STATE PLAY-IN: Gorman downs Las Vegas

Bishop Gorman’s baseball team was lucky to have a second chance at making it to the Class 4A state tournament.

And the Gaels (37-4), who lost 10-2 to Cimarron-Memorial in the Sunset Region title game on Friday, made the most of it on Saturday.

Jeff Malm was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and three RBIs and allowed one earned run in six innings to lead the three-time defending state champs to a 10-6 win over Las Vegas (27-12) at Green Valley to earn Southern Nevada’s final berth at state, which begins Thursday at the College of Southern Nevada.

Southern Nevada schools get three of the four berths at state when the tournament is in the Las Vegas area. When it’s in the north, only the Sunrise and Sunset champions advance.

“We were fortunate enough to have state down here this year, so we have another opportunity,” Malm said. “That was big for us. We came to the field today knowing we had another chance and made the most of our opportunity.”

Malm got the offense going with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. His RBI double in the third broke a 2-all tie, and Johnny Field’s two-run homer put the Gaels up for good.

On the mound, Malm allowed three hits and struck out six.

“He just took command of the game today, not only on the bump, but the big two-run homer in the first that kind of set the tone for how the game was going to go,” Gorman coach Chris Sheff said.

Las Vegas rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh, highlighted by a three-run homer by Bryce Harper, but the Wildcats couldn’t complete the rally. It was Harper’s eighth homer in seven postseason games.

Joey Rickard went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs, and Neil Lawhorn had two hits and an RBI for Gorman.