The Mogollon Mustangs are adding another 1A title to their trophy case.

In what was a rematch of the 1A state baseball championship back in 2019, Mogollon again took care of business, defeating Bagdad 8-2 on Saturday afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

The Mustangs (23-4) reclaimed their title after missing last year's title game and the 2020 championship being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This time around, Mogollon didn't need long to jump ahead. The Mustangs plated five runs in the first two innings and didn't let the Sultans (23-6) get within striking distance the rest of the way. That largely was due to a near-perfect performance on the mound by senior pitcher Cael Porter.

The right-hander went 6-and-1/3 innings, allowing only six hits and two runs. Porter also sent batters packing as he racked up 10 strikeouts and mowed through the first two frames of the game.

His lone slip-up came in the third inning, where Bagdad tagged him for two runs. From that point on he threw nothing but zeros on the scoreboard, only exiting in the seventh inning after hitting his pitch limit of 105 throws. 

On the losing side for the Sultans, senior pitcher Connor Watson shouldered the load on the mound. The right-hander allowed eight runs and six hits over five frames of action. It didn't help that in the opening frame his team had two errors and a couple passed balls that benefited the opposition.

Watson also helped his own cause as he knocked in one of Bagdad's few runs with an RBI-single in the third inning.

Senior Braxton Owens contributed three RBI, including a two-run single in the sixth inning. Fellow senior Malaki Porter added two RBI, one on a triple in the second and another on a single in the 4th to make it 6-2.

The Sultans again came up short after falling 6-2 to Mogollon in the 2019 title game. Coming into Saturday's championship, they had dominated the competition, including a 9-1 dismantling of last year's champion, St. David, in the semifinals.

For head coach Reed Porter and the Mustangs, it was an equally strong showing throughout in the tournament. Mogollon's toughest challenge came in the semifinals with a narrow 2-1 win over Hayden.

But the nervous energy didn't carry into Saturday's championship as the Mustangs rolled to an 8-2 win over the Sultans.