McDowall, Spring Valley notch win over Durango

Some baseball games can turn on a single pitch or a single rally.

For Spring Valley on Friday, the turning point came in the top of the second inning.

The Grizzlies led 4-0, but Durango had loaded the bases with nobody out on two hit batters and an error.

But Kenny McDowall got a pop-up, a strikeout and a ground-out to get out of the jam, and the Grizzlies (14-3, 3-1 Southwest Division) went on to win 11-5.

"You have the momentum offensively up 4-0, and you'd like to see your pitcher go out there and make them earn everything," Spring Valley coach Mike Gomez said. "But credit to Kenny McDowall. He stepped up and got us through that inning, because that could have been ugly. He kept a little momentum over here."

The Grizzlies scored four in the top of the first, keyed by a three-run double by Chase LaComb. They added two runs in the second on RBI singles by Enzo Bello and Perry Martin.

But Spring Valley failed to put Durango (12-6, 1-2) away, and home runs by Aaron Kurcz and Niko Vasquez helped the Trailblazers cut the lead to 7-4 after five innings.

"We don't get a (sacrifice) down, we don't get a squeeze down, and sure enough here comes the home run by Kurcz, the home run by Vasquez and the game's getting pretty scary," Gomez said.

The Grizzlies tacked on four runs in the sixth, getting RBI singles from LaComb and Ryne Milner.

Bello went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI, and LaComb was 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

McDowall posted the victory, giving up four hits and three earned runs in five innings with eight strikeouts.

• Clark 4, Western 3 -- At Clark, Manny Estrada went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple to lead the Chargers past the Warriors.

Tom Hoag struck out nine and scattered seven hits to get the victory. He also went 3-for-3 with a double.

• Chaparral 6, Eldorado 5 -- At Chaparral, Ricky Perez led off the fifth with a double and scored on a Brandon Parkinson double as the Cowboys held on to edge the Sundevils.

Perez finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run, and Isaiah Washington went 3-for-4 with three doubles and two runs for Chaparral.

• Las Vegas 25, Canyon Springs 3 -- At Canyon Springs, Jordan Gonzalez pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts as the Wildcats routed the Pioneers.

Sam Acheampong went 4-for-5 with an RBI and five runs for Las Vegas, and Bryce Harper hit a grand slam and scored three times for the Wildcats.

• Rancho 16, Desert Pines 4 -- At Desert Pines, James Cammack hit a bases-loaded triple to help the Rams beat the Jaguars.

Eric Holdren was 2-for-4 for the Rams.

• Arbor View 6, Basic 2 -- At Arbor View, Zach Hartman's two-out single in the sixth inning scored Chad Cole to break a 2-2 tie and start a four-run rally as the Aggies downed the Wolves.

Greg Gloria was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Arbor View, and Chris Manning was 2-for-3 with two runs.

Basic's John Anderson hit a solo home run.

• Green Valley 8, Bonanza 4 -- At Green Valley, Jordan Van Hoosier went 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs to help the Gators beat the Bengals.

Caleb Canady went 2-for-3 with a double for Green Valley. Kris Bryant had a home run for Bonanza.

• Palo Verde 10, Coronado 9 -- At Palo Verde, the Panthers scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally past the Cougars.

Alex Bonczyk, who went 5-for-5 with three RBIs, drove in Palo Verde's winning run with an infield single. Jordan Pierce went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple for the Panthers.

Christian Centrella had a game-tying, two-run single to set up Bonczyk's heroics.

• Del Sol 12, Legacy 11 -- At Legacy, Jeff Chronister's sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning scored Chris Hampton with the eventual winning run as the Dragons nipped the Longhorns.

Jeff Coon was 4-for-4 with a triple, a double and four RBIs for Del Sol, and teammate Matt Burge went 2-for-2 with a triple and four RBIs.

Chase Skinner was 3-for-5 for Legacy.

• Foothill 16, Valley 3 -- At the College of Southern Nevada, Jordan Mathis went 3-for-3 with two RBIs to help the Falcons down the Vikings in five innings.

Kevin Wibiral was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs for Foothill.

• Bishop Gorman 12, Calvary Chapel 2 -- At Faith Lutheran, Jeff Malm was 2-for-2 with four RBIs and three runs to lead the Gaels to victory in the Calvary Chapel Tournament.

Joey Rickard was 2-for-2 with a double and four runs for Gorman, which will play Gulliver Prep (Fla.) at 1 p.m. today at the College of Southern Nevada for the championship.

• Faith Lutheran 9, White Rock (Canada) 4 -- At Faith Lutheran, Dylan Young went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs as the Crusaders beat White Rock in the Calvary Chapel Tournament.

• Virgin Valley 2-4, Boulder City 1-5 -- At Boulder City, the Eagles and the Bulldogs each won a one-run game.

Anthony Morris and Jason Wittwer both scored on an error by pitcher Jake Slater as Virgin Valley won the first game despite getting one hit.

In the second game, Shane Levin scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to help Boulder City salvage a split.

Levin went 2-for-3 and Jake Slater went 3-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases in the victory.

• Calvary Chapel 21-12, Mountain View 0-6 -- At Mountain View, T.J. White had three hits and four RBIs in the first game and added two doubles in the second game as the Lions swept the Saints.

Craig Sacra had two hits and three RBIs for Mountain View in the second game.

• Trinity 10-12, Henderson International 0-2 -- At Silver Bowl, Daveron Ross collected five hits in two games to help the Thunder to a sweep.

In the first game, Ross went 3-for-3 with a triple and home run, and threw a two-hitter with nine strikeouts.