BLAZER BASH: Bulldogs turn up offense to beat California squad in title game

Centennial baseball coach Charles Cerrone took a gamble and saved ace left-hander Zachary Dixon in anticipation of a pitcher’s duel in the championship game of the Blazer Spring Bash.

Instead, the wind started blowing out and it was the host Bulldogs’ offense that took center stage.

Kyle Horton and Jake Portaro homered, and Centennial outslugged Chatsworth (Calif.) on the way to an 11-5 victory Wednesday that capped a 5-0 run in the tournament.

“They’re a top-quality program, so this is a good win for us,” Cerrone said. “The thing that stands out most to me is we gave up the lead, but we came back from that. We had a couple of seniors who stepped up.”

Portaro finished 2-for-3 and drove in four runs for Centennial (13-5), which took advantage of six walks and a hit batter by four Chancellors’ pitchers.

After Chatsworth rallied from a 4-0 hole to tie the score 5-5 on Niko Switalla’s two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning, the Bulldogs regained the lead for good in the fifth. Gino Sabey and Dixon drew one-out walks, and Portaro followed with a two-run triple to deep center field that gave Centennial a 7-5 lead. Travis Stevens then singled home Portaro to make the score 8-5.

In the sixth, Dixon’s sacrifice fly to left put Centennial up 9-5, and Portaro golfed a two-run homer to left to cap the scoring.

Dixon went 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Stevens finished 2-for-3 and drove in two runs.

“We started strong offensively, and then we hit a lull in the middle innings,” Cerrone said. “We made adjustments and got some runs. It was a combination of small ball with a couple of big hits.”

Dixon, who has signed with Arizona State, battled through five innings, allowing five runs and six hits before giving way to closer Jordon Wyke. The Chancellors loaded the bases with one out in the sixth trailing 8-5, but Wyke struck out Daniel Zakosek and got No. 3 hitter Anthony Renteria to pop out to shallow left to end the threat.

The hard-throwing Wyke, who closed the door on Centennial’s 10-7 semifinal win over McQueen, struck out two in the seventh inning to capture his second save of the day.

After Stevens’ RBI single in the first inning, Horton lifted a three-run homer to left that got a little help from the breeze and gave the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Jared Drizen added an RBI single in the second for Centennial.

“This week was a good step forward for us,” Cerrone said. “We’re still trying to fire on all cylinders, and we’re not there yet, but this was helpful.”

Centennial 10, McQueen 7 — At Centennial, Jake Portaro’s two-run single highlighted a three-run bottom of the sixth inning that lifted the Bulldogs by the Lancers in a semifinal.

Portaro was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, and Hayden Grant went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs for Centennial. Kyle Horton was 2-for-3 with a run for the Bulldogs.

Chatsworth (Calif.) 4, Arbor View 3 — At Centennial, Andrew Renteria drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to force in Hunter Konecny-Pena with the winning run as the Chancellors nipped the Aggies in a semifinal.

Arbor View trailed 3-0 before Nick Quintana belted a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning. The Aggies, who had just three hits in the game, got a one-out RBI single from Joe Fitzhugh to tie the game, but lined into a double play to end the inning.

Nick Henry and Konecny-Pena walked to start the bottom of the seventh, and teammate Randy Matta reached when his bunt was misplayed, loading the bases.

But the Aggies snared a looping fly ball and doubled Henry off of third to keep the game alive.

Niko Switalla then walked to reload the bases before Renteria’s walk ended the game.

Shadow Ridge 17, Independence (Calif.) 1 — At Cimarron-Memorial, Jake Wilson went 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs as the Mustangs routed the Falcons in five innings.

Robbie Galvan went 2-for-2 with a triple and three RBIs, and Koby Millner was 2-for-3 with a double for Shadow Ridge, which scored 10 runs in the third inning.

Nick Parr and Andrew Snyder combined on a three-hitter for the Mustangs.

Las Vegas 3, Kearns (Utah) 2 — At Las Vegas, Jaime Solis and Eddie Ojeda combined on a four-hitter to help the Wildcats edge the Cougars.

Antonio Gaxiola had two hits for Las Vegas, which led 3-0 after four innings and held on for the win.

Carson (Calif.) 2, Sierra Vista 1 — At Sierra Vista, Mike Kunipo-Aguirre’s two-out single in the top of the eighth inning plated Johnathan Avila with the eventual winning run as the Colts nipped the Mountain Lions.

Dylan White had two hits, including an RBI single in the third inning, for Sierra Vista.

Cottonwood (Utah) 11, Faith Lutheran 1 — At Arbor View, Tevita Gerber tossed a five-inning three-hitter to lead the Colts by the Crusaders.

Cam Daley had two hits and two RBIs for Cottonwood, which scored seven runs in the third inning.

Durango 7, Seaside (Calif.) 0 — At Durango, the Trailblazers won by forfeit.