Bengals quickly dig out of hole, beat Centennial

Starting slowly is nothing new for Bonanza’s baseball team. On Friday, the Bengals didn’t let a slow start derail them.

Bonanza fell behind 4-0 going to the bottom of the second, but used a pair of four-run innings to defeat visiting Centennial, 8-5.

“We’ve been fighting complacency and we’ve been talking for the last week or so about trying to start quick or just come out focused,” Bonanza coach Mike O’Rourke said. “We’ve been really complacent and just going through the motions. So it was good to see us answer and kind of respond in that second inning when we put up for. It was big. It was really big.”

The Bengals (17-9, 8-7 Division I Sunset League) committed three errors in the first two innings, and third-ranked Centennial took advantage, taking a 4-0 lead.

But a pair of good two-strike at-bats got Bonanza going in the bottom of the second.

Eric Schultz reached on an infield single to start the inning, and Chris Dunn fouled off three two-strike pitches before lining a double into the right-field corner.

“Dunn’s at-bat was fantastic,” O’Rourke said. “He’s been struggling a little bit, and to see him get in there and just foul off pitch after pitch and then square one up, that was great. That got us the momentum.”

Danny Ruiz singled to center to score the first run, and Levi Klump sliced a double into the left-field corner to score Dunn. Ruiz came home on a sacrifice fly by Lucas Rosenblatt, and Klump scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

After Centennial (21-9, 11-5) scored a run in the top of the fourth to retake the lead, the Bengals responded by scoring four runs after two outs in the bottom of the inning to take control. The rally started when No. 9 hitter Hilario Gomez-Soto was hit with a 1-2 pitch.

“Things you don’t want to do are leadoff walks and two-out walks or two-out hit batters,” O’Rourke said. “They always come back to score. They always find a way. You give up a two-out double, and he doesn’t score. But if you give up a two-out walk or hit batter, they always find a way to come back and score, it seems like.”

Courtesy runner Corey Oswald stole second and went to third when the throw sailed into center field. Torren Brozovich then beat out a grounder to short, allowing Oswald to score the tying run and keeping the inning alive. Brozovich stole second and scored when Micah Higa singled through the right side. Jay DeSoto then turned on a 2-1 breaking ball and drove it over the fence in left for the final margin.

Byron Naftzger went the distance, allowing two earned runs on eight hits, to get the win. He struck out five with two walks.

“Byron has been lights out, fantastic for us every time he’s toed the rubber this year,” O’Rourke said. “He’s been so consistent. He’s not going to wow people with his velocity, but his command has separated him.”

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters