Title-tested Gorman stays atop Legion summit

Four was an important number for Bishop Gorman's American Legion baseball team Saturday night.

The Gaels broke through in the fourth inning with three runs to take the lead against Coronado and held on to defeat the Cougars 4-3 in the state championship game at UNLV's Wilson Stadium. The Gaels now have won the last four state titles -- two high school and two American Legion.

Gorman (55-20) advanced to the Western Regional tournament, which begins Thursday in Kearns, Utah.

"One of the things we've preached to (our players) is at some point in a tournament you're going to have to come from behind, and tonight we did it," Gorman coach Chris Sheff said.

The Gaels trailed 2-0 in the fourth when Jeff Malm was hit by a pitch and went all the way to third on an errant pickoff throw by Brandon Evans.

John Rickard then singled home Malm. One out later, Evans walked Paul Sewald and gave way to Javy Perez, who was making his fourth appearance of the tournament. Perez won all three of Coronado's tournament games in relief, but he had no magic Saturday.

Perez got Johnny Field to ground into a fielder's choice, but he walked Taylor Cole and gave up a two-run single to Erik VanMeetren as the Gaels took a 3-2 lead.

Gorman added a run in the fifth when Joey Rickard led off with a double into the gap in left center. He went to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Malm's sacrifice fly.

Malm also slammed the door on the mound, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn a save. He allowed one hit, struck out six and pitched out of a couple of jams.

"Jeff was tremendous with runners in scoring position," Sheff said. "He really beared down and got some big outs."

Coronado (20-10) scored a run in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3 but missed a golden opportunity for a comeback. The first three batters reached to load the bases for cleanup hitter Tim Arthur. Donn Roach struck out Arthur but walked Perez to force in Evans. Malm replaced Roach and struck out Eddie Detwiler and Ty Wagonseller to end the inning.

"We had fresh arms," Sheff said. "We had Malm and we had Cole sitting there, and we just didn't want to take Donnie too long because it seemed like he was working hard all throughout the first five innings. And Jeff just came in and did a great job."

Coronado threatened again in the eighth when Josh Bryan hit a one-out double. But Malm came through again, getting Arthur to pop out and striking out pinch hitter Andrew Gans.

The Cougars scored a run in each of the first two innings to take the lead with the help of four Gorman errors. The Gaels finished with five errors.

"You look at the scoreboard and see five errors and you don't think you're going to win a game 4-3," Sheff said. "We've had situations where our defense has put us in a hole, and our arms have stepped up and pulled us out of them."