Green Valley eyes return to state baseball throne

A string of six consecutive state baseball titles made Green Valley the dominant program in Nevada in the 1990s.

Bishop Gorman has won the last two Class 4A crowns, but the Gators aren't quite ready to pass the torch just yet.

When the state tournament begins today in Reno, Green Valley (32-5) will be playing for its ninth title since the school opened in 1991. The Gators will play Northern Region champ Reno (31-5) in the four-team state tournament at 4 p.m. at UNR's Peccole Park. Gorman (38-3) will play Bishop Manogue (29-7) at 1 in the first game.

The double-elimination tournament moves to Western Nevada College on Friday, then back to Peccole Park on Saturday.

"In a sense, the seniors feel they have something to prove, that they are a group that belongs at Green Valley," Gators coach Nick Garritano said. "They want to be part of that storied tradition. Over the last 17 years, there's not a program with a richer tradition than Green Valley High School. That's just the bottom line."

Green Valley's players know they're not the team to beat. The favorite tag hangs squarely on the shoulders of the players at Gorman, which has spent time ranked No. 1 in the nation this season.

"Gorman, they do get a lot of attention, and they deserve it," Green Valley senior Matt Harrison said. "They've been doing a great job. It's been kind of nice to not really have any expectations to be the best and go out and win every game. It's been nice flying under the radar and staying low. The state tournament is where we've got to show that we're worth what our record is."

To do that, the Gators will need pitching. The team's offense has been strong, averaging 8.4 runs a game. But the Gators haven't exactly dominated the competition.

Green Valley has played 20 games decided by three runs or fewer, including eight one-run ballgames. The Gators have won seven games by 10 or more runs; Gorman has won 20 games by 10 or more runs.

"I'll be honest with you, we struggled last week with pitching with the exception of Joe Robinson," said Garritano, whose team allowed 31 runs in the regional, including 15 in one game. "It's something that we're going to have to get better (with) on the mound. And we challenged the pitchers (Monday) in practice. We're going to need pitching in this tournament."

Robinson (7-2, 2.75 ERA) has been the ace and threw 11 strong innings in the region tournament. But he'll need help at state. The Gators have several options on the mound, but some of the team's pitchers have been inconsistent.

The same can't be said for Gorman, which rebounded from a 2-1 loss in the first round of the Sunset Region tournament to outscore opponents 70-13 in the next five games in winning the title.

Arizona-bound right-hander Donn Roach (8-1, 1.54) leads the staff, but he's not alone. Paul Sewald (6-0, 1.73), Joey Rickard (7-0, 1.97), Stephen Manthei (8-0, 2.29) and Jeff Malm (7-2, 2.73) give the Gaels plenty of options. Rickard threw a no-hitter in the team's fourth regional tournament game.

Offense also hasn't been a problem for Gorman. While Green Valley cleanup hitter Harrison leads the Gators with 35 RBIs, the Gaels have six players who have driven in at least that many runs, including leadoff man Rickard (.508, 11 home runs, 52 RBIs), who also has scored a state-record 84 runs.

No. 3 hitter Malm (.577, seven homers, 70 RBIs) leads an offense with plenty of power. Seven players have at least five homers, and three have nine or more.

"It's great; I couldn't ask for more with our lineup," Roach said. "We've got guy after guy, one through nine."

Though the team has a lofty national ranking, Malm said the players don't feel any pressure to repeat.

"I think because we're so experienced, it's just kind of another game," Malm said. "It's obviously a bigger stage, but there's no pressure."

The Gators might not feel pressure, either, but they're certainly eager to add another chapter to the program's history.

"Last year, we couldn't get it done," senior Nick Melino said. "This year, if we could finally get it done, that would be awesome.

"It's about time we brought the state championship back to Green Valley."

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