BLAZER BASH: Small ball coming up big for Shadow Ridge

Not many prep baseball coaches would ask his No. 3 hitter to bunt. Shadow Ridge’s Frank Tousa had Logan Hold do it twice on Wednesday.

That’s how committed the Mustangs are to playing small ball this season.

“One through nine better be ready to bunt at any time,” Tousa said. “That’s what we’ve been doing all year. The kids have bought into it, and they’ve done it very well.”

Using small-ball tactics at the plate and aggressive baserunning, Shadow Ridge rolled to a 10-2 win over host Centennial to capture the Gold Bracket title at the Blazer Spring Bash.

The Mustangs (16-1) won all five games in the tournament and signaled they are ready to challenge Arbor View and Sierra Vista when Northwest League play opens next week.

“We’ve definitely been under the radar,” said Shadow Ridge shortstop Brady Hoskins, who was 2-for-2 with a solo home run and a double. “People are starting to notice the special things we’re doing.”

Centennial (9-10) grabbed a  1-0 lead in the top of the first on Ryan Huerta’s run-scoring single before the Mustangs answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Leadoff hitter Alec Pittsenbarger reached second thanks to two Bulldogs errors, and Travis Caskie’s bunt single put runners on the corners.

Hold followed with a safety squeeze to score Pittsenbarger, and Ben Fitzhugh knocked in Caskie with a single to left. After Hoskins’ sacrifice, a wild pitch scored Hold to make it 3-1.

“We know their style, so we expected that,” Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone said. “They make you make plays.”

The Mustangs played small ball again in the fourth to go up 7-2. After Caskie’s one-out double, Hold followed with another sacrifice bunt. Caskie never slowed down around third and easily beat the throw home.

Hold was 2-for-2, and Caskie went 2-for-3. Alex Ayers was 2-for-3 with two triples for the Mustangs.

Centennial threatened in the top of the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out. Tyler Burton came on in relief for the Mustangs and got Huerta to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

“Sometimes you hit a hard ground ball, and you get a bad result,” Cerrone said. “I feel good about our strides to get to the championship game. We’re still young. To get to this game was meaningful.”

Shadow Ridge 9, Faith Lutheran 2 — At Centennial, Cory Royer tossed a one-hitter, striking out three and walking three as the Mustangs advanced to the Gold Bracket title game by downing the Crusaders.

Logan Hold was 3-for-4 with a double and three runs, and Alec Pittsenbarger went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs for Shadow Ridge.

Bradly Liuzza was 1-for-2 with a double and four RBIs, and Royer went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Andrew Hudgins’ single was Faith Lutheran’s lone hit.

Centennial 6, Independence (Calif.) 0 — James Harbour tossed a five-hit shutout and went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs as the Bulldogs topped Independence in the other Gold Bracket semifinal.

Ricky Koplow was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, and Parker Rosenkrantz was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Centennial.

Sierra Vista 12, Alta (Utah) 11 — At Sierra Vista, the Mountain Lions scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to claim the victory and earn the Purple Bracket championship.

Pinch-hitter Alex Kern walked to start the rally, and pinch runner Caeden Marin came home on a fielder’s choice.

Dustin Randall and Matthew Almaguer each went 3-for-4 with two doubles for Sierra Vista. Tyler Burdett was 2-for-4 with a double for the Mountain Lions.

Sierra Vista 9, Poly (Calif.) 2 — At Sierra Vista, Cole Crosby, Bailey Welter and Almaguer each had a single and a double to lead the Mountain Lions over the Parrots.

Tyler Charlton went the distance, allowing one earned run on four hits, to get the win.

Durango 12, Minarets (Calif.) 11 — At Durango, Anthony Parry’s bases-loaded RBI single capped a nine-run rally with no outs in the seventh inning as the Trailblazers stormed back from an 11-3 deficit to stun the Mustangs.

Parry finished 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Jacob Skipper went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Durango.

