BLAZER BASH: Goldsack fires no-hitter, leads Sierra Vista to bracket title
Blair Goldsack has enjoyed a season to remember by emerging as a big-game pitcher for Sierra Vista’s baseball team.
On Wednesday, the senior right-hander notched another memorable achievement: a no-hitter in a championship game on his home field.
Goldsack no-hit Liberty in a five-inning game, and the Mountain Lions stayed unbeaten with a 12-0 victory in the Purple 3 bracket title game of the Blazer Spring Bash.
“(Goldsack) has been getting the ball when we need a win, and he’s pitched well with the opportunities he’s had,” Sierra Vista coach Nate Selby said. “He’s been good all year. He’s pitched in our biggest games, and he’s done it.”
All that prevented Goldsack from throwing a perfect game was when Liberty’s Danny Topps reached on an error in the fourth inning.
Goldsack consistently worked ahead in the count, finishing with six strikeouts.
“I was getting ahead with my fastball, spotting up and just working ahead to each guy,” Goldsack said. “Everything fell into place after that.”
Goldsack had six saves as Sierra Vista’s closer last year, but has been fantastic since being moved into the starting rotation this season.
Sierra Vista (26-0) won three games Wednesday, including a 6-2 victory over Campbell Hall (Calif.) and a 14-0 rout of Verdugo Hills (Calif.) in the semifinals.
Goldsack received plenty of support in the title game. Dusty Stevens went 2-for-2 with four RBIs for Sierra Vista, and Billy Santiwan was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Conner Klein went 2-for-3, including a two-run single up the middle as part of a five-run second inning for the Mountain Lions, and Jake Findlay finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
“I couldn’t ask for any more,” Goldsack said. “We had a good game. Our offense got some runs and we played good defense, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Sierra Vista, ranked No. 10 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, went 6-0 in three days at the tournament, outscoring teams by a combined margin of 63-5.
The Mountain Lions’ most important games are still ahead in the Southwest League, but Goldsack said the team’s tournament success can only help their chances in the Sunset Region playoffs.
“You don’t get many opportunities to have this many games in this amount of days, so it will help us be a better team overall,” he said.
Cimarron-Memorial 13, Durango 9 — At Durango, Josh Neurnberg struck out Cameron Coombs with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Spartans captured the Purple 1 bracket title.
Nate Hale went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, three runs and four RBIs for Cimarron, which used a seven-run third inning to build a 9-2 lead.
The Spartans took a 13-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but the Trailblazers scored three runs and brought the potential tying run to the plate.
A.J. Hernandez was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Cimarron.
Mike Neighbors was 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Durango, which got a three-run triple from Derrik Corral in the bottom of the third inning.
Durango 17, Basic 16 — At Durango, Anthony Martine’s one-out single through the left side plated pinch-runner Neighbors with the deciding run in the bottom of the seventh to help the Trailblazers outlast the Wolves.
Corral singled to start the bottom of the seventh and was lifted for Neighbors, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Following a walk, Martine collected Durango’s 18th hit of the game.
The Trailblazers trailed 12-4 entering the bottom of the third inning, but scored 10 straight runs to take a 14-12 lead. Basic rallied with a run in the fifth and three in the sixth before Durango knotted the game with a two-run sixth inning.
Coombs was 4-for-5 with two home runs, five runs and four RBIs for Durango. Mike Sukeyasu went 4-for-4 with a triple, three doubles and three RBIs, and Corral went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for the Trailblazers, who got a three-run home run from Will Morris.
Andrew Chaves went 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, three runs and three RBIs to pace Basic. David Romero was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs, and Kyle Silva went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs for the Wolves, who got a solo home run from Nelson Kent.
Liberty 14, Palo Verde 14 — At Sierra Vista, Liberty won the Purple 3 bracket semifinal by tournament time-limit rule because the score reverted to the last complete inning with a team ahead, and Liberty led 14-8 after three innings.
Palo Verde scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 14, the last two coming on Andy Dalaimo’s two-out, two-run double, but the game stayed deadlocked from there.
Liberty had runners at second and third with no outs in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t score.
Likewise, Palo Verde had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Teddy Efthemeou struck out Mark Marinch on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.
Chris Bradford went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs for Liberty. Manuel Menocal was 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Patriots, and Danny Topps, Josh McCollum and Kainan Pickle had two hits apiece.
Topps and Marcos Rivera each hit solo home runs for the Patriots.
Dalaimo and Brooks Nelson had two hits and two RBIs apiece for the Panthers, and teammates Jordan Benson and Jared Webb each added two hits. Marinch supplied an RBI double.
Cimarron-Memorial 10, Las Vegas 3 — At Durango, Nate Hale went 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs and three RBIs, and the Spartans broke a 3-3 tie by scoring four runs in the top of the fifth inning on their way to a semifinal win over the Wildcats.
