RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
POSTED: May 8, 2012
Prepare for some fireworks in this week’s Northern 4A Region baseball tournament. The top three teams beat up each other during the regular season, and the lower-seeded teams have the confidence and makeup to pull off the upset.
As a result, top-seeded McQueen (17-3) won’t be a clear-cut favorite going into today’s four first-round games at the higher-seeded schools. Second-seeded Reno (16-4) has beaten third-seeded Bishop Manogue (15-5) twice this season, but the Miners knocked off the Lancers two times, limiting them to three combined runs in the two games.
“The top three teams are all anyone’s guess,” McQueen coach Carlos Madrid said. “ (Bishop) Manogue has three very good juniors, as well as a very consistent supporting cast behind their three main guys. I feel like their starting pitching will be a huge advantage for them in this tournament.
“Reno is Reno, and how well can you really ‘handle’ Reno?
“Yes, we’ve done a good job against them so far, but this is a whole new season, and we all know that a Pete Savage-coached team, as well as Charles Oppio-coached team, is going to be prepared for the bright lights of regionals.”
Manogue coach Oppio said the depth of the league should make for an interesting postseason tournament.
“The whole league’s good,” he said. “We can beat anybody, and anybody can beat us.”
McQueen begins the double-elimination tournament against eighth-seeded Douglas, which outlasted defending regional champion Spanish Springs for the final postseason berth. The Tigers played McQueen nearly even in their two regular-season games, losing 1-0 and 7-6.
“Douglas is a huge concern for us,” Madrid said. “We only won the first game because (McQueen’s) player of the year Christian Stolo threw a no-hitter.
“They are a young, talented, scrappy, hungry team that is looking to make a statement by beating the No. 1 team.”
Stolo and Anthony Calton are the spark plugs on a senior-laden McQueen club. Calton led the league with a .542 batting and .983 slugging averages and has four home runs and a league-best 32 runs scored this spring. Stolo has been McQueen’s most dependable pitcher, leading the league in record (6-0) and complete games (four). He also posted a 1.97 earned run average and recorded 57 strikeouts in 39 innings.
The Lancers, however, have steamrolled the competition in the weeks leading up to regionals, routing Spanish Springs, 10-0, and North Valleys, 13-0 and 21-6. But Madrid is expecting to run into a more well-rounded club in Douglas.
“They have good pitching, and their hitters do a good job at putting the ball in play and applying pressure to the other team’s defense,” Madrid said. “It should be a very tough game for us.”
The McQueen-Douglas winner will advance to play the Carson-Galena survivor on Wednesday.
Reno opens the tournament against Reed (9-11), a club the Huskies handily defeated in two meetings, 9-2 and 10-0, on May 1 and 2.
Manogue gave the Lancers the most trouble among the top teams. Manogue owns 4-3 and 6-0 wins over McQueen, but has struggled against the Huskies, losing two of three games. If Reno and Manogue win their opening-round games, they will meet Wednesday at Reno.
“They are not on our radar right now,” Oppio said of the Lancers and Huskies. “We have such a tough game (today).”
Manogue first must get past Damonte Ranch (10-10), which upset the Miners during a two-game series last week. The Mustangs won 5-3, then dropped a 6-5 heartbreaker the following day.
Left-hander Patrick Wolfe is expected to start for the Mustangs, attempting to duplicate his big win over the Miners last time out. Behind Wolfe’s three-hit, seven-strikeout performance, the Mustangs ended the Miners’ 28-game home winning streak.
“He’s one of the best in our league,” Oppio said. “We have our work cut out for us.”
The Miners are led by junior pitcher Devonte German (4-1, 1.42 ERA), who has 76 strikeouts in 54 innings. German, who also is batting .427, is one of five Manogue juniors who started last year when the team went to the regional finals. Junior M.J. Farthing leads the Miners in hitting with a .439 average.
The eight teams in the Northern regional are playing for two spots in the state tournament May 17-19 at Peccole Park.
Games today and Wednesday are at the higher seeds before the tournament shifts to Bishop Manogue and Carson high schools on Thursday, then finishes at Manogue on Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s finale is set for noon and a second game will follow if necessary.