The mercy rule finish when Rincon and Arrowhead Little Leagues first met in the 2012 Arizona state tournament was misleading.

So was the mercy rule result when they met in a rematch two nights later.

The third and final meeting? That was much more indicative of just how little difference there was between the two teams.

Rincon's Terrell Huggins delivered a two-strike, two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored Luke Morrison and Devin Garrett, and gave his team a 9-8 victory in the Arizona state championship game at Silver Lake Park in Tucson. Rincon's escape from being one strike away from elimination gave the league its first-ever state championship in the major baseball division, and capped a three-year run in which the core of Rincon's players won state championships in the 9-10, 10-11, and major baseball divisions.

Rincon became the first Arizona state champion in the major baseball division to emerge from District 12, and the first from the Tucson area, since San Xavier Little League in 2001.

Rincon carried a 5-4 lead midway through the tournament's final game, but Arrowhead stayed close as pitcher Grace Lyons fanned the side in the bottom of the third, and moved in front when John Sandoval drilled a two-run homer in the fourth. The teams traded runs to maintain the one-run Arrowhead advantage, but Rincon tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Dakota Martin drove in Nick Gonzales.

Jake Robson's solo home run gave Arrowhead a lead in the top of the seventh, before Huggins' hit proved decisive for Arrowhead in the bottom of the inning.

Rincon had cruised into the state championship series with three victories, including a 14-3 victory over Arrowhead, but the Glendale-based league returned the favor and forced the tourney to an 'if' game with a 15-5, five inning victory in the first championship series meeting.

"Arrowhead played a great game (in the 15-5 win)," said Rincon coach Jason Grabosch after the title game. "But these kids are pretty resilient. We told them, 'at this point, it is a three-game series, and our goal is to win the series'. And that's what they did."

Arrowhead's victory in the first championship series meeting was powered by an eight run burst in the third inning that turned a 2-2 game into a 10-2 blowout. Lyons sparked the rally with a leadoff single before scoring the go-ahead run, and later provided the capstone with a run-scoring single in her second at-bat of the inning. Four of Arrowhead's eight runs were unearned, and Brendan James helped to break the game open with a three-run home run.

Huggins, Josh Repavich and Izzy Carrillo all homered for Rincon, which lost for the first time in nine international tournament games, while Nolan Ruff's two-run homer in the fifth and Sandoval's walk-off two-run home run in the sixth further powered the Arrowhead offense. Nathan Gawalko earned the victory for the District 2 champions.

"The kids just battled," said Arrowhead manager Blaine Godfrey. "(Rincon) took it to us earlier in the week, but we knew we had a good team. We just had an off game."

The teams' second meeting was a different story.

"Nathan (Gawalko) was throwing strikes, we were getting calls on corners, the defense behind him played solid," explained Godfrey.

Both teams rolled past most of their opponents leading up to the championship series meeting. Rincon outscored five opponents in the District 12 tournament by an 89-5 margin, reached double-digits in two of their initial three games at the state tournament. After pulling away late to defeat West Flagstaff Little League, 7-3, in their opening round game at the state tournament, Rincon toppled Casa Grande Little League (17-7) and High Desert Little League (13-5).

Arrowhead, meanwhile, scored 20+ runs twice in early round district tournament play, and then hit double-digits offensively in three of its first four state tournament games. Only McCormick Ranch Little League held Arrowhead in check in the early rounds, as the Glendale team pocketed a 7-4 victory in a winner's bracket quarterfinal round encounter, and Arrowhead ratcheted up the firepower during a second meeting, a 15-10 victory in the elimination bracket final.

Arrowhead kept the offense going with their win in the first championship series meeting, but Rincon's resiliency proved to be just enough in the teams' third and final matchup in the state tournament.

"We had our chances to win," said Godfrey after the tournament's final game. "And we just couldn't quite get there. But we had a real good run."

Arrowhead's state runner-up finish extended a stellar longer-term run for the Glendale-based league. In the eleven years from 2002 through 2012, Arrowhead has won nine district titles, reached the state championship game six times, and claimed three state titles.

Rincon advanced to the West Region tournament in San Bernardino, California, following their victory in the state tournament. Rincon won three of four pool contests at the region tournament, and advanced to the semifinal round before falling, 6-5, to eventual runner-up Nanakuli (Hawaii) Little League.