Bravin pitches Silverado to title game

Josh Bravin's outing got off to an auspicious start on Friday.

The Silverado senior's first pitch went off the backstop, and he issued three first-inning walks.

But after allowing a three-run homer in the second, Bravin settled in, finishing with a five-hitter to lead the Skyhawks to an 8-3 win over host Green Valley to move into the Sunrise Region title game.

"He was sloppy to start the game off," Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. "But he's got real good stuff, and when he locates the ball, he can be tough."

Silverado (24-9-1) faces Coronado (26-8) at 1 p.m. today at Green Valley. Because Coronado has yet to lose in the double-elimination tournament, Silverado would have to win twice to claim the title and a berth at next week's state tournament.

After walking the bases loaded with one out in the first, Bravin got a strikeout and a ground ball to end the inning.

Bravin walked the leadoff man again in the second, and Keaton Smith's three-run homer to left field tied the game at 3. Whitaker conceded he had thoughts of going to the bullpen early.

"There came an instant there where I thought, 'maybe not today,' " Whitaker said. "But I said 'one more hitter,' and after that he settled in pretty good."

Bravin retired eight of the next nine batters after the homer and stranded runners at third in each of the final four innings.

Green Valley (20-15) loaded the bases on a single and two walks in the seventh, but Bravin got Bradon Rogers to ground out to short to end the game.

"They had action on the bases quite a bit, but he kept pitching out of trouble, and he gets us to tomorrow, so that was great," Whitaker said.

Marty Sifuentes was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and Cameron Rosser went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Silverado, which scored three runs in each of the first two innings.

Bryan Faucher was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Skyhawks, who lost 7-3 to Coronado on Thursday.

"We're not taking the path that anyone desires at this point," Whitaker said. "All you can do is line up and play. I love my team. They're going to fight, and I have a lot of confidence in them, so hopefully we'll play well tomorrow."

Green Valley advanced to play Silverado with a 10-0 victory over Rancho earlier Friday.

Austin Garcia threw 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to help the Gators eliminate the Rams (20-14) with a five-inning win. Garcia, a sophomore, yielded two hits, struck out four and walked one.

Alec Hutt hit a three-run homer, and Phillip McGovern was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI for the Gators.

SUNSET REGION

Champions need to dig deep when their backs are against a wall.

Bishop Gorman flirted with elimination Friday at Centennial before edging the Bulldogs, 3-2. The Gaels then beat Durango 16-1 to move into the Sunset Region title game.

Gorman (34-3) plays Arbor View (32-4) at 1 p.m. today at Centennial. The Gaels would have to beat the Aggies twice to claim the title and advance to state. Arbor View defeated Gorman 9-8 on Wednesday to put the Gaels in the losers' bracket.

"I told our guys that we just want a shot at Arbor View again, we got it, and hopefully we make the most of it," Gorman coach Nick Day said.

Against Centennial (24-11-1), the game was tied at 2 in the bottom of the seventh when Tyler Baker walked with one out. Johnny Sewald then hit a routine pop-up to left field that Christian Portaro dropped, putting runners at first and second.

Justin Jones then hit a dribbler to shortstop Casey Moses, who threw to second baseman Austin Nelson to try to force out Sewald, who was called safe. Nelson then threw wide of first, allowing Baker to score the winning run.

"That was a really tough game and a real heartbreaker for Centennial," Day said. "It's unfortunate for them to lose that way when they played such a great game."

The costly drop was similar to another error in left field committed by Centennial's Ian Ogurek in the fifth inning. Baker reached on a one-out single and promptly stole second base. Jones then lifted what should have been the final out of the inning, but the error allowed Baker to score, tying the score at 2.

Matt Roth started for the Gaels and gave up two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Freshman Cadyn Grenier relieved him with the bases loaded in the fifth and got senior Michael Rosenkrantz to ground out to first to end the threat.

"He has great stuff, but it's always hard to bring a freshman in with the bases loaded," Day said. "Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling, and it ended up being a good move."

Casey Congleton tossed seven solid innings for Centennial, scattering six hits.

"He changed speeds really well," Day said. "We're used to scoring more runs and swinging the bats better than that, but we couldn't get anything going. We were trying to get some pressure on them when we got guys on base to hope something would work in our favor, and it did."

After squeaking by Centennial, Gorman unloaded on Durango (17-19).

Kenny Meimerstorf belted a fastball into the netting above the left-field wall for a grand slam in the first inning.

The Gaels then batted around in the second to score nine runs, highlighted by a grand slam by Joey Gallo. Gallo added a two-run homer in the fourth.

"I felt pretty good at the plate trying to put the ball in play to make things happen," Gallo said. "As a team we were more settled in and confident at the plate than we were earlier against Centennial today."