Offense key as Gorman stays alive in regional tourney

Bishop Gorman’s American Legion baseball team used another strong offensive performance on Sunday to stay alive in the Western Regional tournament in Fairfield, Calif.

The Titans had 14 hits on the way to a 13-9 win over Fort Collins (Colo.) on Sunday to advance to the tournament’s final day.

Gorman would have to win twice Monday to claim the regional title and advance to the American Legion World Series, which begins Friday in Shelby, N.C.

Gorman plays the League City (Texas) at 4 p.m. Monday, with the winner of that game taking on Fairfield (Calif.) at 7:30 for the championship.

Gorman defeated League city 23-20 on Friday.

“Hopefully we can get by them again and then take our chances with a one-game final,” Gorman coach Nick Day said.

The Titans used a four-run third inning on Sunday to take control. Kenny Meimerstorf broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI double, and Gorman added runs on an RBI single by Michael Blasko, a sacrifice fly by Johnny Sewald and a wild pitch to take an 8-4 lead.

“That was huge,” Day said. “We were up 4-0 and then we gave up four runs, but we came back in the next half inning and got the four back. That was kind of a heart breaker for them.”

Blasko was one of four Gorman players with two or more hits. Tyler Baker was 3-for-3 with three runs, and A.J. Van Meetren, Meimerstorf and Blasko each had two hits and two RBIs.

Cody Roper hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth, and T.J. White and Erik Van Meetren each added two RBIs for Gorman.

Gorman also got a solid relief performance from Cameron Cole, who threw three scoreless innings earn a save.

It was the third time in four regional tournament games that Gorman scored 10 or more runs. The Titans have scored 51 runs in the tournament, and are hitting .420 as a team. The only game Gorman didn’t score at least 10 runs was in an 8-5 loss to Fairfield on Saturday.

“Offensively we’re playing pretty good baseball,” Day said. “We’re getting double-digit hits every game, we’re just giving up more runs than we usually do. So far offense has been able to carry us.”