Chinle rallies from five down to defend 3A North title, 9-8
Down five after three innings, Chinle stunned top-seeded Page 9-8 at home to defend its 3A North tournament crown and extend its postseason momentum.
Chinle turned a windy afternoon at Chinle High School into a comeback its community will remember, erasing a five-run deficit and holding off Page 9-8 to defend the 3A North Region tournament title.
The Wildcats, the No. 2 seed with an 18-8 record, trailed the top-seeded Page Sand Devils by five runs after three innings before clawing back with six unanswered runs. In a matchup that tested both teams’ nerves, Chinle showed the kind of late-inning poise that has become central to Charles Kimbrough’s program.
Bryceson Sam delivered the biggest swing of the day. The junior utility player crushed a two-run home run in the top of the seventh, flipping the game and putting Chinle in front at the moment Page appeared closest to closing the door. Mackaden Arthur then finished the job, striking out his eighth batter with two runners on base to seal the win and preserve the regional championship for the Wildcats.
The title carried extra weight because it came on Page’s side of the bracket and at home for Chinle, in a tournament field that also included Monument Valley, Tuba City, Ganado and Window Rock. The 3A North Tournament was scheduled for April 23-25, with Page High School listed as the host school, and the championship game was played April 25. Chinle’s victory made the Wildcats back-to-back 3A North Region tournament champions, a strong sign of stability for a program that has kept winning under pressure.
Kimbrough’s team entered the tournament listed at 8-2 in region play and 18-8 overall, and the roster included familiar names to local fans such as Sam and Arthur, along with Covington Jones, Hage Tsosie, Kaleb Guy, Sonne Begay, Kaden White, Duane Ayze, Dechelly Nalwood, Wyatt James, Daven Dale, Sheridan Black and Quentin Jodie. That depth mattered when Chinle needed answers after Page grabbed control early.
For Apache County, the result went beyond one trophy. Chinle’s second straight regional championship reinforced the Wildcats as a steady force in northeastern Arizona baseball, building on a 5-4 regular-season win over Page in 2025 and a 16-1 regional-title rout of the Sand Devils in 2019. This latest rally showed the same thing again: when Chinle gets down, it does not fold.
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