REGION BASEBALL: Kline lifts Rams over Cougars

Kevin Kline sometimes gets overlooked on a pitching staff that features two future UNLV hurlers in Eric Holdren and Zak Qualls.

But Kline was plenty good on Wednesday in Rancho's biggest game of the season. Kline (8-1) fired a three-hitter, striking out six and walking one as the Rams downed Coronado 12-0 in five innings at Las Vegas High, moving into the championship game of the Sunrise Region tournament.

"Kevin has done a great job all year," Rancho coach Tom Pletsch said. "He's probably been our most consistent pitcher, and he really did a good job."

Coronado (21-12) falls to the losers' bracket. Green Valley (28-6) plays Liberty (19-9-1) at 1 p.m. today at Las Vegas, with the winner facing Coronado at 4 p.m.

The winner of that contest takes on Rancho (30-4) at 1 p.m. Friday at Las Vegas. Should the Rams lose that game, a second game would be played to determine the region champion and a berth in next week's state tournament.

"This is the most critical game in the whole thing because we get the day off while everybody beats each other up tomorrow," Pletsch said. "And pretty much our entire pitching staff will be ready to go on Friday."

Kline proved to be difficult for Coronado to solve, mixing in a curveball and change-up while spotting his fastball.

"I had the change-up and curveball I was spotting real well," Kline said. "My change-up was working early in the count and late in the count, so that was big.

"We knew coming in that they were a real aggressive team, so we knew the change would be really effective, and it was."

Rancho spotted Kline with a five-run lead before he even took the mound. Brandon Pletsch and Gabe Chavira had two-run doubles in the first inning, and Kline drove in a run with a groundout as the Rams opened up a quick lead.

"It's big whenever you get run support from your teammates," Kline said. "It just makes your job easier out there on the mound."

A solo homer by Qualls and a two-run shot by Holdren made it 8-0 after three innings, and the Rams added two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Kline and Chavira. They got two more runs in the fifth on RBI doubles by Qualls and Brandon Pletsch.

Brandon Pletsch was 3-for-4 with three doubles, three runs and three RBIs to lead Rancho's 14-hit attack. Qualls, Kline, Holdren and Chavira each added two hits for Rancho, which hopes to return to state after finishing second last season.

"(With) the experience we gained last year in the state tournament, I think the kids are hungry and want to get back there," Tom Pletsch said. "But we by no means are taking anything for granted. We are going to come ready to play on Friday."

Dillon Fahr went 2-for-3 with a double for Coronado.

■ Green Valley 3, Las Vegas 2 -- Braden Rogers drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded to force home Evan Van Hoosier in the top of the eighth and give the Gators the win over the Wildcats (22-8).

Rogers entered the game after cleanup hitter Chad Whiteaker was injured in the fourth inning.

Jake DiDonato allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings to get the win, and Brett Harrison retired the side in order in the eighth to get the save for the Gators, who survived despite stranding 14 runners, including 10 in scoring position.

Las Vegas tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out single by Tanner Chauncey.

Whiteaker was 2-for-2 with an RBI before leaving with an elbow injury after colliding with a runner at third base.

Gabe Douglas was 2-for-5 with a double and a run for the Gators.

Dillon Dove went 2-for-2 with two runs for Las Vegas. He also took the loss despite allowing just one hit in four innings.

■ Liberty 14, Silverado 4 -- Marcos Rivera was 4-for-4 with a double and five RBIs to help the Patriots to the five-inning win over the Skyhawks.

Josh McCollum was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Daniel Topps, Manuel Menocal, Michael Vargas and Chris Bradford each added two hits for Liberty.

Josh Bravin was 2-for-3 with a run for Silverado, which finished 17-15.

SUNSET REGION

Kenny Meimerstorf, Tyler Baker and Erik Van Meetren each homered as part of an eight-run fourth inning, and Bishop Gorman rode a three-hitter from Evan Dunn to a 10-2 win over host Sierra Vista in the winners' bracket of the Sunset Region tournament.

"Once you start out like that, it's really contagious," Meimerstorf said of the fourth inning. "We started getting hit after hit. We were getting after it."

Gorman (31-4) advanced to Friday's Sunset finals, also at Sierra Vista.

The winner of today's 1 p.m. elimination game between Faith Lutheran and Desert Oasis will play Sierra Vista at 4 p.m. for the right to face the Gaels on Friday.

Erik Van Meetren led off the bottom of the fourth with an infield single before A.J. Van Meetren reached on an error. Both scored on Meimerstorf's three-run homer to left field to give the Gaels a 5-2 lead.

Two batters later, Tyler Baker hit a two-run shot to right. T.J. White's sacrifice fly plated Justin Jones for an 8-2 lead before Erik Van Meetren blasted a two-run homer to center with two outs to cap the scoring.

"It was huge. We started seeing the ball pretty well, and guys were ready to hit in that inning," Gorman coach Nick Day said.

Baker couldn't have picked a better time to hit his first home run of the season.

"It was a bunt situation, and bunt kept crossing my mind," Day said of Baker's homer. "For whatever reason, I let him swing the bat, and it was good because he hit the ball a long way."

Dunn walked seven and struck out four. Day said he is pleased with the way the junior right-hander has rebounded from a back injury last season.

"He stepped up huge, but he's done that all year," Day said. "It wasn't a surprise for us. A lot of people don't know about him because he just stepped on the scene this year, but he's pitched great."

Erik Van Meetren was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs for Gorman, and Johnny Sewald went 2-for-4 with two runs.

White had two RBIs for the Gaels, and Cody Roper and Justin Jones both went 2-for-3.

■ Faith Lutheran 8, Centennial 4 -- Zach Skipper scattered six hits in a complete game and went 2-for-2 with an RBI double to help the Crusaders (17-16) eliminate the Bulldogs (22-13).

Michael Kinkenon was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Faith Lutheran, and Brendan Meyer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Tyler Collins had a two-run single for Centennial.

■ Desert Oasis 5, Spring Valley 4 -- The Diamondbacks (20-11) sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-3 lead and held on to eliminate the Grizzlies (15-16).

Zane Killebrew's two-run single to right with one out in the third gave the Diamondbacks a 4-3 lead.

Desert Oasis' Jordan Compehos threw six solid innings to get the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks, with six strikeouts. Riley Smith pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the save.

Cody Schmidt and Kyle Motis each had two hits each for Desert Oasis.

Jose Rosales-Rodarte went 2-for-4 with a double for Spring Valley, and Glenn Smith had two RBIs.