SUNRISE REGION: Johnson fires three-hitter as Skyhawks stun Wildcats
Trevor Johnson looked calm and collected after leading Silverado’s baseball team to its biggest win of the season Monday.
Much like the senior right-hander looked on the mound.
Johnson fired a three-hitter to lift the Skyhawks to an 8-1 victory at Las Vegas High in the first round of the Sunrise Region playoffs.
“We felt like (Johnson) is our senior, he’s a big horse for us, and we wanted to give him the ball,” Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. “He was up to the challenge.”
Johnson finished with four strikeouts, four walks and one hit batsman.
“I was really confident,” Johnson said. “I knew I had defense behind me and we could hit the ball. I just made sure I hit my spots and just threw strikes.”
Silverado (17-13) lost its last two games of the regular season to enter the playoffs as the Southeast League’s fourth and final seed.
But the Skyhawks suddenly find themselves in the winner’s bracket semifinals, for which they will travel to Coronado (20-11) at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Las Vegas (21-7), the Northeast’s top seed, will play an elimination game against visiting Eldorado (15-15) at 3:30 p.m.
“It’s everybody’s goal, and we’re no different,” Whitaker said of staying in the winner’s bracket. “If you get on the other side, it’s a lot of games and you’d better have a lot of arms.”
Johnson’s three-hitter overshadowed a 13-strikeout performance by Las Vegas right-hander Erick Fedde, who gave up six earned runs on eight hits and three hit batsmen.
“As many strikeouts as their guy had, it’s kind of a weird thing how it turned out,” Whitaker said. “But we kept grinding, pitched well and made some heads-up defensive plays.”
Silverado took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, with both runs scoring on a fielding error by Las Vegas first baseman Jesse Acosta, and led the rest of the way.
Las Vegas loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, but could only push across one run when Brady Page scored on a wild pitch with two outs to cut the lead to 4-1.
Silverado extended its lead to 7-1 in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Wyatt Reid and consecutive RBI singles by Dylan Cross and Johnson.
“This is big,” Johnson said. “If we play like we did today, we’ll be good.”
Dylan Brand went 2-for-3 and scored a run for Silverado. Reid had three RBIs for the Skyhawks, and Josh Bravin was 1-for-3 with two runs.
Xavier Palmer and Justin Cheney each had a double for Las Vegas, which stranded two runners in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Coronado 7, Eldorado 3 — At Coronado, Cody Howard was 2-for-2 with a home run, two runs and an RBI, and the Cougars bolted to a 5-1 second-inning lead on their way to a win over the Sundevils.
Jordan Scott doubled and drove in two runs for Coronado.
Nelson Herrera was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Eldorado.
Rancho 5, Liberty 4 — At Rancho, pinch runner Austin Blake scored from second base on a throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Rams (28-4) rallied past the Patriots (17-9-1).
Rancho trailed 4-3 before Kevin Kline homered with two outs in the sixth to tie the game.
Manny Llamas singled to right-center with one out in the seventh and was replaced by Blake, who moved to second on Jason Turner’s sacrifice bunt.
Michael Cruz then hit a grounder to the left side, but the throw to first was in the dirt. Blake kept running and scored on a head-first slide to move the Rams into a winners’ bracket semfinal against Green Valley.
Daniel Topps was 2-for-3 with two runs for Liberty, which will host Chaparral on Tuesday.
Green Valley 16, Chaparral 6 — At Green Valley, Brett Harrison was 1-for-2 with five RBIs as the Gators (27-5) blitzed the Cowboys (7-15) in five innings.
Evan Van Hoosier went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs for Green Valley, which used an eight-run third inning to take a 12-0 lead.
Zack Vergiels was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Braden Rogers and Phillip McGovern each added two hits for the Gators.
Jordan January went 2-for-3 with a double for Chaparral.
