SUNSET REGION: Gaels ride fourth-inning wave to win over Sierra Vista
Kenny Meimerstorf sensed that hitting might be contagious for Bishop Gorman’s baseball team in the bottom of the fourth inning Wednesday.
The sophomore right fielder must have known something.
Meimerstorf, Tyler Baker and Erik Van Meetren each homered as part of an eight-run fourth, and Gorman rode a three-hitter from Evan Dunn to a 10-2 win at Sierra Vista in the winners’ bracket final of the Sunset Region tournament.
“Once you start out like that, it’s really contagious,” Meimerstorf said of the fourth inning. “We started getting hit after hit. We were getting after it.”
Gorman (31-4) advanced to Friday’s Sunset finals at Sierra Vista.
The winner of Thursday's 1 p.m. elimination game between Faith Lutheran and Desert Oasis will play Sierra Vista at 4 p.m. for the right to face the Gaels on Friday.
Erik Van Meetren led off the bottom of the fourth with an infield single before A.J. Van Meetren reached on an error. Both scored on Meimerstorf’s three-run home run to left field to give the Gaels a 5-2 lead.
Two batters later, Tyler Baker hit a two-run shot to right. T.J. White’s sacrifice fly plated Justin Jones for an 8-2 lead before Erik Van Meetren blasted a two-run homer to center with two outs to cap the scoring.
“It was huge. We started seeing the ball pretty well, and guys were ready to hit in that inning,” Gorman coach Nick Day said.
Baker couldn’t have picked a better time to hit his first home run of the season.
“It was a bunt situation and bunt kept crossing my mind,” Day said of Baker’s homer. “For whatever reason, I let him swing the bat, and it was good because he hit the ball a long way.”
Dunn walked seven and struck out four. Day is pleased with the way the junior right-hander has rebounded from a back injury last season.
“He stepped up huge, but he’s done that all year,” Day said. “It wasn’t a surprise for us. A lot of people don’t know about him because he just stepped on the scene this year, but he’s pitched great.”
Erik Van Meetren was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs for Gorman, and teammate Johnny Sewald went 2-for-4 with two runs.
White had two RBIs, and Cody Roper and Justin Jones each went 2-for-3 for the Gaels.
Gorman was coming off a 5-4 win in 10 innings over Centennial on Tuesday.
“I just thought it was a real good game coming off the 10-inning game,” Day said. “We had a new approach and a new attitude. We came out with confidence.”
Faith Lutheran 8, Centennial 4 — Zach Skipper scattered six hits in a complete game and went 2-for-2 with an RBI double to help the Crusaders (17-16) eliminate the Bulldogs (22-13).
Michael Kinkenon was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Faith Lutheran, and Brendan Meyer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Meyer’s two-run single to right field highlighted a four-run third inning the Crusaders used to build a 6-1 lead.
In its first Class 4A postseason appearance, Faith Lutheran is one of the final four teams left in the Sunset.
“The effort in the last two games the kids have had is better than any team I’ve ever put on the field, at any level,” Crusaders coach Tony Girod said. “If we can keep that up, we’re going to be around for a while.”
Tyler Collins had a two-run single for Centennial.
Desert Oasis 5, Spring Valley 4 — The Diamondbacks (20-11) sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-3 lead and held on to eliminate the Grizzlies (15-16).
Zane Killebrew’s two-run single to right with one out in the third gave the Diamondbacks a 4-3 lead.
Desert Oasis’ Jordan Compehos threw six solid innings to get the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Riley Smith pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the save.
Cody Schmidt and Kyle Motis each had two hits for Desert Oasis.
Jose Rosales-Rodarte went 2-for-4 with a double for Spring Valley, and Glenn Smith had two RBIs for the Grizzlies.