Durango 12, Cheyenne Mountain (Colo.) 2 — At Durango, Scott Martinez went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and six RBIs as the Trailblazers collected a five-inning win.

San Fernando (Calif.) 5, Desert Oasis 2 — At San Fernando, Jose Haros hit a home run and scattered eight hits in a complete game as the Tigers beat the Diamondbacks in the Steven Janvrin Championship game.

Desert Oasis’ Chris Van Kuren was 2-for-2 with a double.

Desert Oasis 10, Centennial (Calif.) 8 — At Durango, winning pitcher Jordyn Compehos belted a tie-breaking grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Diamondbacks withstood a late rally by the Golden Hawks to win a semifinal.

Centennial scored on a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk in the seventh before reliever Zack Rickard got a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to end the game.

San Fernando (Calif.) 3, Arbor View 2 — At Durango, Carlos Robles doubled and scored on a squeeze bunt by David Esparza in the bottom of the sixth to give the Tigers the win over the Aggies in the semifinals of the Steven Janvrin bracket.

Arbor View loaded the bases in the top of the seventh on a two-out single by Nate Stepna, an error and a walk to P.J. Gonzalez. But Evan McMahan grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

Stepna was 3-for-4, and Nick Quintana went 2-for-3 with a double for the Aggies.

Roberto Ramos hit a two-run homer in the first inning for San Fernando.

Alta (Utah) 14, Foothill 8 — At Sierra Vista, the Falcons scored seven runs in the top of the first, then gave up eight in the bottom of the inning and couldn’t recover in a bracket semifinal.

Jesse Emery was 2-for-3 with a double, triple, three runs and an RBI, and Kade Matthews went 2-for-3 with a triple, three runs and two RBIs to lead Alta.

Collin Dobrolecki was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Janson Neff went 1-for-2 with a homer and four RBIs for Foothill. Royce Salay was 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs for the Falcons.

Palo Verde 8, Marshall (Calif) 6 — At Cimarron, Kyle Lozier’s two-run double keyed a six-run fourth inning that helped the Panthers top the Barristers.

Brett Bovee was 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for Palo Verde, which took an 8-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh and held on.

Basic 6, Birmingham (Calif.) 5 — At Desert Oasis, Skyler Mahoney tripled home Ryne Nelson with the tying run, then scored on Mikey York’s sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning to push the Wolves by the Patriots.

Isaac Perez went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs, and Nelson was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs for Basic. Mahoney went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.

Tyler Long tossed 6 2/3 innings of relief and struck out eight for the Wolves.

Chatsworth (Calif.) 3, Cimarron-Memorial 2 — At Cimarron, the Chancellors scored twice in the top of the fifth to take the lead and held on to edge the Spartans.

Micquel Robinson belted a two-run home run in the second inning for Cimarron. Jayson Hicks was 3-for-3 with a double for the Spartans.

Moapa Valley 10, Carson (Calif.) 4 — At Centennial, a misplayed bunt opened the door for a seven-run second inning as the Pirates topped the Colts.

Jared Repp and Landon Willard each went 2-for-3 and combined to throw a five-hitter for Moapa Valley, which had 12 stolen bases.

Las Vegas 2, Arleta (Calif.) 0 — At Las Vegas, Jose Sanchez spun a four-hit shutout with no walks and five strikeouts to lead the Wildcats by the Mustangs.

Jerome Byndloss was 2-for-3 with a double and a run, and Nolan Cassell went 1-for-2 with a triple and an RBI for Las Vegas. Hector Perez was 2-for-2 and scored a run for the Wildcats.

Pahrump Valley 5, Grant (Calif.) 4 — At Las Vegas, the Trojans built a 4-0 lead after three innings and held on to edge the Lancers.

Campbell Hall (Calif.) 11, Eldorado 0 — At Foothill, Jesse Ehrlich tossed a six-inning five-hitter to lead the Vikings by the Sundevils.

Lucio Arreola went 2-for-3 with a double for Eldorado.