Friday, August 05, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
By DAMON SEITERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday, Durango coach Tom Appleyard rolled the dice with his team’s season.
Appleyard called for a squeeze bunt with a 2-2 count, and J.P. Daluz delivered, bringing home the go-ahead run. The Trailblazers went on to defeat Reno 5-3 to stay alive in the American Legion state tournament at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium.
“We hadn’t been hitting the ball,” Appleyard said. “I think we had three hits at that point. We talked a little bit in the dugout, and it was like, `Well, let’s take a chance and see what happens.’ ”
Durango (66-19) and Reno (40-22) will meet again at 8 tonight, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s state championship game against Silverado.
With the game tied 3-3, Kris Cichoski was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh. After a strikeout, Dustin Romero singled and Mike Hammonds was walked intentionally to load the bases.
Daluz came on as a pinch hitter and bunted the 2-2 pitch back to the mound to score the go-ahead run.
“He kind of did a double-take on the sign, but he executed and that was huge,” Appleyard said.
Durango scored twice in the second on an error and an RBI double by Hammonds to take a 2-0 lead. The Trailblazers scored a run in the third on a Niko Vasquez sacrifice fly to make the score 3-0.
Reno tied the game in the sixth when John Rice blasted a three-run homer over the left-field fence.
Four Durango pitchers combined on a seven-hitter, with reliever Jayson McClaren throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win. Appleyard said he can only hope to get a similar performance from his pitchers tonight.
“When you get this deep in this thing, you put an arm out there and hope they can do the job,” he said.
• Silverado 14, Bishop Gorman 1 — Kevin Rath was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and two RBIs to help the Skyhawks (23-14) move to 3-0 in the tournament and gain a berth in the championship game.
“We couldn’t have drawn it up any better than that,” Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. “It’s nice to know that we’re in the title game and we’re excited about that. That’s a great opportunity for our ballclub.”
Kolton Villa was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run, and Kyle Bostick drove in four runs for Silverado.
The Skyhawks’ Chase Bradford pitched the distance, allowing six hits and striking out six in a game shortened to seven innings because of the 10-run rule.
Gorman finished 35-23.