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DIVISION IV BASEBALL: Knights use big inning to set up date with Pahranagat Valley

Jake Topholm urged his Round Mountain baseball players to create a cushion heading into the bottom of the sixth inning in Thursday’s Division IV state tournament opener.

Eleven batters later, the Knights were sitting pretty. 

Staked to a one-run lead, Round Mountain scored six runs in the inning, and starting pitcher Serjio Chavez completed a four-hitter to help down Wells, 9-2, at Rancho High.

The Southern Region champion Knights (19-6) will face Pahranagat Valley (22-6) at 10 a.m. Friday, with the winner moving on to Saturday’s state championship game.

“I told them we needed insurance runs, and we’ve got to start swinging the bat,” Topholm said. “The kid was throwing strikes, and we were watching them go by. They needed to get more aggressive in the box and they finally did.”

Round Mountain walked five times and had four hits in the inning, including a two-run triple from Emitt Davis and Cole Shrider’s bases-clearing double.

Chavez took care of the rest on the mound.

After a shaky first inning, the right-hander allowed two hits the rest of the way, striking out five and giving up two unearned runs in total.

“He threw his fastball, located it well, and when he had to, his off-speed stuff worked,” Topholm said.

The senior also supplied power in the fifth, smacking a 1-0 fastball into the gap in left-center and turning it into an inside-the-park home run.

“As soon as I hit it, I said ‘I got this,’” Chavez said. “Once I turned, they kept telling me to go, so I kept going. I saw coach on third, and as soon as he told me to go, my legs were about to give out.”

The run broke a 1-1 tie, and the Knights pushed across another run two batters later on a Railroaders’ error.

Chavez finished with two runs, a walk and a hit-by-pitch for Round Mountain, which got three RBIs from Davis.  

In the other quarterfinal, the Panthers plated six runs in the top of the sixth with two outs to outlast Carlin, 9-6.

Pahranagat Valley sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, benefitting from four walks, four hits, and a hit-by-pitch to create a gap. Paden Higbee’s two-run single to center provided the big blow.

“I think their pitcher got a little tired there in the sixth, just kind of ran out of gas,” Panthers coach Brad Loveday said. “They brought a couple other guys in, and they just couldn’t find the strike zone. Our kids played defense and hit the ball well here and there.”

Trailing 9-3 in the seventh, the Railroaders pushed across three runs and had the tying run at the plate when a sinking liner off the bat of Jordan Stills’ was snagged by Pahranagat Valley’s diving right fielder Jordan Cryts for the final out.   

Cryts was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

Carlin (20-3-2), the North’s No. 1 seed, will play Wells (17-15-1) in a losers’ bracket game at 1 p.m. Friday.

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