Sierra Vista tops No. 1-ranked Gaels

Sierra Vista's Kiel Harmon came into Thursday's baseball game against Bishop Gorman well aware that the Gaels were USA Today's new No. 1 team in the country.

And it meant nothing to him.

Harmon tagged Gorman with its second loss of the year, allowing two hits in his first four innings in the Lions' 7-4 win at Hadland Park.

"I came out mentally prepared; I didn't let the fact that they're No. 1 in the nation -- supposedly -- affect my job," Harmon said. "I was confident; you always have to be confident. That's what you do as a pitcher -- if you're not confident, you're going to lose the game, and I couldn't let that happen."

After a rough fifth inning in which the Gaels (29-2) had five hits, including a two-run home run by Joey Rickard, Harmon gave way to closer Andrew Garcia with the Lions leading 5-4. Garcia proceeded to shut Gorman down, retiring six consecutive batters to end the game.

But two extra runs in the top of the seventh inning gave the Lions (19-8) breathing room.

Sierra Vista loaded the bases with one out in the inning as Gaels starter Jeff Malm hit two batters and walked Garcia. After a strikeout for the second out, Jake Hager hit a smoker to third base, but the ball squirted past R.J. Santigate and into left field.

"Harmon was about done, and to be able to go and get someone else is an advantage," Lions coach Nate Selby said. "Garcia's done that all year for us -- come in and throw a few strikes, get ahead. And then those couple extra runs definitely made everyone feel a little more at ease."

Hager's clutch hit in the seventh inning was his second of the game. His three-run home run in the first inning gave Sierra Vista a 4-0 lead.

Brooks Klein added a solo home run in the fourth for the Lions, who found success waiting on Malm's curveball.

"With left-handed pitching, you're always looking away and trying to hit the ball to the right side," Selby said. "But the bottom line is, (Malm) is a good pitcher, and we were fortunate. We haven't hit many home runs this year; if both those balls aren't out, the game's a different game.

"I would say it was our day -- we had more breaks than they did."

• Spring Valley 4, Durango 3 -- At Durango, Cameron Brooks singled home Connor McKenna with two outs in the top of the seventh to give the Grizzlies the win.

Garrett Blair, who was 2-for-2, started the rally with a one-out single. After McKenna doubled, Blair scored on a sacrifice fly by Enzo Bello.

Tyler Anderson went the distance, allowing no earned runs on five hits, to get the win. He struck out 13 and walked one.

Brooks had two hits for Spring Valley.

Jayson McClaren was 2-for-2 with an RBI for Durango.

• Bonanza 12, Shadow Ridge 8 -- At Shadow Ridge, the Mustangs rallied from a 7-1 deficit to send the game into extra innings, but Chasen Shreve scored on a Tomo Delp double and the Bengals added three more runs in the top of the eighth to prevail.

Delp finished 4-for-5 with a home run, three doubles and six RBIs. Kyle Ross picked up the win and went 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Phil Navarro went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Bengals.

• Las Vegas 15, Canyon Springs 0 -- At Las Vegas, Sam Acheampong was 3-for-4 with four runs and an RBI as the Wildcats rolled.

Bryce Harper was 2-for-2 with five RBIs, including a three-run home run to highlight Las Vegas' 12-run first inning.

Jordan Gonzales and Harper combined on a one-hitter.

• Clark 16, Western 5 -- At Western, Shane Bowes was 2-for-2 with two runs as the Chargers beat the Warriors.

Anthony Risolio added two hits and a run for Clark.

Tom Hoag allowed one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts to get the win.

• Chaparral 10, Eldorado 5 -- At Eldorado, Jon Lupola was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs to help Chaparral down the Sundevils.

Jordan January was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Cowboys.

Jared Hoven was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI for the Sundevils.

• Rancho 14, Desert Pines 4 -- At Rancho, Justin Neubauer went 2-for-2 with two doubles to help the Rams cruise.

Johnny Love was 2-for-3 with two doubles for the Jaguars.

• Faith Lutheran 17-20, Moapa Valley 5-7 -- At Overton, Tyler Iodence hit three home runs and drove in 10 runs in two games to lead Faith Lutheran to a sweep.

Iodence was 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs in the opener and 3-for-5 with two homers, including a grand slam, a double and six RBIs in the second game.

• Needles (Calif.) 26, Mountain View 14 -- At Mountain View, Doniven Anderson had a home run, a double and five RBIs to lead the Mustangs.

Tanner Peterson was 4-for-4 for Mountain View.