Blazer Bash: Trace Evans guts Basic to tourney title

Basic baseball coach Scott Baker knew he had enough pitchers heading into the Blazer Bash at Durango.

The Wolves staff would be tested, having to play six games in three days.

But in Wednesday’s tournament final against Cimarron-Memorial, Baker got a gusty performance from Trace Evans.

Evans, battling a stomach flu, scattered five hits over five innings as Basic downed Cimarron, 7-4.

“We have plenty of arms on this team,” Baker said. “We were ready for situations like this tournament. But Trace didn’t want to come out of the game. It was a tough effort by him.”

Evans struck out four and walked one in his five innings of work, throwing 78 pitches.

“I was hurting out there,” said Evans, who slowly walked to the mound during each frame to conserve energy. “I just wanted to help my team win, it’s that simple.”

The Wolves gave Evans breathing room, breaking open a 3-2 game with a four-run sixth.

John Howard Bobo’s run-scoring single and a two-run double from Kyle Turner highlighted the Basic damage and chased Cimarron starter Chance Underwood.

Evans allowed back-to-back hits to open the Spartan half of the sixth, and Baker went to his bullpen. Turner pitched the final two innings in relief.

“We have a group of guys that keep grinding,” Evans said. “That’s how we do things, grind it out one inning at a time.”

Garrett Giles led the Basic offense with three of the Wolves’ 11 hits and drove in two runs. Bobo added a pair of RBIs for Basic, and Turner scored twice.

Eighth-place hitter Andrew Johnson drove in three of the four Spartan runs. Seth Hoffman scored two runs for Cimarron. Johnson and Cameron Stafford each had two hits for Cimarron.

Cimarron-Memorial 11, Chatsworth (Calif.) 3 — At Durango, Hoffman went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs as the Spartans beat the Chancellors to move into the Steven Janvrin championship game.

Trevor Doyle and Stafford each went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, and Andrew Johnson was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs for Cimarron.

Daniel Valdivia added two RBIs for Cimarron, which scored nine runs in the final two innings.

Basic 7, San Fernando (Calif.) 1 — At Durango, Giles and Turner each went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Wolves past the Tigers in the other semifinal.

Bobo was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI, and Nick Thompson went 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI for Basic.

Thompson went the distance to get the win. He allowed six hits, struck out two and walked one.

Tony Meza and Steven Villagran each went 2-for-3 for San Fernando.

Faith Lutheran 11, San Pedro (Calif.) 0 — At Sierra Vista, Josh Brown fired a no-htter to lead the Crusaders to the five-inning win over the Pirates.

Brown struck out 10 with no walks. He hit one batter.

Michael Rice was 3-for-3 with a double and four RBIs for Faith Lutheran. Lucas Dockery went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and three RBIs, and Sagan Gronauer was 1-for-2 with a double, two runs and two RBIs for the Cursaders.

Durango 18, South Eugene (Ore.) 9 — At Durango, Duke Pahukoa went 4-for-4 with a double, a homer, five RBIs and five runs to lead the Trailblazers past the Axemen.

Justin Lucas was 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, and Irvin Weems drove in four runs for the Trailblazers, who scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first.

Renae Lara was 2-for-4 with four runs, and Jason Salazar went 2-for-4 for Durango.

South Eugene (Ore.) 10, Durango 9 — At Durango, the Trailblazers plated six runs in the bottom of the seventh, but left the bases loaded and couldn’t complete the comeback.

Lucas was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and John Stenger went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Durnago. Pahukoa added two hits and an RBI for the Trailblazers.

Arbor View 10, South Gate (Calif.) 0 — At Shadow Ridge, Andrew Hackbart threw a one-hitter to lead the Aggies over the Rams in six innings.

Hackbart struck out two and walked one. Jesse Pierce went 2-for-2 with a triple and two runs, and John Edwards had two RBIs for Arbor View.

Centennial 13, Palm Springs (Calif.) 0 — At Centennial, Brian Wyce went 2-for-2 with a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs to lead the Bulldogs to the five-inning win.

Rene Almarez was 2-for-2 with a double, three RBIs and a run, and Garrett Holden went 2-for-2 with a triple, a run and an RBI for Centennial.

Nick Dobar threw a two-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks to get the win.

Las Vegas 15, Sylmar (Calif.) 0 — At Las Vegas High, Daniel Jimenez fired a one-hitter with eight strikeouts as the Wildcats beat the Spartans in four innings.

Oliver Haro-Reyes went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs to lead the Las Vegas offense.

Jimenez, Trevor Johnson, Ray Garcia and Osvaldo Bernabee each added two hits for the Wildcats.

Poly (Calif.) 10, Sierra Vista 0 — At Centennial, Miguel Leal went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and three RBIs to power the Parrots over the Montain Lions in one Centennial bracket semifinal.

Keanu Kinney-Jorge was 2-for-3 for Sierra Vista, which managed just four hits in the six-inning game.

Banning (Calif.) 10, Moapa Valley 2 — At Shadow Ridge, Gabriel Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI as the Pilots beat the Pirates.

Coby Longman was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Moapa Valley, and teammate Gannon Hymas went 2-for-2.