Las Vegas rallies past Centennial
August 7, 2008 - 9:00 pm
Las Vegas coach Gino DiMaria left the field with a victory Wednesday, but the look on his face indicated he wasn't happy with his team's performance.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats fell into an early hole before rallying for a 14-9 win over fourth-seeded Centennial in the American Legion state tournament at UNLV's Wilson Stadium.
DiMaria, whose squad will play Bishop Gorman today at 8 p.m., said his players will need to clean things up to have any chance of reaching Saturday's championship game.
"If we come out like we played the first two games (of the tournament), we'll have a shot," said DiMaria, whose team breezed through the early rounds. "If we play like we did tonight, it's not going to happen."
Las Vegas (23-15) committed two key errors in the first inning, allowing the Bulldogs (23-14) to capitalize with four runs on three hits.
Centennial, which was blown out by the Wildcats 20-4 in the first round Saturday, extended its lead to 5-0 in the third on an RBI double by Anthony Consiglio.
Though Wildcats starter Chris Butler lasted only 3 2/3 innings, his offense scored a pair of runs in the fourth and two in the fifth before taking control with an eight-run sixth inning that gave Las Vegas a 12-7 lead.
"I came in knowing we were going to hit the ball," DiMaria said. "But we didn't early in the game. It took us awhile to wake up."
Tate Chauncey led Las Vegas' surge, going 3-for-6 with two RBIs.
"I knew we just had to try to get one run at a time," second baseman Chauncey said. "But I also knew someone had to be the guy to start something."
Danny Lavato took over on the mound for Las Vegas in the fourth and held the Bulldogs to one earned run in the next 4 1/3 innings. His teammates put solo runs on the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings to ensure the victory.
DiMaria, whose team blew a seven-run lead in a loss to Gorman on Monday, said he was worried about his players' confidence heading into Wednesday's game.
"The thing I was concerned about was how the kids would respond after that tough loss to Gorman," the coach said. "I'm pleased with tonight's win, but we've really got to watch the errors. That put us in a big hole."
Christian Lucero went 3-for-6 with a double to help Las Vegas, and teammate Chris Ortega went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Consiglio and Robby Rosenthal each went 3-for-5 for Centennial, which struggled defensively to finish with five errors.
A Gorman win in today's game would automatically send the defending champion Gaels to the title game Saturday. Under the tournament's double-elimination format, a Wildcats win would force a Friday rematch between the teams to determine the bracket winner.
• Green Valley 16, Reno 4 -- The Gators scored seven runs in the third inning of the late game and cruised to victory.
Matt Harrison went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Eric Stewart went 3-for-6 for Green Valley, which will face Sierra Vista at 5 p.m. today.