other pitcher that night. He said getting that start was the kind of moment he waits for every season.

“I went to Sidewinders games, I went to Tucson Padres games,” Cervantes said. “I even went to Saguaro games back in the day, 2016, 2017 — I remember showing up for Fourth of July in 2017.

“The stadium was packed and it was an awesome feeling, so to be able to be a part of that officially, there’s no words to describe it.”

In Game 1, San Rafael snapped Tucson’s 18-game win streak, beating the home side 12-9.

The Pacifics jumped ahead 5-0 in the first and Tucson was never able to catch up. The Saguaros did load the bases in the bottom of the ninth but stranded those runners.

Tucson went 43-9-1 in the regular season to win the Mountain South. Then in their first playoff series, they swept the Pecos Bills before sweeping the Garden City Wind in the Mountain Division Championship Series to earn the spot in the championship series.

In July with his 275th win, McNeill became the league’s winningest manager. He said this season was “amazing, amazing.”

“I couldn’t ask for better guys, just being a part of their journey and obviously, we win the championship, the season’s done, most of these guys aren’t going to be back because they’re going to go up to higher leagues,” McNeill said. “So it’s always fun to play with these (guys).

“Like you have these guys for one year, maybe two, three, if you’re lucky, but ultimately I want to see them go up and move on in their baseball career.”