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Summerlin takes advantage of tired Las Vegas for Connie Mack title

Pitching is always a valuable commodity in late-season baseball games, which is why Summerlin Panthers coach Joe Hallead started Saturday with a good feeling in his gut.

Hallead’s squad had plenty of fresh arms available. The Las Vegas Cats, on the other hand, were out of gas.

The Panthers’ advantage became apparent early, and they went on to roll past the Cats 9-3 in the championship game of the Connie Mack state baseball tournament at the College of Southern Nevada.

“We told the guys before the game that they needed to put some quality at-bats together,” said Hallead, whose team came from the winner’s bracket with more rest and fewer games played. “We knew (the Cats) were out of pitching, so we wanted to make them throw strikes.”

The Cats’ fatigue became apparent early, as starter Brandon Culmo gave up two runs in the first inning. The Panthers had just one hit in the inning, but an error and three walks helped bring the runs across.

That was just the beginning.

Las Vegas burned through three pitchers in the second inning, and Summerlin scored seven runs with the benefit of five hits, two walks, two errors and a hit batsman.

“We knew they were down on arms, so that helped,” said Hallead, who was aware heading in that Las Vegas had exhausted most of its bullpen with two long games on Friday. “But will still knew we were in for a dogfight.”

The Cats’ bullpen settled down to prevent further damage, but Summerlin used a platoon of four pitchers to maintain control. Ryan Meng threw two innings to earn the victory.

“We got some good pitching today,” Hallead said. “Everyone just went out and got the job done. The biggest advantage of staying in the winners’ bracket was that we were able to set up our pitching staff for the tournament. Las Vegas had to use their staff last night.”

Summerlin, which went undefeated in the tourney, sat on its 9-0 lead the rest of the way until Las Vegas scored three runs in the seventh with the help of a key RBI single by Antonio Gaxiola.

But reliever Tanner Lewis eventually retired the side to begin the post-game celebration. Summerlin, which went 9-9 in the regular season, was the lowest seed (No. 6) ever to win the state title.

“We just got hot at the right time,” Hallead said. “That’s what it takes in July.”

Wes Cosby went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk to lead Summerlin’s eight-hit offense. Teammate Scotty Cosby also had two hits.

Fifth-seeded Las Vegas, which was held to five hits, got two singles from David Campbell.

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