Hall’s stingy relief saves Cougars’ win in opener

Coronado baseball coach David Padilla sent his players onto the field Saturday suspecting a strong pitching performance would be the key to a victory over Sierra Vista.

His hunch was correct.

Matt Hall pitched three scoreless relief innings to lead the fifth-seeded Cougars to a 7-6 victory over the fourth-seeded Lions in the first round of the American Legion state tournament at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium.

The victory lifted Coronado into the winners’ bracket, where it will play Bishop Gorman at 8 p.m. Monday. Sierra Vista will face Durango at 5 p.m. Monday.

“We know our team can hit,” said Padilla, whose squad was 0-2 against the Lions in the regular season. “We’ve hit all summer. When we have pitching and a strong defense, we’re going to get some wins.”

With Coronado nursing a 7-6 lead, Sierra Vista had a scoring opportunity against Hall in the eighth, putting runners on second and third with none out on back-to-back hits by Connor Klein and Julian Cutolo. Hall, who got a save, worked out of trouble with two strikeouts and a groundout.

Hall was returning from a knee injury that kept him out of 12 straight games.

“That was awesome. He just battled for us today,” Padilla said.

Starter Kenny Oakley scattered eight hits in six innings to raise his record to 8-1. Padilla said it was among Oakley’s biggest victories of the season.

“Winning that first game is good, because now we don’t have to play until 8 on Monday,” he said. “We won’t have to battle the heat as much. And it gets the kids off to the right start.”

The win seemed in doubt early. The Lions took control in the second inning, capitalizing on Klein’s leadoff triple and RBI singles by Alex Estrella and Matt Holman to go ahead 3-0.

The Cougars trimmed the deficit with a run in the third and jumped ahead 5-3 in a fourth inning capped by Jordan Scott’s three-run homer.

“I felt we needed more at that point,” Padilla said. “When you’re playing with aluminum bats, you always need more.”

He was right, as Sierra Vista battled back to take a 6-5 lead in the fifth on RBI hits by Blair Goldsack, Klein and Cutolo.

Coronado’s Cody Giordano led off the seventh inning with a tying homer.

“I was just trying to get a base hit,” said Giordano, who went 3-for-5. “But I got a little extra on it and tied the score.”

Steven Pollex drew a walk moments later and scored the go-ahead run on a two-out error by Lions shortstop Billy Santiwan.

In Sunday's games, Reno will play Green Valley at 5 p.m. and Las Vegas will face Rancho at 8.

Bishop Gorman 9, Durango 6 — Johnny Sewald went 3-for-4 with a double and Joey Gallo was 2-for-4 with a home run to lead the Titans past Durango.

Durango grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first, but Gorman chipped away at the deficit, finally taking over with a three-run fourth inning that made it 5-2.

T.J. White earned the victory for the Titans, striking out eight while allowing six hits over seven innings. Gallo earned the save.