Stevens, Sierra Vista persevere

In the words of Sierra Vista baseball coach Levi Gill, "It wasn't pretty."

However, Dusty Stevens' pitching performance Friday was exactly what Gill was looking for.

Stevens grinded out a complete game to help the Lions to a 6-3 victory over Taylorsville (Utah) in a winners' bracket opener of the American Legion Western Regional at Wilson Stadium.

"I would have liked for him to get ahead a little bit more, but he got the job done," Gill said. "That's exactly what we planned for, was for (Stevens) to go as long as he could."

Stevens (8-4) allowed 12 hits, walked five and struck out seven. The right-hander threw 117 pitches, 66 for strikes.

His performance could prove crucial in the long run because Sierra Vista (43-14) might have to play five consecutive days of nine-inning games with an 18-man roster at the tournament.

"I was just trying to go as long as I could and help save our pitching for the rest of the tournament," said Stevens, entering his senior year. "I was just trying to get strikes over and hopefully my defense would play good behind me, and they did."

The Legion state champion Lions advanced to play Bishop Gorman at about 8 p.m. today. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament runs through Monday.

One day after his older brother, Brooks Klein, was 3-for-4 with six RBIs in a tournament-opening win over Waipahu (Hawaii), Sierra Vista's Connor Klein stole the show.

Connor Klein, a junior-to-be third baseman, went 4-for-5 with a triple, a double and two RBIs.

Jake Hager went 4-for-5 and Scott Tomassetti added two hits for Sierra Vista, which scored three runs in the third inning to take a 4-0 lead.

■ Bishop Gorman 17, Tucson Northwest (Ariz.) 9 -- T.J. White went 2-for-4 with two triples and five RBIs to help the Titans (57-12) rout the Red Raiders.

Gorman took the lead for good in the top of the sixth, when Johnny Sewald belted a three-run triple off the wall in center for a 7-5 edge.

Tucson will play Waipahu (Hawaii) in an elimination game at 5 p.m. today.

■ Waipahu (Hawaii) 14, Albuquerque La Cueva (N.M.) 6 -- Waipahu took a 5-0 lead in the first inning on its way to eliminating the Bears.

Jonathan Kealoha and Ignatius Mackenzie had three hits each for Waipahu, and teammate Sheyne Baniaga hit a solo home run in the fourth.

■ Long Beach-Wilson (Calif.) 17, Boulder (Colo.) 14 -- The Bruins put up six runs in the top of the ninth for a 17-11 lead and held on to oust the Knights. Matt Heavin went 4-for-6 with two doubles, a triple and four RBIs to lead Long Beach.

■ BASEBALL AFTER MIDNIGHT -- In a game that ended at about 1:20 a.m. Friday, Erik Van Meetren's two-out single to left field in the bottom of the ninth plated Johnny Sewald with the winning run to give Bishop Gorman an 11-10 victory over Long Beach-Wilson (Calif.).

The game was delayed for roughly 35 minutes when the stadium lights were knocked out at 11:10 p.m. after a Long Beach player unwittingly flipped a switch in the dugout, officials said.

Contact reporter Tristan Aird at taird@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203.