Gators rebound with two wins

CARSON CITY -- Green Valley coach Nick Garritano was candid after his team's 11-9 loss to Reno on Thursday in the Class 4A state baseball tournament, saying his team didn't deserve to win.

It did on Friday.

After committing six errors in the tournament opener, the Gators played a pair of errorless games Friday at Western Nevada College to keep their state title hopes alive.

Green Valley beat Bishop Manogue 3-2 and then knocked off Reno 4-1 to set up a showdown with two-time defending state champ Bishop Gorman (40-3) at 10 a.m. today at UNR's Peccole Park.

The Gators would need to beat Gorman -- a 13-0 winner over Reno on Friday -- twice to claim the state title.

"It just feels amazing right now," said junior right-hander Nick Libonati, who pitched a three-hitter against Reno to move the Gators (34-6) to the championship round. "I can't wait to go into the championship game tomorrow. It's a great feeling."

Reno collected 15 hits in Thursday's matchup with the Gators but struggled to put anything together against Libonati, who needed just 77 pitches in his complete game.

"I got a lot of ground balls, and all my position guys, they played great," Libonati said. "They made the plays that I fed them."

With the score tied 1-1, Nick Melino drove home Jordan Van Hoosier with a single in the third inning to give the Gators the lead for good. They added two runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Eric Stewart and Van Hoosier.

That was more than enough for Libonati, who gave the Gators their second outstanding pitching performance of the day.

"To limit Reno to (three) hits, a team that got 15 hits yesterday, and scored 11 runs yesterday, I can't say enough for him," Garritano said. "He's just a heck of a competitor."

The same can be said for the entire Green Valley team, which battled back after Thursday's loss.

"We got to a position now where you want to be at the end of every year, and that's giving yourself an opportunity to play for the state championship," Garritano said. "Now we roll the dice tomorrow and see what happens."

The Gators defeated Bishop Manogue when Matt Harrison was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Van Hoosier, who scored all three Green Valley runs against the Miners, reached on an error to start the inning. Brett Harrison was hit by a pitch, and Melino attempted to bunt the runners to second and third. Manogue catcher Tim Lewis fielded the bunt and fired to third, but the throw short-hopped the third baseman, loading the bases.

Matt Harrison then was hit with the next pitch to end the game.

The Gators' other runs against Manogue came on an RBI single by Matt Harrison in the first and an RBI groundout by Melino in the third.

Mark Johnson went the distance, allowing six hits, to get the win.

Manogue hurt itself with baserunning errors, managing just one run in the fourth despite two doubles, a single and a hit batter. Ben Hewson led off with a double, and Joe Weiland followed with a double off the fence in right field, just out of the reach of Green Valley right fielder Kevin Stethem.

Hewson had to wait to make sure the ball wasn't caught, and he was gunned down at the plate for the first out. After the hit batter, Evan Miller singled to right to score Weiland, but Miller was thrown out trying to take second on the throw to the plate, and the Gators got out of the inning, allowing only one run.

Green Valley will try today to dethrone a Gorman team that advanced to the championship round with a five-inning rout of Reno.

No. 8 hitter Neil Lawhorn, who couldn't crack the lineup in Gaels' first state tournament game Thursday, smacked a three-run homer to break open a scoreless game against the Huskies.

Lawhorn's homer ignited a nine-run second inning.

"He's hitting over .400, and it's a tribute to our lineup, because he didn't start Game 1," Gorman coach Chris Sheff said. "But he starts today and contributes in a big way."

Paul Sewald pitched a one-hitter, striking out five and walking two.

"Anytime you're able to put a nine spot up, it makes things a lot easier for your pitching," Sheff said. "And Paulie obviously threw a great game, too."

Lawhorn finished with four RBIs, and John Rickard and Brandon Garcia hit back-to-back homers in the fifth. Rickard was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Garcia was 2-for-3 with a double and the solo homer.

"It can't just be one or two guys all the time in your lineup," Sheff said. "Yesterday it was Garcia; today it was Lawhorn who hits a three-run blast to break us open and get us on the scoreboard.

"That's what it takes to win a state championship."

Contact reporter Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.