Palo Verde stuns Bishop Gorman

Sometimes breaks go against you, like when another team forfeits a game on the final day of the regular season, forcing you to play on the road against a nationally ranked team in the first round of the playoffs.

Sometimes those breaks go your way, like when you beat that nationally ranked team on its home field.

That's what happened to Palo Verde on Tuesday, as the Panthers (17-16) edged Bishop Gorman 2-1 at Hadland Park in the first round of the Sunset Region tournament.

After Palo Verde's final regular-season game Thursday, the Panthers were the Northwest Division's No. 2 seed, set to host Spring Valley in the playoffs.

But Cimarron-Memorial had to forfeit a game to Centennial, moving Palo Verde to third in the league and forcing the matchup with Gorman (33-3), currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and third by Baseball America.

"Sometimes things work out for a reason," Palo Verde coach Paul Churchfield said. "Last week, the baseball gods were not on our side. They were on our side today."

So was Alex Bonczyk, who pitched the distance, limiting Gorman to the one run on a homer by Jeff Malm in the fourth inning. Bonczyk allowed four hits.

"He was tremendous," Churchfield said. "The kid, he battled all night."

The Panthers scored a run in the top of the first on an RBI double by Jordan Pierce. They added a run in the fourth on a ground-out by Dillon Meyer.

"Anytime you win the first game in a tournament, no matter who you're playing, it's big," Churchfield said. "It sets up your pitching to win. And maybe a win like this against a great ballclub, these kids will believe in themselves and maybe make a run at this thing."

Palo Verde will play Durango at 6 p.m. today at Durango. Gorman will face Arbor View at 3 at Durango.

• Spring Valley 7, Centennial 3 -- At Centennial, the Bulldogs never recovered from a rough first inning against the Grizzlies.

Spring Valley batted around in the first inning and took advantage of three Centennial errors to score five runs.

The Grizzlies (21-8) will play Sierra Vista at 6 p.m. today at Centennial. The Bulldogs (21-12) will take on Cimarron-Memorial in a losers' bracket game at 3.

Spring Valley's Tyler Anderson (7-3) took care of the lead with some solid pitching, allowing four hits and striking out nine in six innings.

• Durango 14, Arbor View 2 -- At Arbor View, Aaron Kurcz allowed four hits in six innings and went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs and two RBIs to help the Trailblazers rout the Aggies.

Durango (22-11) scored five runs in the third and six in the seventh. Jayson McClaren went 4-for-5 for Durango, with two RBIs, two runs and three steals.

Losing pitcher Josh Arnold, among the area's leaders in ERA, allowed eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

• Sierra Vista 15, Cimarron-Memorial 11 -- At Sierra Vista, Andrew Garcia was 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs to lead the Lions (23-9) past the Spartans.

Nick Capparelli, Jake Hager and Matt Holman each homered for Sierra Vista.

Aaron Hernandez was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and four RBIs for Cimarron (19-13).

SUNRISE REGION

• Silverado 12, Rancho 0 -- At Silverado, the Skyhawks (21-10) hit Rams ace Justin Neubauer hard, scoring eight runs on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings en route to the first-round win.

Neubauer entered Tuesday's game averaging 1.5 strikeouts per inning, but he had just one strikeout against Silverado.

"We really wanted to have a mentality where we tried to limit strikeouts, because their pitcher struck so many guys out this year," Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. "We figured that might help get them out of their comfort zone a little bit."

Dillon Smith went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI, and Pierce Belaustegui was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs.

The Skyhawks will play Las Vegas (29-6) at 6 p.m. today at Eldorado. Rancho (16-16) will meet Coronado (15-11) in an elimination game at 3 at Eldorado.

• Las Vegas 7, Coronado 2 -- At Las Vegas, Bryce Harper went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Wildcats past the Cougars.

Bryan Harper pitched the distance, allowing four hits and striking out 12, to get the win. Tate Chauncey was 3-for-3 with a double and three runs for Las Vegas.

• Basic 12, Valley 0 -- At Valley, John Anderson and Brett Wellman each drove in four runs as the Wolves defeated the Vikings (14-12).

Wellman was 3-for-4 with a triple, and Mike Feher and Marcus Romero each drove in two runs for Basic (20-9).

Darren Parke and Josh Ross combined on a three-hitter for Basic, which will host Green Valley (28-4) at 6 p.m. today. Valley will play Canyon Springs (10-21) in an elimination game at 3 at Basic.

• Green Valley 33, Canyon Springs 0 -- At Green Valley, Caleb Canady went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs, and Kevin Stethem homered to help the Gators crush the Pioneers.

Green Valley scored 17 runs in the first inning and 11 in the second. Eric Stewart went 3-for-4 for Green Valley.