For the first time in more than 20 years, the Arizona Fall League returns to Tucson, bringing top minor-league prospects to Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium for a Saturday tripleheader that marks a major milestone for the city’s baseball scene.

“We are planning and hoping and dreaming this is gonna be one of the biggest events that the Arizona Fall League has done,” Donna Petersen, league administrator for the MLB Arizona Fall League, told Tucson Spotlight.

This is the first time since November 2002 that the league will play games in Tucson. The city once had an Arizona Fall League team: the Tucson Javelinas, who played the 1992 and 1993 seasons at Hi Corbett Field before relocating to Peoria, Arizona.

Kino Sports Complex and Stadium District Director Sarah Horvath said she hopes this is the first of many years of partnerships with Major League Baseball.

“We know it's going to be a great event,” Horvath said. “We're going to go ahead and start off this first event and see how it goes from there.”

This partnership came after local efforts successfully rallied to bring baseball back to Tucson.

“We've been in talks with this for a little bit now, and it's amazing to finally see it come to fruition,” Horvath said.

Tucson hosted the World Baseball Classic 2025 qualifiers in March, held the Mexican Baseball Fiesta last weekend, and will see its new Mexican Pacific League team play its first game on Oct. 16.

“There's a big thing going around (about how) Tucson is a sports town, and it really is. Everybody is on everything to really just support it,” Petersen said. “And I think that's great for the town as a whole; and us coming into it is just like a cherry for us because we get to be part of it.”

Founded in 1992, the Arizona Fall League was created to serve as a pipeline for top minor-league prospects to the major leagues. The offseason league serves as the “finishing school” of the minor leagues for players, coaches, umpires and aspiring employees who hope to work in the MLB.

Every year, each MLB team sends seven top prospects to the fall league, where they are then assigned to a team. Each team is made up of prospects from five MLB teams, with 41% of Arizona Fall League alums playing in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta.

“You're going to be able to come here, see (aspiring MLB players) at Kino, and then years later, when they're playing in the big leagues and they're the star player, you're gonna be able to say, ‘Hey, I saw them at my hometown here in Tucson,’” Horvath said.

The league is made up of six teams: the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros, all representing Southwestern desert traditions or themes.

Games will be played in six league-affiliated ballparks and premier training facilities that house MLB spring training, with select events in additional ballparks, including Tucson and Goodyear, Arizona.

In collaboration with the Pima County School Superintendent's Office, the league hosted HomeRun Readers, inviting elementary school students to take part in a three-week reading challenge. Students who completed three books earned a free ticket to the Tucson tripleheader.

“I'm really hoping (the league) just builds those community strengths. Baseball, yes, but just kind of bringing everybody together, and if baseball is where it happens, then that just makes it even better,” Petersen said.

Tucson’s return to the baseball spotlight underscores its efforts to drive economic growth through sports and tourism.

“We're really looking forward to having that economic thrive, having people coming out to restaurants, staying in hotels, buying beer at the ballpark, all of that type of stuff that helps move us forward,” Horvath said.

The first game, featuring the Rafters vs. the Saguaros, starts at 12:30 p.m. The Solar Sox and Javelinas will take the field at 3:30 p.m., and at 6:30 p.m., the Scorpions and the Desert Dogs will face off.

Tickets can be purchased online and range from $20 to $25. The Arizona Fall League Tripleheader’s full schedule is available on its website.

Diana Ramos Sacaria is a University of Arizona alum and Tucson Spotlight reporter. Contact her at dianacrsacaria@gmail.com. 

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