Las Vegas Knights II hang onto lead, oust Canyon Springs

Las Vegas Knights II manager Mike Oliver watched his team squander a 9-1 lead Saturday in the opening round of the American Legion State Tournament at Durango, and eventually lose to Silverado, 20-17.

So when the Knights jumped out to a 12-4 lead against Canyon Springs on Monday, Oliver told his team one thing: "Keep the foot on the gas and don't let up at all."

His squad from Bishop Gorman held on to defeat the Pioneers, 17-8, and stay alive in the double-elimination event.

"We knew that was a tough loss for us," Oliver said of the opener against Silverado. "Defense wins ball games, we know that. We didn't do that Saturday, and we didn't do it very well tonight, either.

"Thankfully tonight our bats showed up tonight and we were able to ride that."

The mistake-riddled game saw the teams commit a combined eight errors, but the Knights used 14 hits to outlast Canyon Springs.

"It's been a concern for us all season long," Oliver said after his team committed six errors Monday. "We have guys playing out of position right now, so we're just trying to ride that storm and outhit our mistakes."

Braxton Wehrle went 4-for-7 with three runs and two RBIs to lead the Knights (15-23) offensively. Bradley Doerpinghaus was 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs for the Knights.

Starter Christian Turner (3-5) got the win, as he scattered eight hits and allowed two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Angelo Hallenbeck was 3-for-5 with three RBIs for Canyon Springs, which finished 1-21. The Pioneers had 12 hits and made two errors.

Trailing 14-5 heading into the eighth, Canyon Springs put a scare into Oliver, as four of its first five hitters reached — three on hits and one by error — while cutting the Knights' lead to 14-8. Though reliever James Cummings struck out the final two batters to stop the bleeding, Oliver conceded that Silverado's come-from-behind victory began haunting him.

"It did come across my mind and I just knew we needed to collect outs," he said. "It's just been a struggle all season long with that. It's fundamentals."

The Knights tacked on three in their half of the eighth to put the game out of reach and provide the final margin.

Las Vegas Knights I 15, Silverado 5 — A pair of grand slams powered the top-seeded Knights (42-8-1) to a victory in the winners' bracket.

Beau Capanna hit a grand slam in the second inning, and Nick Hernandez duplicated the feat in the third.

Capanna was 3-for-4 with four runs and four RBIs, and Myles Denson when 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run for the Knights. Hernandez went 2-for-5 with four RBIs.

Knights' starter Parker Aquino (4-0) allowed three hits in five scoreless innings to get the win.

Silverado (20-11) got two home runs from Dillon Johnson.