Desert Oasis loses pair of leads, gets eliminated from American Legion regional
The Desert Oasis Aces couldn’t hold onto a lead Thursday at the American Legion Western Regional in Boulder, Colorado.
The Aces held a pair of late leads, but coughed them up both times as they were eliminated from the tournament.
Dominic Paratore was 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs to help stake Desert Oasis to an early 5-0 lead against Tucson (Arizona) in the elimination game. But the Badgers chipped away at the lead, then scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth en route to an 8-6 victory.
Paratore’s three-run homer in the top of the first gave the Aces the early advantage. Bryson Stott added an RBI single in the second, and Paratore led off the third with a solo homer to make it 5-0.
Keanu Van Kuren was 3-for-4 with two runs, and Stott, Cole Schaefer, Aaron Roberts and Gage Ventura each added two hits for Desert Oasis.
The Aces also held a big advantage in their first game on Thursday, leading host Boulder 5-1 after eight innings in the completion of a game suspended after three innings Wednesday night because of lightning.
But Boulder rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn a 6-5 victory. The winning run came home on an error.
Brett Brocoff was 2-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI for Desert Oasis, and Van Kuren drove in three runs.