I-A BASEBALL: New number no problem for Boulder City’s Wagner

Boulder City shortstop Steve Wagner left one important piece of clothing at home for Friday’s playoff game against Spring Valley.

It was his only miscue of the afternoon.

Wagner, who left his jersey at home, went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and picked up the save Friday as the Eagles used a four-run fifth inning to down the Grizzlies, 6-3, in the losers’ bracket final of the Division I-A Southern Region at Sierra Vista.

Boulder City (24-10) will meet Faith Lutheran (27-6) at noon Saturday at Sierra Vista in the region championship, and would have to win twice to claim the title. Both teams have clinched state berths.

“(Coach) was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. You’re going to have a day today,’ ” Wagner said. “And so I went out there and had a day. Number 20 or No. 9, it doesn’t matter. I’m still going to go out there and play my best.”

Wagner, a junior, was forced to throw on a No. 20 jersey just before the game, but it had no effects on his play. His one-out, RBI single to left field with the bases loaded in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie and sparked a four-run, five-hit inning. He also closed out the seventh inning without giving up a hit.

“Big day, I’m really proud of him,” Boulder City coach Bobby Reese said. “He did what he needed to do on the mound today because he’s our guy. He threw a lot on Tuesday, so I said, ‘Look, you’re not going to have your juice so just go heavy on the fastball and see if we can make plays behind you. Don’t walk anybody.’ That’s what he did in the seventh. And he had a couple huge hits for us today.”

Peyton Koopman led off the bottom of the fifth with a one-out single to right-center field and reached second base after his ball was misplayed by second baseman Jake Sellinger and center fielder Carter Lambeth. Preston Van Diest, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, followed with a walk, and both runners advanced on an infield single by Zach Murphy to set up Wagner’s plate appearance.

“It was a tough play for them,” Reese said of Koopman’s leadoff blooper. “We got lucky it fell. It could’ve been caught. And fortunately, we just kept the bats going. … And then we got a huge hit by Seth Kermode, a two-out RBI single, which really was the difference. We got lucky that inning, a couple of bloop hits.”

Austin Shepard hit an RBI fielder’s choice to score Van Diest and make it 4-2. Kermode then plated Murphy and Wagner with a two-out single to give the Eagles a 6-2 lead.

“Our goal, all year long, was to win our (Sunrise) side and get to the state tournament and we did that,” Reese said. “That’s a tough team over there, and we were fortunate enough to beat them twice in this tournament. Both games could’ve gone either way.”

Spring Valley scored a run in the top of the sixth on an error to pull within 6-3, but got no closer.

Nick Rupp was 3-for-4 with a double and a run, and Jaxson Otis had an RBI for the Grizzlies (19-14).

Spring Valley 7, Sierra Vista 1 — Rupp struck out five in three scoreless innings of relief and went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs to lead the Grizzlies by the Mountain Lions in an elimination game.

Otis added two RBIs, and Bryce Bullock had a double for Spring Valley, which trailed 1-0 after three innings before scoring three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings.

Jack Sellinger threw four innings to earn the win for the Grizzlies, who scored an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI infield single by Rupp.

Matt Cox struck out five in four innings, and teammate Dylan White was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Sierra Vista (15-18).