Bishop Gorman strikes early, often in baseball win over Coronado

Bishop Gorman baseball coach Gino DiMaria said his team relaxed after taking an 8-0 lead over Cimarron-Memorial in its opener.

The Gaels took an 8-4 win in that game, but he wanted to see his team play a complete game. They did that Wednesday.

Tyler Whitaker was 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs, and Justin Crawford, Gavin Mez and Preston Riske had three hits apiece in Gorman’s 12-2 home win over Coronado in five innings.

“Coronado’s a sneaky team,” DiMaria said. “Us and a lot of coaches have been talking about how they can beat anybody on any given day. They’ve got some talent over there, but we came out focused and stayed that way until the end.”

The Gaels (2-0) hammered 18 hits and scored in every inning. They had five in the second and three in the third to put the game away.

Gorman built its lead by scoring five of its first six runs with two outs. Coronado had a chance to get back in the game in the third inning, but the Gaels took it away on one play.

Trailing 6-0, the Cougars (1-2) loaded the bases with one out. Caden Dunning then hit a line drive down the third-base line that appeared to be headed for the corner and could have cleared the bases, but Gorman third baseman Gunnar Myro made a lunging catch and tagged the bag to compete an inning-ending double play.

Gorman’s Kamdyn Perry started and pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs in the fourth. The first was a solo home run from Burke-Lee Mabeus, and Perry left with the bases loaded.

Raffael Chiarella relieved and hit Gerald Alesia with a pitch to drive home a run charged to Perry. Chiarella struck Kyle Kierman out looking to end the threat, then got the Cougars in order in the fifth with two strikeouts for the win.

“Kamdyn was on a short leash because this is his first time back,” DiMaria said. “He hasn’t pitched in a while. He’s not quite in pitching shape right now, but he did a good job for where he’s at right now. The thing I like is our pitchers might get into a jam, but they work themselves out of it.”

Needing one run to end the game in the fifth, Gorman got it by loading the bases before Anthony Marnell drove the ball to the base of the wall for a single.

Austin Cates was 2-for-2 with a double to lead a Coronado lineup that had five hits.

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.