Sierra Vista gets in gear for playoffs

Sierra Vista’s baseball game Thursday was little more than a tuneup for next week’s Sunset Region tournament.

And the Mountain Lions’ pitching and defense look like they are ready to go.

Sierra Vista played errorless ball, and three pitchers combined on a two-hitter in a 4-0 victory over visiting Durango, ending the Trailblazers’ playoff hopes.

The Mountain Lions improved to 25-6, 14-2 in the Southwest League. Durango dropped to 14-14, 9-7.

Starter Jake Hager threw five shutout innings with seven strikeouts to get the win. Hager, the team’s regular shortstop, had thrown only 17 innings this season.

“We’ve kind of been planning on using him in the playoffs a little more than the regular season, so we wanted to get him a start,” coach Nate Selby said. “He looked pretty good, so we’re hopeful he’s where he needs to be going into the playoffs.”

Ace Nick Kingham, who last pitched Saturday, threw a scoreless sixth, striking out one. Closer Blair Goldsack, who hadn’t pitched since April 28, pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out two.

The plans for Hager to pitch more became even more important when Alex Estrella broke his left wrist April 24 when he crashed into the fence making a catch against Bishop Gorman.

““We thought pitching was really our depth, and we still think we have enough to be very competitive, but it puts a little strain on everybody,” Selby said. “All those guys are going to have to pitch and pitch on short rest. And when they show up, they’re going to have to get out some guys that are pretty good. That’s what the playoffs are about.”

While the pitching and defense looked good Thursday, the Mountain Lions struggled offensively. They stranded 10 runners and twice left the bases loaded. They also had a runner doubled off on a lineout, another caught stealing and one gunned out at the plate.

“We left some runners and we left them with some guys that better drive them in next week or we won’t win,” Selby said.

Marquis Towers was 2-for-3 with a double and a run, Kingham had an RBI double and Julian Cutolo hit a two-run single for Sierra Vista, which will host Palo Verde in a first-round game at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.