Centennial eliminates Silverado with 16-hit attack

They say revenge is a dish best served cold.

Yet while temperatures in Las Vegas these days have no chill, the thought of revenge will be on the minds of Centennial’s American Legion baseball team when it meets the Southern Nevada Blue Sox on Thursday at 8 p.m. in the state tournament.

Centennial scored 12 runs in the first two innings, and used a 16-hit attack in a 16-1 victory Wednesday night at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium, avenging a 6-4 opening-round defeat at the hands of Silverado to eliminate the Hawks.

Now the Bulldogs will be looking for revenge against a Blue Sox team comprised of players from Basic and Green Valley High Schools. During the spring season, Basic defeated Centennial 9-1 to win the high school state crown.

Centennial hasn’t forgotten.

“Absolutely,” Centennial coach Pat Casale said, when asked if his players are thinking about the state title loss more than two months later. “This time going against them, our pitching is going to be solid. I think we’re in a good spot with pitchers.”

That’s because Casale was able to use his staff sparingly against Silverado.

Starter Jacob Rogers threw three hitless innings to earn the victory, improving to 5-0 on the season. Jaden Dudek followed with three innings, scattering four hits and allowing one run, while Eric Nacht tossed one inning and gave up one hit.

Offensively, the Bulldogs (20-16) put together their best performance of the tournament, as nine of the 11 players who batted had at least one hit. Tanner Wright went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Gino Sabey was 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs and Brett Berger, Brian Wyche and Michael Jones each had two hits for the Bulldogs.

“We came out swinging the bats and we executed, versus getting executed. We needed that performance to give confidence to the players,” Casale said. “We’ve had a plan all week. We knew we had to come out Monday and win, and we practiced on Tuesday and we knew had to be prepared for tonight. The goal was to win this game and come out tomorrow night.”

Silverado, which was led by Michael Camburn (2-for-3), while Mitchell Ballard (4-3) took the loss. The Hawks ended their campaign at 17-15.

After three games, the Bulldogs are hitting .402, while they’ve scored 34 runs and have a slugging percentage of .455. Wright and Berger lead the team, each hitting .615, while Wyche is hitting .600. The pitching staff has allowed 11 earned runs over 25 innings for an ERA of 3.96. Though Casale has plenty of healthy arms, and he’s confident with Rogers starting for a second straight night, Centennial’s pitchers will have their hands full against an aggressive lineup that can spray the ball.

Behind an impressive offensive display, the Blue Sox (48-11) are 2-0 in the state tournament thus far. In defeating Liberty and Silverado, the Blue Sox have scored 16 runs and are hitting .364 with eight extra base hits, including three home runs - all in the opening round. Ryne Nelson is leading the charge, hitting .556, while Cory Wills is hitting .500. The pitching staff has allowed six runs, but only one has been earned, as it boasts a 0.50 ERA. Starters Trent Bixby and CJ Dornak have been lights out for the Sox, but coach Scott Baker will hand the ball to Nelson, who makes his first trip to the hill in the tournament.

“They’re a great hitting team - Basic is Basic - and they’re No. 1,” Casale said. “They’re the best team to look out for. But I think our core nine or 10 guys are as good as any in town when they play their A-game. We have a shot now. We have plenty of pitching for tomorrow night, and if we get through tomorrow night we’ll be solid for Friday.”

CORONADO 11, DURANGO POST 76 1 —- Jake McLean led the Cougars, going 3-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBIs, while Noah Hemphill was 2-for-4 with one run and three RBIs. Coronado (10-15) stroked 13 hits, and scored six runs in the first two innings to set the tone.

Cougars starter Hayden Cochran (2-0) went seven innings, scattering eight hits and allowing just one earned run.

Durango Post 76 (30-41-1) was led by Renae Lara (3-for-4) and Adam Niederman was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Anthony Ramirez (3-9) took the loss.