Four-run first helps Legacy notch key baseball victory
The top individual performance Tuesday belonged to Arbor View's Zach Quintana, who hit three home runs.
But the game, along with a leg up in the race for the Sunset Region baseball playoffs, belonged to Legacy.
The Longhorns scored four runs in the first inning and held on for a crucial 8-5 home win over Arbor View, keeping their hold on the Northwest League's fourth and final playoff spot.
"We're definitely in a must-win situation," Legacy center fielder Pierce Skinner said. "I was telling this team before we even started the game that we've got to win from here on out, and we're not going to bow down to anybody."
Skinner went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. The senior's two-run triple to center field keyed the four-run first inning, and Legacy (14-11, 7-5) never fully lost momentum.
Skinner added a two-out RBI single in the fourth that gave Legacy a 7-2 lead.
"(Skinner) is our catalyst," Legacy coach Bill Dexheimer said. "He's one of those guys who can fire up a team pretty quickly. He's the kind of kid you want at the plate when the game's on the line."
After Arbor View's Tyler LeBaron doubled to left field in the top of the seventh, the Aggies had the potential tying run on deck with two outs, but Evan McMahan flied out to center to end the game.
Legacy left-hander Brayden Torres pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh to pick up the save, striking out the first two batters in the seventh.
Quintana, who went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, hit solo homers in the first and third innings and a three-run blast in the fifth, all to center field. But that accounted for all the runs for Arbor View (13-10, 5-6).
"We tell our pitchers that solo home runs aren't going to kill us," Dexheimer said. "(Quintana) had a three-run home run in (the fifth), but the fact we scored enough early on really helped us."
Legacy has won seven of its past eight, including three straight league games, but Dexheimer said the fast start was a welcome change.
"To come up with four runs against a team like (Arbor View) that can hit the ball, it was huge, and we kept pressure on them," Skinner added. "It was good to have pressure on somebody else and not us, for once."
Josh Torres went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI for Legacy, and Ryan Calsada was 2-for-4 with a double.
LeBaron went 2-for-4 for Arbor View, which dropped its fourth straight league game.
Contact reporter Tristan Aird at taird@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203.
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TUESDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
BASEBALL
Bonanza's Braiden Gray threw a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and six walks in a 7-2 home win over Western.
Sierra Vista's Billy Santiwan was 2-for-3, including a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth to break a 2-2 tie, as the Mountain Lions edged visiting Desert Oasis, 4-3.
Bishop Gorman's Joey Gallo was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs and threw a two-hitter with six strikeouts in a 16-1 road win over Spring Valley.
Boulder City's Tanner Howell went 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs in a 13-10 road win over Clark.
Shadow Ridge's Logan Hold threw a two-hitter and Josh Roelofs was 2-for-3 with a solo homer to lead the Mustangs to a 4-1 home win over Centennial.
SOFTBALL
Cheyenne's Bailey Benson was 4-for-5 with three doubles, two runs and seven RBIs in a 19-14 home win over Faith Lutheran.
Bishop Gorman's Morgan Picoy singled home Dayton Yingling with the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh inning of the Gaels' 10-7 win at Spring Valley.
Clark's Kaitlyn Szeles singled home Jasmine Fukuda with the deciding run in the sixth inning of a 3-2 home win over Boulder City.
Calvary Chapel's Jamie Schmidt went 6-for-8 with three home runs in the Lions' 15-0 and 14-2 sweep of The Meadows at Kenny Guinn Park.
Indian Springs' Alexxa Reinke went 5-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs in an 8-3 and 19-2 sweep of visiting Laughlin.
