Gaels pound Spartans to reach tourney final

There was no doubt before the season that Bishop Gorman had the area's most dangerous baseball team.

But a 1-3 start might have made the Gaels deadly.

Top-ranked Gorman jumped on No. 2 Cimarron-Memorial (14-3) for seven runs in the first two innings Friday on the way to a 12-2 win in the semifinals of the Bishop Gorman Desert Classic at the College of Southern Nevada.

It was Gorman's 15th consecutive victory.

The Gaels (16-3) lost three of their first four and returned from a tournament in Arizona with a 2-3 record.

"Once we came back from Phoenix, we definitely played with a chip on our shoulder because it seemed like no one gave us the respect we felt we deserved," senior Jeff Malm said. "We have really been playing well right now."

The Gaels have outscored opponents 207-40 in the 15-game streak, and they've scored 10 or more runs in 13 of those 15 games. In the last seven games against area teams, Gorman has outscored opponents 107-6.

"The early part of the year was a wake-up call," Gorman coach Chris Sheff said. "We just didn't play well. It took awhile to get going. When kids are confident at this age, amazing things can happen, and right now it's a pretty confident group."

On Friday, Gorman scored two runs in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Johnny Field and Erik Van Meetren to stake starter Stephen Manthei to an early lead.

The Gaels added five in the second, capped by Field's two-run double.

"By swinging the bats, it made Stephen's day a lot easier," Sheff said. "He could kind of settle in a little bit, and obviously, it might have broke their spirit a little bit, too."

Gorman added four runs in the fourth, highlighted by a solo homer by Malm, and Van Meetren led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer to end the game by the 10-run rule.

Malm and Van Meetren each went 3-for-4, and Field drove in three runs.

Gorman faces Foothill (Calif.) in the tournament title game at 3 p.m. today at CSN. Sheff said Malm will start.

Contact Prep Sports Editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.