Reno uses early onslaught to eliminate Durango

Durango’s baseball team took the field Tuesday hoping to extend its season with a win over Reno.

By the end of the second inning, it was clear that that was not going to happen.

The Knights scored three runs in the first inning and four more in the second, and cruised to a 15-3 seven-inning victory over Post 76 in the second round of the American Legion state tournament at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium.

Starter Cooper Krug went the distance for Reno, holding Post 76 to six hits while striking out six.

“It all started with our pitcher,” said Reno coach Pete Savage said. “He had a good fastball, a good breaking ball and good command.”

Durango wasted no time in digging a hole, committing two first-inning errors behind starter Brayden Williams, who walked the first two hitters and later surrendered a solo home run to Reno’s Jeremy Peterson

The onslaught continued in the second, with the Knights making the most of two hits and four walks to extend their lead to 7-0.

“You never want to let them back in the game,” Savage said. “You just try to win every pitch at that point, and we did a pretty decent job of that.”

Durango’s John Wright had an RBI single in the fourth, and Richard Mascarenas drove in a run with a fifth-inning double as Post 76 cut its deficit to 8-3.

But the Knights (35-14-2) scored five runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to put it away.

Peterson went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs to lead the Reno offense.

Bishop Gorman 5, Liberty 4 —The Titans broke the late game open with a three-run seventh inning and held on for a 5-4 victory over the Patriots.

Matt Mitchell tossed eight strong innings to lead Gorman (35-9-2), holding Liberty to seven hits and logging a pair of strikeouts. Teammate Matt Hudgins went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Hudgins broke a 2-2- tie with a two-run double in Gorman’s big seventh, and teammate Myles Denson drove in another run in the inning with a double to give the Titans a 5-2 lead.

The Patriots (25-7) threatened in the bottom of the seventh, cutting their deficit to 5-3 on an RBI single by Nicholas Woolery. But Mitchell escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to end the inning.

Jesse Keiser’s sacrifice fly in the ninth made it 5-4, but Gorman reliever Cadyn Grenier shut Liberty down from there to earn the save.

Brandon Soratos went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI to lead the Patriots, who will play Reno in an elimination game at 8 p.m. Wednesday