Harbour, seniors send Bulldogs into playoffs on winning note

Senior Day allowed Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone to slot players into different positions on the baseball field Friday.

James Harbour’s work on the mound allowed Cerrone not to worry about his team missing a beat.

Fresh off a win over No. 1 Bishop Gorman on Wednesday, the Bulldogs played well and celebrated the contributions of a 10-member senior class with a 7-2 home win over Las Vegas.

Harbour allowed two runs (one earned) in the top of the first inning before settling down to give up just five hits and strike out six in six innings. Harbour threw 51 of 81 pitches for strikes.

“That’s his M.O. Once he gets through the first inning, he settles down and pitches really well,” Cerrone said.

His contributions weren’t limited to the mound. Harbour doubled in each of his first two at-bats, driving in three runs and scoring one. He finished 2-for-4.

Chase Caindec pitched a hitless seventh inning in relief.

“We knew it would be interesting,” Cerrone said. “Guys were back where they used to try to play. It wasn’t like they had no experience at the position, but they hadn’t played there in a long time.”

The Bulldogs hardly looked out of place defensively. Centennial committed just two errors and turned a sharp around-the-horn double play in the third inning, the only time Harbour allowed the leadoff hitter in an inning to reach base.

Centennial (21-11) did more than enough damage early in support of Harbour, scoring twice on his first-inning double to tie the game and tacking on four runs in the third inning to take the lead for good.

Harbour’s second double made it 3-2. Cooper Powell followed with an RBI single, and Porter Rosenkrantz hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. Alex Nicoll’s RBI double capped the rally.

Will Loucks tripled and scored on an error in the fourth for the Bulldogs. Loucks was 3-for-3, Powell went 2-for-2, and Nicoll was 2-for-3 with two doubles.

The Bulldogs showed no letdown after Wednesday’s win as they prepare for the Sunset Region playoffs. Centennial will host Spring Valley at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament.

“This was a big deal,” Cerrone said. “We always schedule a game after the last league game. There’s a lot of good teams in the playoffs, but we know that if we play our game, we can compete. It’s going to be a tough road.”

Jamie Solis was 3-for-4 with a double, and Jeremiah Garcia was 1-for-2 with two RBIs for the Wildcats (12-17), who will visit Liberty in the opening round of the Sunrise Region playoffs at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.