SUNSET BASEBALL: Centennial jumps all over Desert Oasis, wins 11-2
The 14-inning marathon Centennial’s baseball team played on Tuesday still might affect the team’s postseason run.
But the Bulldogs didn’t look any worse for wear on Wednesday.
Zack Simon threw a complete game, and Tanner Wright drove in five runs as Centennial knocked off visiting Desert Oasis 11-2 in a winners’ bracket semifinal of the Sunset Region baseball tournament.
“Yesterday’s game, the marathon innings, our kids were wired and energetic in the dugout the whole time,” Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone said. “And today, they showed up again with energy. I was worried about that, but they came ready to play.”
The Bulldogs (23-8-1) did it against one of the area’s top pitchers in Brett Brocoff, who had a 6-0 record and 0.93 ERA. Centennial scored four earned runs on eight hits against Brocoff, who was pulled after the fourth inning with the Diamondbacks (24-10) trailing 5-0.
“He’s one of the best in town; you’ve got to get to him early and get his pitch count up,” Wright said. “I think we got to the reliever in the fourth or fifth inning, and that really helped.”
Wright’s RBI single in the second inning gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead, and they added a run in the third after Brocoff beaned Austin Kryszczuk with the bases loaded.
Brett Berger’s two-run double in the fourth gave some cushion to Simon, who threw 64 of 95 pitches for strikes.
“Zack was the right man for the job today,” Cerrone said. “He did a great job. We told him to stay down, and he did. He listened for once.”
Simon allowed 12 hits, walked two and didn’t strike out a batter, but he pitched out of trouble.
“I felt great today,” Simon said. “I just went out there knowing I could beat them and just hoped for the best.”
Wright added a two-run homer in the fifth and a two-run double in the sixth as Centennial extended its lead.
“My first home run ever, so it felt good,” Wright said. “I didn’t think I hit it out off the bat and almost missed first base.”
Centennial’s defense also helped Simon, turning a double play and gunning down three runners at the plate, including two from the outfield.
Jake Rogers was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and Kian Wilbur went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Centennial, which hosts Bishop Gorman (28-4) in the winners’ bracket final at 4 p.m. Thursday.
“Winning the first two is big,” Wright said. “It puts us in a great position.”
Gage Ventura was 3-for-3 with a double, and Chaison Miklich went 3-for-4 for Desert Oasis, which hosts Palo Verde (22-9-1) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Bishop Gorman 10, Spring Valley 1 — At Gorman, Braxton Wehrle was 3-for-4 with a triple, three runs and two RBIs as the Gaels rolled past the Grizzlies in the winners’ bracket semifinals.
Austin Wells was 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs, and Jorel Hingada went 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs and two RBIs for the Gaels, who scored six run sin the fourth inning to pull away.
John Gaughan doubled and drove in three runs for Gorman.
Dutch Landis allowed an unearned run on three hits in five innings to get the win. He struck out six with three walks.
Jaxson Otis was 1-for-3 with an RBI for Spring Valley (23-8), which hosts Cimarron-Memorial (18-14) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Cimarron-Memorial 9, Bonanza 4 — At Cimarron, Trevor Doyle went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs as the Spartans eliminated the Bengals.
Jackson Folkman was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and Lasith Narasinghe was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Cimarron.
Daniel Valdivia added two hits and a run, and Seth Hoffman had a two-run double for the Spartans, who scored four runs in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead.
Zach Culver added a solo home run for Cimarron.
Derek Decolati threw five solid innings to pick up the victory. He allowed one earned run on five hits with two strikeouts.
Luis Lares was 2-for-4 with two runs, and Jay DeSoto went 2-for-4 with a double and a run for Bonanza (16-15). Danny Ruiz added two hits, and Nick DeSoto drove in two runs for the Bengals.
Palo Verde 13, Arbor View 7 — At Palo Verde, Jaxon Hammond and Chandler Kochan delivered back-to-back homers to highlight a five-run third inning as the Panthers eliminated the Aggies.
Hammond and Dylan Orlando each went 2-for-3 with five RBIs for Palo Verde, which used the third-inning outburst to break a 4-4 tie.
J.D. Brooks was 3-for-3 with three runs, and Asher Bouldin went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs for Palo Verde. Orlando also doubled.
Arbor View’s Jesse Pierce was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run, and Joe Fitzhugh went 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI for the Aggies (13-15).