Rickard, Gaels pick up the pace

Bill Dexheimer figured the best way to slow the potent Bishop Gorman lineup was with a steady diet of off-speed pitches. So on Thursday, the Legacy baseball coach turned to junior Adam Thompson, who has the best changeup on the Longhorns' staff.

And for three innings, the move worked as Thompson kept Gorman in check and the Longhorns owned a 3-1 lead.

But the Gaels came alive in the fourth inning, scoring six times on the way to an 11-3 win in the Sunset Region tournament at Sierra Vista.

Gorman (36-3), the three-time defending state champion and winner of 35 straight, will play Northwest League No. 1 Cimarron-Memorial (30-5) in the championship game at 4 p.m. today at Sierra Vista.

"They're a good-hitting baseball team," Dexheimer said. "You're not going to fool them more than once or twice through the lineup. They made the adjustments, which good hitters do."

Senior Joey Rickard, who signed with Arizona, went 3-for-4, including a grand slam in the fourth inning that broke a 3-all tie. Junior Johnny Field also was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a solo home run leading off the fourth.

"We know it's really tough for a pitcher to shut us down for the full seven innings," Rickard said. "We just had to be patient and take what they give us until we get to him."

The Longhorns (21-9) got an early spark as junior Andres Ortiz homered to left on the game's third pitch, although Legacy missed out on a chance for more after having runners at second and third with no outs.

"It would have been nice to have those runs," Dexheimer said. "Our kids competed. That's all we can ask."

In the third inning, Legacy got to Gaels starter Tyler Wagner for two more runs on RBI singles by Austin Christiansen and Donald Glover. But senior R.J. Santigate replaced Wagner at the start of the fourth inning and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits to earn the victory.

"The ultimate goal is to win a state title, and now we've put ourselves in a position where we have two shots to get to state," Gaels coach Chris Sheff said. "We have to lose two in a row not to make state. It's nice to be in that position."

* Legacy 8, Palo Verde 5 -- At Sierra Vista, senior Chase Skinner went 3-for-4, and junior reliever James Allen pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning to lead the Longhorns.

Skinner was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle as he had a run-scoring triple in Legacy's five-run third inning and an RBI double in the fourth that made it 7-1.

Junior Dillon Meyer hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the Panthers (21-12) and senior Brandon Laubhan added a run-scoring single to cut Legacy's lead to 7-4.

Trailing 8-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Palo Verde loaded the bases with one out before Allen got Meyer to pop out and then struck out Branden Hepworth to end the threat.

* Cimarron-Memorial 9, Spring Valley 5 -- At Centennial, A.J. Hernandez hit a three-run double to highlight a five-run first inning as the Spartans beat the Grizzlies (26-10) to move into the Sunset title game.

Kris Kaplan's sacrifice fly and Taylor Doyle's RBI single plated two more Spartans runs in the second, and Doyle's two-run triple in the fourth capped the scoring for Cimarron.

Kaplan finished 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, Doyle went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Bradley Oswald went 2-for-2 with three runs for Cimarron.

Joshua Stout doubled drove in two runs for Spring Valley.

* Spring Valley 6, Centennial 5 -- At Centennial, Aaron Blair's two-run single in the bottom of the seventh gave the Grizzlies a win over the Bulldogs.

Blair was 2-for-4 and Billy Bob Ward 3-for-3 for Spring Valley.

Dominick Monteiro was 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, and Sam Friend had three hits for Centennial (24-12).

SUNRISE REGION

* Las Vegas 9, Silverado 6; Las Vegas 9, Foothill 4 -- Thursday was a big day for Las Vegas High senior Wes Grass.

He made his first pitching appearance of the season, and he and his Wildcats teammates lived to play another day as they defeated Silverado and Foothill to stay alive in the Sunrise Region tournament at Las Vegas.

The Wildcats (26-10) play Foothill (18-15) at 1 p.m. today at Las Vegas. The winner takes on Green Valley (24-10) for the Sunrise title at 4 p.m.

The Sunrise winner advances to next week's state tournament. The runner-up plays the No. 2 team from the Sunset at noon Saturday at Green Valley for the final berth at state.

Grass, who hadn't pitched all season following a pair of offseason surgeries on his throwing shoulder, threw two scoreless innings of relief to save the win over Silverado (18-16).

"It was a rush," Grass said of finally taking the mound. "I've been waiting for that all year. It's been nine months since I've been able to throw, so getting on the mound in a big situation like that was huge for me."

Grass allowed two hits and struck out three to close out the Silverado win.

"He lost a little bit on velocity, but his changeup was nastier than I've ever seen, and his slider was incredible," Las Vegas coach Sam Thomas said.

Grass scored the go-ahead run in the Silverado game, coming home on a rare strikeout by star catcher Bryce Harper.

With the game tied 5-5, Harper struck out on a pitch in the dirt. Grass, who had hit a one-out triple, broke for the plate when Silverado's catcher threw to first to get Harper, and Grass beat the return throw home to make it 6-5.

He finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs. Harper also hit a two-run home run in the Silverado game.

Against Foothill, the Wildcats scored four unearned runs in the top of the first and held on for the victory.

Quinnton Mack was 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs, and Dillon Dove added three hits and two RBIs for Las Vegas.

Grass said the team is excited about its chances to continue its playoff run. The Wildcats have won three straight after losing to Silverado in the opening round.

"It's huge. It's really exciting," Grass said. "We've gone 2-2 in the playoffs for the last four years I've been here, so to do something bigger than that is good. But it can't end there. We've definitely got to make it to the state tournament. And after we do that, we get really excited for something."

* Green Valley 12, Coronado 3 -- At Green Valley, the Gators used a two-out rally in the second to take control and advance to the Sunrise title game.

The Gators scored seven runs in the second, all with two outs, to take a 7-2 lead.

Bobby Shiroky went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs and two stolen bases to lead Green Valley's 13-hit attack.

* Coronado 4, Rancho 1 -- At Green Valley, Alex Watson went the distance, scattering eight hits and striking out five, as the Cougars eliminated the Rams.

Watson, Cody Giordano and R.J. Cash each went 2-for-3 for Coronado.