‘Incredible’ offense powers Aggies’ win

Baseball coaches often say pitching and defense wins games.

Those coaches need to take a second look at Thursday's game between Arbor View and Green Valley.

The Aggies, in their second year of competition, had 22 hits to outslug the Gators 19-14 in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament at the Community College of Southern Nevada's Morse Stadium.

"For the first time being in a state tournament game, I'm proud of my kids," Arbor View coach Gary White said. "And offensively, they were incredible. Incredible."

Most incredible was center fielder and leadoff man Robbie Garvey, who went 5-for-5 with five RBIs and five runs. He hit three doubles and added a stolen base.

"Offensively we came out and we knew what we had to do," Garvey said. "Defensively I don't know if we were all there, but we kept the bats alive and came out on top."

Arbor View (24-10) plays Bishop Gorman (33-6-1) at 3 p.m. today at CCSN, with the winner advancing to the tournament's championship round.

Arbor View had a chance to end the game in the fifth on the 10-run rule, but Green Valley (25-11) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 18-11.

The Gators rallied again in the seventh inning, scoring three times to cut their deficit to 19-14. Green Valley had the bases loaded when reliever Brandeis Truman came on and got Jordan Van Hoosier to fly out to the warning track in left field to end the game.

Arbor View starter Michael Blazek allowed 12 hits and 10 earned runs in four innings but still picked up the victory.

"Blaze didn't have his best stuff," White said. "I'm sure there was a little nervousness, but bottom line is we got the win."

Green Valley's Nick Melino was 4-for-5 with three runs, and teammate Brendan O'Connell was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs.

The Gators, who had 16 hits on Thursday, play Galena (33-3) in an elimination game at noon today. The winner of that game plays the loser of the Arbor View-Gorman game at 6.

Garvey said he's eager for a shot at the defending state champs and thinks the Aggies can pull the upset.

"I want Gorman real bad," Garvey said. "I think if we play a perfect defensive game and we bring the bats like we did today, they don't have a chance."

• Bishop Gorman 6, Galena 2 -- Taylor Cole pitched a four-hitter as the Gaels knocked the Northern Regional champs into the losers' bracket.

Cole struck out 11 and allowed one earned run.

"Anytime you get a (complete game) in Game 1, it sets you up for the rest of the tournament," Gorman coach Chris Sheff said. "I think he did an outstanding job."

Cole gave up a run on two hits in the first inning but settled in and allowed two hits the rest of the day.

"They got a one on him in the first, and he kind of beared down from there, settled in and pitched a great game," Sheff said. "We got a couple runs for him, which I'm sure helped, too, and then he just pitched like he has all year.

The Gaels took the lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Jeff Malm. They added three runs in the third on a two-run homer by Joey Rickard and an RBI single by John Rickard.

"Today we were fortunate that our bats came alive, drove in some runs and gave Taylor some comfort zone to be able to pitch ahead," Sheff said.

Joey Rickard was 2-for-3 with three runs and Malm went 2-for-3 with two runs to lead Gorman's 10-hit attack.

Tony Thompson had two hits and drove in both Galena runs.

Sheff said he was unsure who would pitch today for the Gaels but said Cole's performance gave the team a boost.

"Now we've still got four starters that are fresh, and we didn't even get anybody up in the pen," Sheff said. "It just means we've got a fresh arm the next time we go out."