BASEBALL: Mustangs ‘Hold’ onto Northwest’s No. 1 seed

With the win, the Mustangs earned the No. 1 seed from the Northwest League and will host Southwest No. 4 Bonanza in the opening round of the Sunset Region playoffs at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

Shadow Ridge and Arbor View both finished 8-2 in the league, but the Mustangs swept the season series to win the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Brad Steiner went the distance for Palo Verde, allowing seven hits and striking out three. He also issued five walks, the last of which allowed Jordan Hand to score the game’s lone run.

Bradley Lewis was 3-for-3 with a triple for the Panthers.

Hold was 1-for-3 with a double, and Hand also doubled. Cory Royer finished 2-for-4 for Shadow Ridge.

Arbor View 3, Spring Valley 1 — At Arbor View, P.J. Gonzalez doubled in Nate Stepna with the go-ahead run in the fifth inning, and four Aggies pitchers combined on a five-hitter in a win over the Grizzlies.

The Aggies secured the No. 2 seed in the Northwest and will host Desert Oasis, the No. 3 seed from the Southwest League, when the Sunset Region playoffs begin Monday.

Stepna went 2-for-3 with a stolen base. Tyler Peterson added a sacrifice fly in the fifth that scored Evan McMahan to give Arbor View a two-run lead.

Michael Macove had a double for Spring Valley.

Sierra Vista 3, Durango 1 — At Sierra Vista, Tyler Charlton allowed one run in six innings to lead the Mountain Lions over the Trailblazers.

Charlton allowed six hits and struck out six.

Sierra Vista managed just four hits, but three were doubles. Nolan Kingham’s two-run double in the third gave the Mountain Lions the lead for good.

They also got consecutive doubles from Dylon White and Chandler Smith in the fourth to bring home an insurance run.

Sierra Vista secured the Northwest League’s No. 3 seed and will play at Bishop Gorman on Monday in the opening round of the Sunset playoffs.

Green Valley 9, Las Vegas 0 — At Las Vegas, Christian Hall was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs to lead the Gators over the Wildcats to complete an undefeated run through the Northeast League.

Michael Hillcoat was 2-for-4 with a double and three runs for Green Valley.

Troy Cropper, Josh Weiner and Blake Inouye combined on a three-hitter.

Green Valley will host Southeast No. 4 seed Basic in the opening round of the Sunrise Region playoffs on Monday.

Las Vegas will host Southeast No. 3 Foothill.

Rancho 6, Valley 3 — At Rancho, Jose Verdugo went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer to lift the Rams over the Vikings.

Josh Mill, Alex Jordan and Max Cruz each had a single and a double for Rancho.

The Rams will be the Northeast’s No. 4 seed and will play at Coronado on Monday in the Sunrise Region playoffs.

Rayce Rayos was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI to lead Valley.

Cheyenne 6, Western 5 — At Cheyenne, Korey Poole drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to bring home Izac Reza and give the Desert Shields the win over the Warriors.

In the bottom of the sixth, Orestes Marquetti singled home Joe Rose with one out to tie the game at 5-5.

Rose finished 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, and Brian Corder was 3-for-4 with two runs for Cheyenne, which earned the Sunset League’s No. 4 seed, and will play at Boulder City in the Division I-A Southern Region playoffs.

Javier Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a double and a run for Western, which will host Chaparral in the first round of the Division I-A Southern Region playoffs.

Tech 7, Sunrise Mountain 1 — At Sunrise Mountain, Abel Martinez threw a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts, one walk and no earned runs to lead the Roadrunners over the Miners.

Martinez added two hits, a run, and an RBI at the plate.

Elias Peinado had a single, a triple and three RBIs, and Josh West added a single, a double, a run, and an RBI for Tech, which will enter the Division I-A Southern Region playoffs as the Sunrise League’s No. 4 seed.

Faith Lutheran 10, Clark 0 — At Faith Lutheran, Erich Uelmen and Brandon Johnson combined on a five-inning no-hitter to shut out the Chargers.

Andrew Hudgins supplied two RBI doubles, and Tyler Trageton provided three hits, two RBIs and two runs for Faith Lutheran.

Uelmen had nine strikeouts and no walks over four innings for Faith Lutheran, which finished undefeated in the Sunset League and hosts Tech in the Southern Region playoffs.

Silverado 14, Canyon Springs 0 — At Canyon Springs, Vincent Taormina was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and four RBIs to help the Skyhawks to the five-inning win.

Nick Kawano, Hunter Welch and Joe Ahlin combined on a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts for the Skyhawks, who finished third in the Northeast League and play at Liberty on Monday in the opening round of the Sunrise Region playoffs.