DESERT CLASSIC: Rancho pitching depth key in victory over Arbor View

Injuries to your pitching staff usually aren’t a good thing. But a pair of offseason injuries to Rancho’s top pitchers might have made the Rams a stronger team.

With top hurlers Eric Holdren and Zak Qualls missing offseason repetitions, the Rams developed other pitchers. They reaped some of the benefits Friday, as they got a solid outing from Josh Gomez before Qualls came on to get the final five outs in an 8-5 win over Arbor View in the Desert Classic semifinals at Bishop Gorman.

The Rams (13-2) play South Dade in the championship game at 3 p.m. today at Gorman. South Dade advanced with a 10-9 win over Gorman on Friday.

“Eric broke his nose in January, and Zak was a little tight in the winter, and we had an opportunity to bring along six other guys,” Rancho coach Tom Pletsch said. “And it’s really been a good thing for us.”

Gomez allowed two runs in the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. Pletsch pulled Gomez after he allowed a two-run homer to Joe Citelli that cut the Rams’ lead to 7-5. After allowing a single to Brandon LaPointe, Qualls got P.J. Gonzalez to ground into a double play to end the rally.

Qualls struck out two in the seventh to earn his second save in as many days.

“Zak, we’re just bringing him along slow,” Pletsch said. “We’re keeping his pitch counts down early so that later he’s still strong. Right now, he is kind of that closer guy. It’s nice to bring a lefty in that’s 87-88 (mph).”

Gabe Chavira hit a two-run homer in the top of the first as Rancho scored three runs to take an early lead. Holdren had an RBI double in the fourth and an RBI single in the fifth for the Rams.

Kevin Kline went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Holdren, Brandon Pletsch and Scott Koenen each added two hits for the Rams.

Colton Hinrickson was 2-for-3 with a triple, a double and two RBIs for Arbor View (9-5).

South Dade (Fla.) 10, Bishop Gorman 9 — At Gorman, the Buccaneers scored seven runs in the top of the sixth to knock off the Gaels.

Demetrius Moorer hit a three-run homer with two outs in the sixth to put South Dade up 8-7. The Buccaneers added two more insurance runs in the inning.

Gorman got a two-run homer from Cory Welch in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to one, and the Gaels had runners at the corners with one out. But a double play ended the game.

Welch went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a run. Johnny Field was 2-for-3 with a double and a solo homer, and Neil Lawhorn added two hits for Gorman.

Johnny Sewald and Wesley Denzler also homered for the Gaels.

Alta (Utah) 16, Durango 5 — At Durango, the Hawks scored nine runs in the top of the first en route to the win over the Trailblazers.

Cameron Coombs went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI for Durango.

Brighton (Utah) 8, Valley 7 — At Valley, Brighton scored five runs in the seventh to edge the Vikings.