Marinch pitches Panthers into Connie Mack tourney final
Mike Marinch's fastball barely touched 80 mph Friday night.
It was more than enough for the Summerlin Panthers' pitcher to dominate.
Marinch tossed a four-hitter and struck out eight to lead the Panthers into the championship game of the Connie Mack state tournament with a 6-1 win over Spring Valley at the College of Southern Nevada.
Summerlin will face the LV Patriots for the title at 10 a.m. Saturday. If Summerlin wins Saturdayâs first game, a second game will be needed to decide the champion.
Marinch allowed two two-out walks and a single on a fly ball that was lost in the lights by Summerlin right fielder Nolan Erickson in the bottom of the first inning as the Grizzlies took a 1-0 lead.
Marinch recovered to retire the next nine batters in order and give his team time to take the lead.
"He was locating very well," said Panthers coach Dustin Crespo. "He made his pitches when he needed to."
Marinch, who threw 67 of 102 pitches for strikes, mixed in an effective curveball and changeup and often left the Grizzlies' hitters looking uncomfortable.
After the first inning, the Grizzlies didnât get a runner past second base.
The Panthersâ offense broke through in the third inning, sparked by a one-out triple by Blake Porter. Ryan Merino, Sam Powers and Tucker Thomason each had an RBI single in the inning as Summerlin grabbed a 3-1 lead.
Powers added a two-run double in the sixth, and Max Cohler had a run-scoring double in the seventh for the Panthers.
"We've been working all season on getting runners on, moving them over and getting them in," said Crespo, whose team had 11 hits and drew four walks. "We did a really nice job of that today."
Merino was 3-for-3, and Thomason went 3-for-4 with a triple for Summerlin, the tournament's No. 5 seed. Porter and Powers each went 2-for-4.
Jack Sellinger was 2-for-3 for the second-seeded Grizzlies.
LV Grizzlies 5, GV Elite 1 -- In the first game,Sellinger tossed a four-hitter and struck out seven to help the Grizzlies eliminate the top-seeded Elite.
Sellinger walked three, but picked off four runners as the Elite had five runners either thrown out by pickoff or caught stealing.
Sellinger also went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Grizzlies, who erased an early deficit with two runs in the top of the second and three in the top of the third.
J.R. Maldonado was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI for the Grizzlies.