Kevin Dorantes was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, and tossed a six-hitter with one walk and nine strikeouts for Cimarron.
Tanner Chauncey went 2-for-4 with a double for Las Vegas.
Sierra Vista 6, Campbell Hall (Calif.) 2 — At Sierra Vista, Tyler Condie pitched a three-hitter with two walks and six strikeouts as the Mountain Lions topped the Vikings.
Conner Klein was 3-for-4 with a triple and two doubles for Sierra Vista.
Dusty Stevens went 2-for-3 for the Mountain Lions, and Jake Findlay and Robert Lee had two RBIs each as part of a five-run first inning for Sierra Vista.
Sierra Vista 14, Verdugo Hills (Calif.) 0 — At Sierra Vista, Alex Estrella tossed a five-inning three-hitter with no walks and six strikeouts as the Mountain Lions blanked the Dons in a Purple 3 bracket semifinal.
Findlay hit a three-run homer, scored three runs and drew two walks.
Scott Tomassetti and Stevens added two hits apiece for the Mountain Lions.
Eastlake (Calif.) 13, Centennial 7 — At Centennial, the Titans scored five runs in the third inning and four in the fourth to take a 10-3 lead and held on to win the Purple 2 bracket title game.
Adrian Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Centennial, and Chapman Schmidt was 2-for-3.
Centennial 15, Coronado 12 — At Centennial, Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs to lead the Bulldogs past the Cougars.
Ian Ogurek was 3-for-4 with two triples, a double and three RBIs for Centennial, which scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to claw out of a 12-11 deficit.
Miles Bice went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Coronado.
Shadow Ridge 12, Sylmar (Calif.) 4 — At Centennial, Troy Williams was 3-for-5 with an RBI, and the Mustangs used a five-run fifth inning to pull away from Sylmar.
Danny Turnbull was 3-for-3, and Logan Hold went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI for Shadow Ridge.
Bruce Butler was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Gil Colon added a solo home run for the Mustangs.
Legacy 12, Campbell Hall (Calif.) 6 — At Durango, Alex Wenzel was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs to help the Longhorns defeat the Vikings.
Pierce Skinner went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Legacy, which scored in every inning.
Eastlake (Calif.) 5, Spring Valley 1 — At Centennial, Eastlake did all of its scoring in the first two innings and limited the Grizzlies to six hits in a Purple 2 semifinal.
Drew LaComb was 2-for-3 with a run, and Robbie Brewster went 1-for-3 with an RBI for Spring Valley.
Bonanza 10, Monroe (Calif.) 4 — At Durango, Zach Ontiveros was 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs, and the Bengals scored seven runs in the final two innings to down Monroe.
Alec Taft was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run and an RBI, and Jake Zebe went 3-for-5 with two triples and an RBI for Bonanza.
Clark 9, Virgin Valley 7 — At Las Vegas High, Isaac Velasquez singled home three runs on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the Chargers past the Bulldogs.
Clark led 6-3 after three innings, but Virgin Valley took the lead with a four-run fourth inning and held the edge until Velasquez’s hit.
Greg McKinney was 2-for-3 with a double, and winning pitcher Mike Quiroz went 2-for-4 with a double for Clark.
Birmingham (Calif.) 14, Eldorado 8 — At Las Vegas High, Birmingham erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to top the Sundevils.
Eric Larsen was 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and four RBIs for Eldorado. Chris Brown had two hits, including a triple, and Isaiah Hernandez homered for the Sundevils.
Poly (Calif.) 6, Western 2 — At Palo Verde, the Parrots broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the fifth inning and held off the Warriors.
Daniel Buzzard was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Jesus Serrano went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Western.
Banning (Calif.) 14, Pahrump Valley 10 — At Cimarron-Memorial, Banning grabbed a 12-1 lead in the fifth inning and held on to defeat the Trojans.
Joe McCaw was 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and six RBIs to lead Pahrump. Eddie Martinez went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, and Auakai Alameda was 2-for-3 for the Trojans.
Boulder City 14, Rim of the World (Calif.) 3 — At Basic, Jack LaMarca went 4-for-5 with a triple, two doubles, five runs and an RBI, and the Eagles scored in every inning except the fourth on their way to a rout.
Tanner Howell was 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, three runs and three RBIs, and Nate Hafen went 3-for-4 with a triple for Boulder City.
Garfield (Calif.) 5, Sunrise Mountain 3 — At Basic, the Bulldogs scored all of their runs in the first two innings and held off a late push by the Miners.
Daniel Guardado went 2-for-3 for Sunrise Mountain, which scored twice in the top of the seventh inning.
