It was just June 6 when John Johnson said farewell to a 16-year Little League baseball career at the District 10 Tournament of Champions.

Saturday, April 23, the Big Park Community School head baseball coach and his Coyotes won one last championship for the home fans before saying farewell to the Verde Valley Athletic Association after more than two decades.

“Win or lose, that was a great baseball game, all-around,” said Johnson, who hopes to continue as head baseball coach at the new junior high, which will open at Sedona Red Rock High School in August. “It’s what we worked towards all year. We never gave up; never quit. The boys stayed strong.”

Eighth-grader Michael Lagorio threw a one-hitter, scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth to avenge his only Verde Valley loss, 2-1, over Clarkdale-Jerome School in six innings.

“It was a team effort,” said Lagorio, who also gave up just one walk, striking out 13 of the 22 batters he faced. “I’m happy; it’s just a great experience. You’ve just got to believe.”

That was Johnson’s theme of the postseason, adding that Lagorio struck out the top four Clarkdale batters seven of the 12 times he faced them.

“I told Michael, ‘If you want to throw the curveball, throw the curveball,’” Johnson recalled. “‘Believe in it.’

Through the first three innings the Coyotes could not overcome Mingus Rams pitching or a second-inning unearned run, especially after Clarkdale eighth-grade pitcher Treyson Peters struck out the Coyotes side in the third.

“We weren’t swinging,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘Guys, we have to start getting this bat on this ball. We’re in the fourth inning.’”

But Johnson’s advice to his batters to crowd the plate paid off with shortstop Jake Hobson, who got the Coyotes to the championship by pitching them to victory over Mayer Elementary School in their tournament opener.

The eighth-grader responded, leading off the fourth by muscling a bloop single just inside the left-field foul line behind first base.

Peters couldn’t handle Lagorio’s sharp ground ball back to him, and with two strikes on seventh-grader Micah Johnson, Peters’ throw to first base on his one-out grounder skipped low into right field, scoring both Hobson and Lagorio, who had advanced into scoring position on an earlier wild pitch.

“I had a 100 percent faith in Michael the whole time,” Hobson said. “You can always rely on him.”

That would be all Lagorio would need, throwing strikes in 17 of his final 23 pitches.