BLAZER BASH: Six innings of near perfection, but seventh dooms Palo Verde

Palo Verde’s baseball team played a near perfect game for six innings Tuesday afternoon.

Starter Tanner Lewis threw six hitless innings. The Panthers offense managed a base hit in every inning but the sixth and eventually chased the Banning (California) ace. Jaret Godman and J.D. Brooks each drove in a run. And the defense — outside of a questionable error in the sixth — did its part in the field.

“Everything worked out perfect, except for the seventh,” Palo Verde coach Joe Hallead said.

Hallead decided to sit Lewis after six innings because of a high pitch count, and Banning produced all its hits and runs in the top of the seventh in a 3-2 win in the Blazer Spring Bash at Durango High.

“You’ve got to tip your cap to the other team,” Hallead said. “They kept battling. Tanner threw a no-hitter through six, but he ran into his pitch count. We just didn’t play defense behind (closer Jacob Godman). We bobbled a ball in the infield. We misread a ball in the outfield. They only got three (runs) out of it, and they should’ve got five or six. But it’s baseball. A team gets hot one inning, and that’s all it takes.”

Lewis, who threw 19 of 23 first-pitch strikes, struck out seven and walked four in six shutout innings. The senior left-hander had 58 of his 89 pitches go for strikes and appeared to be getting stronger in the later innings.

But Hallead chose not to overthrow his College of Southern Nevada commit, especially in a nonleague game.

“I don’t think he missed a spot all day,” Hallead said. “He kept them off balance and had all three pitches working and was hitting his spots. … That’s the best I’ve seen him pitch since the state championship last summer in Connie Mack. And that’s saying something because he’s been one of our best pitchers this spring.”

Banning responded by getting four consecutive hits to start the seventh inning, including a pinch-hit double by Luis Solorio and a two-run triple by Andres Vega. Omar Muro’s infield single drove in the Pilots’ first run, and Vega’s triple that sailed over the head of center fielder Dylan Orlando brought in the tying and go-ahead runs.

“We don’t take our pitchers over 90 (pitches),” Hallead said of his decision to sit Lewis. “It’s always been my thing. I just don’t believe in it. He’s signed with CSN next year, and I need to take care of his arm.”

In the bottom half of the inning, Chandler Kochan reached on a hit by pitch. But Palo Verde (12-7) flew out three times to end the game.

Jacob Godman, Brooks and Asher Bouldin each went 2-for-4 for the Panthers, who stranded 10 runners.

Arbor View 12, Sylmar (Calif.) 8 — At Centennial, Dylan Anderson went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs to lead the Aggies over the Spartans.

Joe Fitzhugh was 2-for-2 with two doubles and three runs, and Talon LeBaron, Trey Urban and George Lystlund each went 2-for-4 for Arbor View.

Urban and Lystlund each drove in two runs, and LeBaron had one RBI.

Justin Zavala went 3-for-4 with two runs for Sylmar.

Cleveland (Calif.) 5, Arbor View 3 — At Centennial, Bryan Suppan threw 4⅔ innings of scoreless relief as the Cavaliers topped the Aggies.

Suppan allowed one hit and struck out seven.

Fitzhugh was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for Arbor View.

Cimarron-Memorial 3, San Pedro 0 — At Cimarron, Nick Restifo threw a five-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks as the Spartans beat the Pirates.

Seth Hoffman was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Cimarron. Derek Decolati went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Zach Culver and Jackson Folkman each went 1-for-3 with a run for the Spartans.

Cimarron-Memorial 3, Elsinore (Calif.) 1 — At Cimarron, Decolati threw a two-hitter to lead the Spartans over the Tigers.

Noah Parker was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Cimarron. Folkman went 2-for-2 with a triple and a run for the Spartans.

Rancho 3, Elsinore (Calif.) 0 — At Cimarron-Memorial, Michael Shy allowed one hit in five shutout innings to lead the Rams over the Tigers in the Blazer Spring Bash.

David Arambula and Anthony Guzman each doubled and had an RBI for the Rams, and Edarian Williams scored two runs and had two stolen bases. Rancho’s Layton Walls went 3-for-4.

Sierra Vista 8, Garfield (Calif.) 5 — At Sierra Vista, Nicholas Morice was 4-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs as the Mountain Lions beat the Bulldogs.

Cooper Kitrel was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, and Matt Vanderberg went 2-for-5 with a run for Sierra Vista.

Josua Lopez was 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and a run for Garfield.

Shadow Ridge 11, Verdugo Hills (Calif.) 3 — At Shadow Ridge, Dylan Baker was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and two RBIs to help the Mustangs defeat the Dons.

Justin Lee went 1-for-1 with a home run, four runs and two RBIs for Shadow Ridge, which scored four runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to pull away.

Bryan Trujillo added a triple and three RBIs for Shadow Ridge.

Faith Lutheran 10, Cleveland (Calif.) 2 — At Centennial, Jacob Ortega was 3-for-4 with a homer, double, two runs and four RBIs as the Crusaders rolled over the Cavaliers.

Lucas Dockery went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

Centennial 18, Verdugo Hills (Calif.) 1 — At Centennial, the Bulldogs scored 15 runs in the bottom of the first and rolled to the three-inning win.

Kris Bow went 2-for-2 with a home run, two runs and four RBIs and pitched two hitless innings to get the win.

Austin Kryszczuk was 2-for-2 with a triple and two runs, and Jake Rogers was 2-for-2 with a triple, two runs and three RBIs for the Bulldogs.

Kyle Horton added a home run and three RBIs for Centennial.

Durango 10, Rancho Dominguez (Calif.) 0 — At Durango, Tyler Donohue threw a one-hitter to lead the Trailblazers to the five-inning win.

Jason Salazar was 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI for Durango, and teammate Duke Pahukoa was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Birmingham (Calif.) 15, Las Vegas 4 — At Las Vegas High, the Patriots scored 13 runs in the second inning en route to a rout of the Wildcats in five innings.