BLAZER BASH: Eagles, Wildcats find many ways to score in wind-aided slugfest

They scored on home runs, line drives, bloopers, balks and wild pitches.

Mostly, Boulder City and Las Vegas just scored Tuesday in the Blazer Sportco Spring Bash.

In the end, the Wildcats rallied from a 16-3 deficit to edge visiting Boulder City 20-19 in a game called after five innings due to the tournament’s time limit.

“Roger Fairless was right when he said a long time ago that wind is the great equalizer,” Las Vegas coach Sam Thomas said, quoting the former Valley and Green Valley head coach. “You get down by eight and you can be up by three in a matter of innings.”

There was no shortage of offense with a strong wind blowing all game.

Boulder City plated eight runs in each of the first two innings, and looked in control early.

But Las Vegas rallied with seven runs in the second, highlighted by a towering grand slam by Robert Melendrez. The Wildcats then drove in 10 runs in the third to take a 20-17 lead.

Xavier Palmer’s two-run single broke a 17-17 tie, and he later scored on an error.

“You’ve got a pitcher throwing into the wind, so nobody’s going to blow it by anybody,” Thomas said. “Both teams did a good job of being patient and putting the ball in play, because anything can happen.”

Melendrez went 3-for-4 with a triple and six RBIs to lead Las Vegas. Justin Cheney and Dillon Dove each added three hits and three RBIs for the Wildcats.

Ross LaMarca was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Boulder City. Nate Hafen added three hits and three runs for the Eagles, who had 10 players with a hit, including eight with two or more.

Verduga Hills (Calif.) 21, Boulder City 14 — At Las Vegas, the Dons scored nine runs in the top of the sixth to blow past the Eagles in a game called after six due to the time limit.

Boulder City’s LaMarca hit for the cycle and drove in six runs. Steven Kaposta added a home run for the Eagles.

Sierra Vista 16, Coquitlam (Canada) 5 — At Sierra Vista, Marquis Towers had a grand slam to help the Mountain Lions beat the Reds in five innings.

Towers finished with six RBIs. Nick Kingham added a triple, a home run and four RBIs for Sierra Vista.

Spring Valley 16, Basic 6 — At Spring Valley, R.J. Randal went 3-for-3 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead the Grizzlies past the Wolves in five innings.

Cameron Cole was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs for Spring Valley, which led 13-0 after two innings.

Josh Schuster (one RBI) and Jacob Schwartz each added two hits, and teammate Aaron Blair drove in two runs for Spring Valley.

Basic’s Cody Clark and Dean Gettman had two hits each.

Spring Valley 10, Garfield (Calif.) 7 — At Spring Valley, the Grizzlies scored five runs in the sixth inning to pull away from the Bulldogs.

Aaron Blair struck out 13 in a complete-game win, allowing three earned runs on five hits and one walk.

Cole went 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs to lead Spring Valley. Schwartz was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Johnny Hernandez drove in two runs.

Foothill 7, Faith Lutheran 3 — At Foothill, Jordan Stewart had a three-run homer and Jake Ferdinand laced a three-run triple to power the Falcons past the Crusaders.

Foothill 11, Grant (Calif.) 4 — At Foothill, Hugo Enriguez went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and five RBIs to help the Falcons roll past the Lancers.

Foothill scored eight runs in the second inning.

Palo Verde 22, Cleveland (Calif.) 6 — At Palo Verde, Billy Bob Ward was 2-for-3 with two home runs and six RBIs as the Panthers routed the Cavaliers in five innings.

Dillon Meyer went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two runs, and Christian Centrella supplied two doubles and three RBIs for Palo Verde.

Palo Verde 16, Pahrump Valley 0 — At Palo Verde, Andy Dalaimo went 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and three RBIs to help the Panthers bruise past the Trojans.

Cody Schuster was 3-for-3 three with a triple and four RBIs for Palo Verde.

Liberty 8, Coquitlam (Canada) 7 — At Sierra Vista, Danny Topps was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs as the Patriots held off the Reds.

Kainan Pickle added two hits, including a double, for Liberty, which led 8-2 entering the seventh inning.

Liberty 10, Narbonne (Calif.) 6 — At Sierra Vista, Dylan Rogers was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to lead the Patriots past the Gauchos.

Topps added two hits, and Justin Gerber drove in two runs for Liberty, which scored seven runs in the bottom of the second.

Cimarron-Memorial 9, Campbell Hall (Calif.) 7 — At Cimarron, James Carraway was 2-for-4 with a home run and six RBIs to give the Spartans a win over the Vikings.

Carraway’s grand slam highlighted a seven-run fifth inning for Cimarron. Kevin Dorantes added a home run and two RBIs for the Spartans.

Sylmar (Calif.) 6, Coronado 5 — At Coronado, Frankie Figueroa laced a bases-loaded triple in the top of the seventh to power the Spartans past the Cougars.

Zane Korth tripled twice for Coronado.

Coronado 15, Narbonne (Calif.) 14 — At Sierra Vista, Korth smacked a bases-loaded triple to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh and scored on a wild pitch to give the Cougars the win over the Gauchos.

Korth finished 3-for-5 with six RBIs, and teammate Taylor Giordano was 4-for-4 with a home run, triple and three RBIs.

Ricky Perez was 4-for-5 with a triple, two runs and four RBIs for the Gauchos.

Bonanza 12, San Fernando (Calif.) 11 — At Durango, Kevin DeSoto’s RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth inning scored Jordan Brennan to give the Bengals the win.

DeSoto went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for Bonanza. Teammates Eddie Orozco (four RBIs), Ted Merich (one RBI) and

Mario Franzese (one RBI) each had two hits for the Bengals.

Bonanza 6, Flowing Wells (Ariz.) 4 — At Durango, Dominic Jeppi struck out 14 in six innings to help the Bengals past the Caballeros.

Orozco and Sean Emry each had two hits for Bonanza.

Chaparral 9, Faith Lutheran 6 — At Foothill, Garrett Munoz’s three-run home run highlighted a five-run fifth inning the Cowboys used to rally past the Crusaders.

Raul Jimenez, Jordan January and Corey Verret had two hits and two RBIs apiece for Chaparral.

Michael Kinkenon went 2-for-4 with two doubles for Faith Lutheran.

Legacy 18, Roosevelt (Calif.) 8 — At Centennial, Pierce Skinner went 3-for-3 with a triple, double, three RBIs and five runs to lead the Longhorns to the six-inning win.

Joey Lauria, Andres Ortiz and Donald Glover homered for Legacy.

Legacy 11, Montclair Prep (Calif.) 5 — At Centennial, Skinner was 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and three runs as the Longhorns beat the Mounties.

Banning (Calif.) 12, Centennial 10 — At Centennial, the Pilots scored six runs in the final two innings to defeat the Bulldogs in a game shortened to six innings due to the tournament time limit.

Blane Bevilacqua was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs for Centennial. Bryan Faucher went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs for the Bulldogs, who led 9-6 after four innings.

Montclair Prep (Calif.) 26, Desert Pines 7 — At Centennial, Max Miller homered and stroked four doubles to help the Mounties drub the Jaguars in five innings.

Montclair Prep scored 11 runs in the second inning.

Jonathan Rodarte belted a homer for Desert Pines.

Campbell Hall (Calif.) 17, Western 0 — At Cimarron, Brett Lake threw a four-hitter as the Vikings downed the Warriors in five innings.

Birmingham (Calif.) 13, Western 4 — At Cimarron, female pitcher Martina Sementelli pitched a complete game to earn the win as the Patriots cruised past the Warriors.

Manny Granillo doubled twice for Birmingham.