Gorman powers past Shadow Ridge

Bishop Gorman right fielder Brandon Wulff has plenty of power to clear the fences.

With a 20 mph wind blowing out to left field on Monday, it almost was unfair.

Wulff blasted a pair of no-doubt homers, and the Gaels rolled to a 13-2 five-inning win over host Shadow Ridge in the Southwest League opener for both teams.

“He’s got that strength,” Gorman coach Gino DiMaria said. “And Beau (Capanna) got a good shot too. We’ve just got to get more consistency. We have the big innings, but then we have innings where we kind of just fall asleep. We’re trying to correct that. We need to start getting consistency every inning.”

The Gaels (12-0, 1-0 Southwest) started slowly, going down 1-2-3 in the first and stranding a runner at third in the second inning after Austin Cram led off with a double.

But Gorman broke through for four runs in the third, three coming on Wulff’s moon shot to left that made it 4-0.

Capanna and Wulff hit back-to-back homers in the fourth as the Gaels tacked on six more runs. Capanna’s homer was a three-run shot, and he finished 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs. Wulff was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Grant Robbins went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs.

That was more than enough for senior right-hander Chase Maddux, who took a shutout into the fifth before giving up a two-run homer to Eric Jordan.

Maddux allowed five hits, struck out four and walked one.

“He hit his spots; he worked ahead of the hitters,” DiMaria said. “Besides that one home run he gave up, he kind of dominated the game a little bit and got ahead of all the hitters. Even when he fell behind, he relaxed, took one pitch at a time and controlled the game for us, which was huge.”

DiMaria was pleased with the start of what will be a long week for his team. The Gaels face Durango in a league game Tuesday before starting play in the Bishop Gorman Desert Classic. The Gaels will play at least five games in four days in that tournament.

“I told our team right now they better learn to live in the land of the uncomfortable,” DiMaria said. “That’s what we’re going to face this week. It’s a good start to get a good win in conference, go 1-0. That’s important.”

Tyler Burton was 2-for-3 for the Mustangs (11-9, 0-1).

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.