SUNSET BASEBALL: Gorman bats overwhelm Cimarron

Bishop Gorman baseball coach Gino DiMaria said the top of his order often dictates the team’s success.

On Wednesday, it was No. 2 hitter Beau Capanna that came up with a big blow to spark a come-from-behind win.

Capanna smacked a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the third, sparking a four-run inning that gave the Gaels the lead for good, and they went on to beat visiting Cimarron-Memorial 15-5 in five innings in the Sunset Region tournament.

“Beau’s been an overall great player this year,” DiMaria said. “He’s been consistent. He’s not a very big guy, but he has a lot of power. He got his pitch that he wanted and it started it, it sparked the team right away.”

The Gaels (26-2) will play Arbor View (24-8) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Desert Oasis. Cimarron (25-7) plays Palo Verde (11-19) in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Thursday at Desert Oasis.

A walk to Brandon Wulff and consecutive singles by Grant Robbins and Matt Hudgins loaded the bases, and Blake Sanchez hit a three-run double into the right-center field gap to give the Gaels a 6-5 lead. Gorman added seven runs in the fourth with the help of three errors to pull away.

“It’s tough sometimes when you’re doing well and all of a sudden the game just flips like that,” DiMaria said. “The heart kind of gives up a little bit. That’s a good team. There’s no way I wanted to give them a second chance to get anything going.”

Robbins had a two-run double, and Hudgins and Cadyn Grenier added RBI singles in the fourth for the Gaels. They ended the game in the fifth when Dan Edson hit an RBI single to left that bounced over the head of left fielder Jeff Griffith, allowing another run to score to end the game by the 10-run rule.

Cimarron started strong, scoring four runs in the first. Niko Decolati and Tyler Giovinco lined consecutive singles to start the game, and Trevor Lippard’s popup fell between second baseman Antonio Rainone and right fielder Austin Wells to load the bases.

They didn’t stay loaded for long, as Adam Mitchell tripled to the right-center field gap, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Todd Danzeisen to make it 4-0.

Gorman starter Matt Mitchell was solid after that. He allowed an unearned run on two hits the rest of the way.

“He was a little nervous, but he settled down,” DiMaria said of his sophomore left-hander. “And once he settled down, he started hitting his spots and took control of the game.”

Arbor View 4, Desert Oasis 3 — At Desert Oasis, Nick Quintana went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run, and the Aggies scored four unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning to hold off the Diamondbacks.

Brady Borden earned the win, and Chris Villarias got a game-ending double play to earn a save.

Joe Fitzhugh had two hits and a run, and Ryan McHale supplied an RBI single for the Aggies.

Desert Oasis pitcher Nolan Kingham fanned eight in seven innings with no walks and no earned runs.

Caeden Marin, Chris Van Kuren, Nic Lane and Kingham each had two hits for the Diamondbacks (26-8), who play host to Centennial (22-12) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Centennial 10, Durango 2 — At Durango, Travis Stevens went 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and a run to help the Bulldogs eliminate the Trailblazers (10-23).

Tanner Wright was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run, and Jake Portaro went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI for Centennial.

Hayden Grant was 3-for-5 with an RBI, and Jake Rogers and Jared Drizin each added two hits for the Bulldogs, who had 16 hits.

Rogers threw four scoreless innings of relief to get the win. He allowed three hits and struck out three with no walks.

Kenny Busse was 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI to lead Durango. Richard Mascarenas and Artie Gallegos each added two hits for the Trailblazers.

Palo Verde 14, Shadow Ridge 5 — At Shadow Ridge, Sam Powers went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs as the Panthers outslugged the Mustangs.

J.D. Brooks belted a solo home run over the left-center-field fence in the fourth inning to put Palo Verde up 8-0.

Cobi Fiechtner was 3-for-5 with a triple, a double and a run for the Panthers, who got two hits apiece from Trevor Jackson, Jerron Largusa and Yodai Nakamura.

Jake Wilson, Mike Davis and Tyler Burton each supplied two hits for Shadow Ridge, which finished 18-14.