Van Meetren’s five-homer game merely ‘a good day’

Bishop Gorman baseball coach Chris Sheff called it “mind-boggling.” Ed Van Meetren was a proud father “just along for the ride.”

And soft-spoken Gorman sophomore Erik Van Meetren, a day after tying a national high school record with five home runs in a 27-0 win at Clark, simply labeled his performance “a good day.”

“Going into the day, it was just another baseball game,” Van Meetren said Friday. “I just played ball. I can’t really focus on it. A state championship, that’s our main goal.”

Van Meetren, a 6-foot-5-inch catcher who started in left field Thursday, was 5-for-5 with seven RBIs in the five-inning victory.

He added his name to a list of six players entering the season to hit five home runs in a game and is the first to do so since 2000, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Van Meetren became the first player on record in state history to hit five home runs in a game, Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association assistant director Donnie Nelson said.

Douglas’ Ryan Laing (2006) and North Tahoe’s Kelly Smith (1986) had shared the state record with four, Nelson said.

Van Meetren blasted two solo homers in the first inning, another in the second and two-run shots in the fourth and fifth. Two went to left field, two to center and another to left-center. All of the pitches were fastballs, Van Meetren said.

The Gaels (30-3) homered 10 times as a team, including two each by Jeff Malm and Johnny Field.

Sheff said Van Meetren would have been substituted for if he didn’t have a chance to make history.

“If he goes 2-for-2 and then flies out, he’s probably coming out of the game like all our other starters did,” Sheff said. “But if you’re having a day like that, it’s comparable to pitching a perfect game or no-hitter. You’ve got to let him see what he’s capable of.”

Van Meetren is batting .490 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs. He already is drawing recruiting interest from Arizona, Arizona State, California, Cal State Fullerton and Gonzaga.

Bishop Gorman, the three-time defending Class 4A state champion, has won 29 straight games and is ranked eighth nationally by Baseball America.

While the record heaps more national recognition on a team with five Division I signees who won last year’s American Legion World Series, another state title is really what the Gaels are after.

“I hope this isn’t the exclamation point,” Sheff said. “The exclamation point is if we’re to win another state title.”