Roach’s pitching puts Gaels within victory of title repeat

Bishop Gorman junior Donn Roach had what he described as an "off year" this season, taking a 4.48 ERA into the state baseball tournament.

But the right-hander couldn't have been much better Friday.

Roach allowed one run on four hits in six innings to lead the Gaels to a 10-1 win over Arbor View in the Class 4A state baseball tournament at the Community College of Southern Nevada's Morse Stadium.

The win moved Gorman into the championship round of the double-elimination tournament. The defending state champion Gaels (34-6-1) play Galena (35-3) at 10 a.m. today. Should Gorman lose that game, a second would be played at 1 p.m. to determine the state champion.

"I felt pretty good today on the mound," said Roach, who struck out six and walked two. "I think it's one of my best starts of the year."

Arbor View struck first, scoring a run in the top of the third on Robbie Garvey's RBI double. Aggies starter Dustin Hobbs had shut out the Gaels through three innings on three hits. But Gorman broke through in the fourth with the help of the bottom of the lineup.

With one out, Paul Sewald walked and Devin Flynn was hit by a pitch. Johnny Field, the team's No. 9 batter, then drove a ball to deep center. It was just out of Garvey's reach as he crashed into the fence, and Sewald scored the tying run.

Joey Rickard then hit a two-run single, and Scott Dysinger added a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.

"You always have guys that lead you, but when you have supporting cast that can get some big hits -- we got a big double from Johnny Field, our freshman No. 9 hitter -- and you've got other guys in the lineup, it just makes it difficult for teams to throw to your lineup," Gorman coach Chris Sheff said.

Roach said the four-run inning buoyed his confidence.

"Once we got that, I knew we had it, because our defense is going to make plays and I wasn't going to lose," Roach said.

The Gaels added six runs in the fifth inning to pull away.

Sewald's RBI double was the biggest blow of the inning and chased Hobbs with no outs.

In four innings, Hobbs allowed eight runs on eight hits.

"I think he got a little tired and we got to him," Sheff said. "Hobbs pitched great for three innings. We kept working him and working him, and finally he got tired a little bit and we got to him."

Sewald was 3-for-3 with two runs and Rickard drove in three runs for the Gaels, who sit in the perfect position. Gorman has used just three pitchers and still has three fresh pitchers who started regional tournament games.

"Our starting guys have pitched great and kept our other guys fresh," Sheff said. "And now we set up pretty well for tomorrow with our arms. We're in the spot we want to be. Somebody's got to beat us twice to win a championship, so we'll see what happens."

Roach is excited about the possibility of repeating as state champs and winning the second baseball title in school history.

"It'd be a great accomplishment," Roach said. "It would be our second time ever and back to back."

• Galena 8, Arbor View 1 -- Jacob Anderson pitched a four-hitter as the Grizzlies eliminated the Aggies (24-12) to get a rematch with Gorman.

The Gaels beat Galena 6-2 in the opening round Thursday.

"Our goal is to win a tournament, it's not to win a particular game or not," Galena coach Gary McNamara said. "We put our backs against the wall, and we're 2-0 with our back against the wall. The state championship is not tomorrow morning; we have to win that game just to get into the state championship. We'll give it everything we've got."

Anderson struck out eight and walked four. He cruised after the Grizzlies scored three in the first. J.D. Peters homered to start the bottom of the first, his third home run of the day.

"Jacob, I think he would have beat a lot of people tonight," McNamara said. "Once Jacob has a lead with the change-up of his, he's kind of a frustrating guy to hit off of."

Peters was 3-for-4 and Eric Maupin was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs for the Grizzlies.

Arbor View's run came in the top of the second on Sean Reilly's RBI single.

• Galena 9, Green Valley 3 -- Peters smacked two home runs to help the Grizzlies eliminate the Gators (25-12).

Peters went 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs. Jake Hess had two hits, including a solo home run for Galena, and teammate Matt Evans went 4-for-4 with two runs.

Maupin limited Green Valley to an unearned run on four hits in six innings for the win.

Kyle Konicek was 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Gators.