Consiglio doesn’t wither in clutch; Bulldogs play on

With his team in a must-win situation Monday, Centennial baseball coach Chris Martinez got precisely the performance he needed from starting pitcher Anthony Consiglio.

Consiglio threw a six-hit complete game and compiled nine strikeouts, guiding the Bulldogs to a 4-1 victory over Silverado in the American Legion state tournament at UNLV's Wilson Stadium.

"Anthony was definitely a guy we had penciled in and ready to go," said Martinez, whose team advanced to play Las Vegas at 5 p.m. Wednesday. "He established his fastball early and he pitched (from) ahead. He doesn't really overpower hitters, but he competes."

Consiglio (6-2) looked shaky in the first inning, allowing a double to Silverado's Bobby Johnson before walking Derek Keathley with two outs. But he escaped the jam to begin a run of retiring 17 straight batters.

Though the senior right-hander surprised himself by going the distance, he said he had a good feeling early.

"(Confidence) is something that just builds as you go along," Consiglio said. "I just kept thinking about hitting my spots."

He succeeded, and the Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the third when Dominick Monteiro flared a single to right and Matthew Triana followed with an RBI single.

The lead grew to 3-0 in the fourth on Sam Friend's leadoff homer and Christian Bernal's RBI on a sacrifice bunt.

Martinez said he doubted the small lead would be enough.

"I really didn't expect a low-scoring game," said Martinez, whose team lost a 20-4 to Las Vegas in the first round on Saturday. "We had all of our arms available and we were just ready to piece something together."

Silverado (12-20) finally got to Consiglio in the seventh, scoring on back-to-back doubles by Keathley and Morgan Stotts.

But the Bulldogs (23-13) got back the insurance run back in the eighth on William D'Arienzo's RBI single.

"That run was huge," Martinez said. "Anytime you can get one late in the game, it's extremely important."

D'Arienzo and Triana each went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Centennial's offense.

Keathley's two hits led the Hawks, and Cody Bostick went the distance on the mound despite taking the loss.

* Bishop Gorman 9, Las Vegas 8 -- In the winners' bracket game, the top-seeded Titans fell behind 7-0 before rallying for a second-round victory.

Las Vegas (22-15) broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning, making the most of seven hits and two Gorman errors to put seven runs on the scoreboard.

But Gorman (63-7-1) answered in the bottom half, capping an eight-run uprising with a two-run homer by Erik Van Meetren to make it 8-7. Scott Dysinger doubled home another run in the eighth.

Corey Lafler was 2-for-4 to lead Gorman, which will play at 8 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday's Centennial-Las Vegas game.

Chris Butler was 2-for-4 with a double for the Wildcats, who scored a run in the ninth.