BLAZER BASH: Spring Valley baseball team continues surge with sweep

After struggling to a 16-33 record in American Legion play last summer, Spring Valley’s baseball team didn’t have much better news to start this season.

The Grizzlies returned only five letterwinners from a team that advanced to the Class 4A Sunset Region title game and had just 15 players on their roster.

But Spring Valley (12-4) has bounced back, winning seven of its past eight games. The Grizzlies swept a home doubleheader Tuesday, 8-7 over Temple City (Calif.) and 12-1 over San Fernando (Calif.).

The wins gave Spring Valley a 3-0 record in pool play at Durango’s Blazer Spring Bash, making the Grizzlies one of 12 teams in the 37-team field to reach Wednesday’s semifinal round. The tournament will crown three champions.

“The more wins we get, the more confidence we get,” Spring Valley coach Paul Bassett said. “We’re trying to concentrate on the small things, work on fundamentals and take it one pitch at a time.”

Spring Valley senior second baseman Garrett Blair said the biggest improvement the Grizzlies have made since the summer is in morale.

“This summer, we had the problem of getting on each other when someone made a mistake,” he said. “Now, we just build each other up. We’re a real strong, meshed-together team.”

Blair was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs against San Fernando, helping the Grizzlies defeat the Tigers by the run rule in five innings.

Spring Valley scored eight runs and sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth inning.

“We stayed within ourselves,” Blair said. “We didn’t try to knock the ball out of the park or anything.”

Billy Bob Ward and Aaron Blair had two hits and two RBIs apiece against San Fernando.

Ryan Hendershot pitched a four-hitter with three strikeouts to get the win.

Against Temple City, Chase LaComb scored on a wild pitch with no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Grizzlies to the win.

Enzo Bello was 2-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs to lead Spring Valley. Jackson Morrow (two doubles), Cameron Cole and Joshua Schuster had two hits apiece.

“We’re getting confident but not cocky,” Bassett said. “We know we have to show up every day and give 100 percent effort.

“Our kids went through a rough summer. We weren’t real competitive at times, but we just stuck with the game.”

Legacy 2, Huntington Beach (Calif.) 1 — At Bonanza, Zack Monticelli singled home Donald Glover with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Longhorns their 13th straight win.

Glover started the rally with a single, his third hit. He finished 3-for-4 with a double and a triple.

Andres Ortiz threw two scoreless innings of relief to get his second win of the tournament. Legacy starter Austin Christiansen went seven inning, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out eight and walked one.

Coronado 8, Centennial (Calif.) 7 — At Durango, Taylor Giordano singled to score pinch runner Austin McKenna with no outs in the bottom of the 11th to give the Cougars the win.

Steven Pollex started the rally with a single. He finished 3-for-4 with three runs. R.J. Cash was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs.

Giordano pitched five scoreless innings of relief to get the win. He allowed one hit and struck out two.

Palos Verdes Peninsula (Calif.) 16, Coronado 4 — At Durango, Peninsula had 17 hits, including seven for extra bases, in the five-inning win.

Centennial 9, Flowing Wells (Ariz.) 5 — At Centennial, Dominick Monteiro was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and two RBIs to lead the Bulldogs.

Blane Bevilacqua was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI, and Justin Gault was 2-for-4 with a solo homer for Centennial.

Banning (Calif.) 12, Boulder City 3 — At Las Vegas, the Eagles were held scoreless after the first inning.

Ross LaMarca was 2-for-3 and Adam Eudy homered for Boulder City.

Boulder City 9, Las Vegas 6 — At Las Vegas, the Eagles outhit the Wildcats 17-7 on the way to the win.

Boulder City never trailed after scoring five runs in the first inning.

Jack LaMarca led the Eagles, going 4-for-5 with a double and triple. Ross LaMarca (two RBIs) and Shane Levin had three hits apiece, and Ryan Bowen went 2-for-4 with four RBIs.

Dillon Dove and Stephen Morin had two hits each for Las Vegas.

Arbor View 9, Temple City (Calif.) 2 — At Spring Valley, Marquis Towers was 3-for-3 to lead the Aggies past the Rams.

Josh Arnold struck out eight in a complete-game win, allowing one earned run on seven hits and three walks.

Palo Verde 9, Birmingham (Calif.) 6 — At Palo Verde, Brandon Laubhan went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs to help the Panthers build an 8-0 lead and hold off Birmingham.

Dan Jaffe was 1-for-2 with a double and three RBIs for Palo Verde.

Palo Verde 15, Pahrump Valley 5 — At Palo Verde, Dustin Morelli went 5-for-5 with a double, two runs and three RBIs as Palo Verde overcame a 4-3 deficit with an eight-run third inning.

Andy Delaimo went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs for Palo Verde.

Sierra Vista 9, Mount Carmel (Calif.) 5 — At Sierra Vista, Jake Hager was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, three runs and three RBIs to lead the Mountain Lions past Mount Carmel.

Hager’s two-run double sparked a five-run sixth inning as the Mountain Lions battled back from deficits of 3-0 and 5-4.

Northridge (Colo.) 12, Durango 9 — At Durango, Northridge scored three runs in the top of the eighth to down the Trailblazers.

Durango had scored five in the bottom of the seventh to force the extra inning.

Zach Hollenback was 4-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBIs for Durango. Ashton Ferguson went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Trailblazers.

Huntington Beach (Calif.) 11, Bonanza 8 — At Bonanza, the Bengals the Bengals fell behind 6-1 and couldn’t complete the comeback.

Bonanza’s Sterling Sprau was 2-for-3, and Kris Bryant belted a two-run homer in the third.

Bonanza 14, Carson (Calif.) 9 — At Bonanza, Sprau, Heriberto Orozco and Teddy Merich each had two hits and three RBIs to lead the Bengals past the Colts.

Bryant was 2-for-2 with a triple for Bonanza, which led 14-5 entering the sixth inning.

Madera South (Calif.) 16, Desert Oasis 6 — At Desert Oasis, Madera scored eight runs in the top of the seventh to pull away.

The visitors finished with 22 hits.

Desert Oasis 9, Buckley (Calif.) 2 — At Desert Oasis, Tom Haley went the distance, scattering eight hits and striking out 11, for the Diamondbacks.

Brennen Stott was 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs for Desert Oasis.