Ninth-inning rally keeps Knights alive in American Legion regional

Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday, the Las Vegas Knights were just two outs away from elimination in the American Legion Western Regional tournament.

But as many local teams have recently learned, a Bishop Gorman team doesn't go away very easily. Boulder (Colo.) had to find out the hard way.

The Knights scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to escape with a 13-12 win in their second game of the tournament in Boulder, Colo. They will face Tucson (Ariz.) at noon Friday in an elimination game.

"The strong point of our team is that we don't quit," coach Gino DiMaria said. "Our kids just kept battling. The fight was still there. … We've been in these situations a lot. As a coach, I'd rather not be. I didn't know if I wanted to break down or celebrate afterwards."

Catcher Jordan Sadovia, who stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded after an intentional walk to Nick Hernandez, capped the Knights' ninth-inning rally with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Beau Capanna with the winning run.

"All we needed was something in the air," DiMaria said. "And he ended up hitting a deep fly ball to left. … I've always had confidence in Jordan. When we get into crucial situations, he seems to be the guy that comes up clutch most of the time."

Facing a 12-9 deficit entering the ninth, Byrce Ruggeroli and Nicholas Israel each drew a one-out walk, and Jorel Hingada reached on an error to load the bases for Capanna.

Capanna, a New Mexico commit, appeared to have gone down on strikes for the second out of the inning, but a balk sent Ruggeroli home from third base for the inning's first run.

Capanna drew a walk on the next pitch to load the bases and set up Andrew Newson's game-tying, two-run single.

The Knights, who led 5-1 after two innings, gave up six runs in the top of the eighth to fall into a 12-7 hole.

Capanna, who was 3-for-5 with four RBIs, hit a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 12-9. He also finished with a double, a stolen base and three runs for the Knights, who got three RBIs apiece from Sadovia and Newson.

"I'm going to expect that from Beau next year in his senior year," DiMaria said. "He's going to be that guy. He's not a loud kid, but he demonstrates very loud."

Starting pitcher Matt Mitchell gave up five runs, three earned, and struck out four in 5 2/3 innings. Jack Kirvin picked up the win for Las Vegas, which overcame seven errors.

Aiden Chandler went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs for Boulder.

"I think this could be a spark for us," DiMaria said. "Hopefully it woke us up a little bit and gave them a little bit more incentive."