SUNRISE REGION: Coronado’s ninth-inning surge thwarts Silverado in title game

Baseball often is a guessing game, and Coronado’s Dillon Fahr made a fortuitous guess on Saturday.

With two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning against Silverado, the senior outfielder had a hunch he was about to get a fastball down the middle. He was right.

Skyhawks reliever Michael Meyers served up the anticipated pitch, and Fahr launched an RBI single to center field to give the Cougars a dramatic 4-3 comeback win in the championship game of the Sunrise Region tournament at Green Valley.

Coronado (27-8) earned a berth in next week’s state tournament in Reno.

“(Meyers) threw the first pitch for a ball,” said Fahr, whose big hit came on a 1-and-0 count. “I knew the next one was going to be right down the middle. I got it, and thank God it fell.”

Fahr’s hit narrowly eluded Silverado center fielder Mark Janosik’s glove, sending home Kaleb Blyton with the winning run.

Silverado (24-10-1) had gone up 3-2 in the top of the ninth when Cameron Rosser bounced an RBI single over third base.

Julian Burrola lined a one-out double to right field in the bottom of the inning, and a Skyhawks error gave Coronado runners at the corners with one out. Chris Johnson then lined an RBI single to center field to tie the score at 3. That set up Fahr’s heroics.

“Our whole game plan was to get guys on, get them over and get them in,” Coronado coach David Padilla said. “We just couldn’t get them in until the ninth.”

The Cougars blew numerous scoring opportunities, but so did the Skyhawks. Padilla said he was not surprised to see the teams locked in a pitchers’ duel.

“I expected it,” Padilla said, “because the first three times we played Silverado, we had pitchers’ duels. We had the best we could throw out there today.”

Coronado starter Chandler Blanchard appeared shaky early, falling behind 2-0 by allowing a walk, a single to Wyatt Reid and a two-run single to Rosser in the first inning.

The Cougars got one back in the bottom of the inning with three singles, but the Skyhawks maintained a 2-1 lead as Blanchard and Silverado starter David Kuzma dominated through the next four innings.

Coronado’s big break occurred when Michael Pollex’s sharp grounder took a bad hop to get past Silverado second baseman Reid in the sixth inning. The hit scored Cody Howard from second base to tie the score at 2 and ultimately force the game into extra innings.

Padilla admitted he entered the bottom of the ninth just hoping his team would stay alive.

“We just wanted to put one run across,” Padilla said. “When Fahr came up, I was thinking sac fly, but he came through with a base hit.”

Blanchard had two hits to lead the Cougars, who claimed their first regional title.

“I’m so excited,” said Padilla, whose team appeared to have a title locked up last year before Green Valley rallied in the regional final. “This has been our goal. We’ve thought about last year for quite a while, so it’s huge for us to be going to state.”

Rosser went 3-for-5 to lead the Skyhawks.