Meimerstorf’s healthy cuts rally Gorman baseball

A left hamstring injury kept Kenny Meimerstorf from starting in the outfield Thursday.

It sure didn’t hurt his swing.

As the designated hitter, Meimerstorf hit two home runs, including a go-ahead three-run shot in the fifth inning, and Bishop Gorman rallied to defeat visiting Cimarron-Memorial, 7-5.

“He’s our senior and the guy we look to to drive in runs for us,” Gaels coach Nick Day said. “We’ve been riding him all season long, and he’s come up with some really big swings this year, not just today.”

Cimarron (15-5, 3-1 Southwest League) took a 4-2 lead with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. But the Gaels (19-4-1, 2-1) rallied with five runs in the bottom, capped by Meimerstorf’s three-run shot.

Meimerstorf hit a 1-0 fastball over the left-field fence for his second homer of the game and 10th of the season.

“All I was trying to do was get a hit,” Meimerstorf said. “But he started me off with a curveball every time, then came back with a fastball. He did the same thing every at-bat, so I was just waiting for that fastball. He threw it, and he left it up in the zone and I just took it.”

Cadyn Grenier ignited the rally with a leadoff homer. A hit batter and a walk followed, and Cole Krzmarzick had a tying RBI single through the right side to set up Meimerstorf’s shot.

“They had the big inning and took the lead on us, so the way our guys responded that inning ... it was a good sign,” Day said. “They had a good energy today, they were ready, and they’ve done that all year. If they get down, they just keep swinging, and it turned out good for us.”

Meimerstorf said: “We just kept fighting, and we never get down because we know we’ve been here many times. Two runs is nothing to us, so we just kept fighting and just kept hitting.”

Cimarron got an RBI double from Micquel Robinson to start the scoring in the top of the fourth. When Tanner McAninch followed with a one-out single to center, Robinson stopped at third and McAninch was thrown out at second trying to advance on a throw to the plate. But Robinson just beat the return throw home to tie the score 2-2.

Two walks and a double brought up Ricky Dorantes with the bases loaded, and he lined a two-run single past Grenier to give Cimarron the lead.