The second-seeded Aces beat top-seeded Southern Nevada Blue Sox 5-3 to win state championship

In the American Legion baseball state final last season, the Las Vegas Aces blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning and wound up losing to the Las Vegas Knights in the 11th.

The sting from that defeat didn’t go away until Saturday night.

The second-seeded Aces scored three runs in the top of the eighth and held on to beat the top-seeded Southern Nevada Blue Sox 5-3 to win the state championship at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium.

The Aces (35-11), comprised of players from Desert Oasis and Sierra Vista, advanced to the Western Regional Tournament in Boulder, Colorado, and will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“These guys deserve it. They’ve been around here for four years, and (with) the heartbreak we had last year in the state championship game, these guys were hungry this summer. We’ve been talking about it all year,” Aces coach Paul Buboltz said. “We kept saying just get us back, give us a chance at the end again and see what happens.”

The Aces made the most of their chance with timely hitting and superior pitching.

Trailing 3-2, Bryson Stott and Brett Brocoff (on a check swing) singled to start the eighth, and Cole Schaefer drove home Stott with a line single off the glove of Knights shortstop Ryne Nelson. After Dominic Paratore walked to load the bases, Aaron Roberts and Isaiah Ralano hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to make it 5-3.

Right-hander Brocoff (6-2), named the tournament’s outstanding pitcher, stifled the Blue Sox (49-12) down the stretch. He retired the last 10 batters he faced, striking out three of the last four.

“He just went out there and was dialed in,” Buboltz said. “He was amped up. After that eighth inning, he said, ‘I want the ball to finish it’ and he went out there and did it.”

The Blue Sox came in hitting .377 (37-for-98) in the tournament, but couldn’t tame Brocoff’s curveball, which was hitting the corners. The Blue Sox hit .290 (9-for-31) in the final.

“They hit a lot of balls hard, too, and we just had guys in the right spot,” Brocoff said. “Those nine-inning games are just about keeping your stamina. I actually thought I was throwing my highest percentage the last two (innings).”

Stott, an incoming UNLV freshman, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. On Saturday he was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and an RBI, and finished the tournament 9-for-13 (.692) with five RBIs, seven runs, three doubles, a triple and home run.

Stott completed a trifecta of awards, having already won Sunset Region Player of the Year and American Legion Gold Division Player of the Year.

“Winning Sunset Region player of the year, I was pretty happy, but we didn’t make state so I was pretty bummed about that,” Stott said. “Coming out here, we had the college kids come back and all we’ve talked about is winning state. And doing it here on my field for next year is pretty special.”

Ryne Nelson led the Blue Sox, going 3-for-4. Reliever Trent Bixby (7-2) took the loss.

ADD CHAMPS — Basic’s Silver Division entry won its championship with a 7-1 win over the Aces. In the Bronze Division, Sierra Vista Blue topped the Las Vegas Knights 12-11.

POSTSEASON AWARDS — Buboltz was named Gold Division Coach of the Year, while Sierra Vista Lions coach Brian Kaplan won the Silver Division honor. Jhared Gonzalez of the Lions was Silver Division Player of the Year. Chaparral’s Nick O’Connor was honored with the Bill Boyd Award, which recognizes citizenship, sportsmanship and character.