Josh Sharman and Dustin Mansell combined on a four-hitter to lead the Desert Oasis Aces to an 8-0 win over Greeley (Colorado) in the American Legion Western Regional in Denver.
Izzy Gutierrez threw 6⅔ innings and only allowed one earned run as the Aces knocked off California’s state champion 3-2 in the opener of the regional tournament in Denver on Wednesday.
The region tournament pits Desert Oasis against the state champions from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, with an additional team from Colorado. The regional winner advances to the American Legion World Series.
Meeting for the third consecutive year for the American Legion state championship, after splitting the previous two, the Desert Oasis Aces won their second title in three years, defeating the Southern Nevada Blue Sox, 10-9, Wednesday night at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium.
The Blue Sox batted around in the first and fourth innings and crushed the Henderson Cougars 16-2 at UNLV’s Wilson Stadium.
Leading 4-3, the Aces scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth and five more in the sixth for a 13-3 victory over the Cougars.
Edarian Williams went 2-for-3 with a double, a grand slam, two runs and four RBIs to lead the Las Vegas Aces to a 12-2 victory over the Southern Nevada Blue Sox in a rematch of the last two state championship games
After falling behind 1-0, the Aces scored seven in the bottom half of the first inning and rolled to a 15-1 win over the Longhorns in the American Legion state tournament.
Led by Parker Schmidt, Chaison Miklich, Jason Sharman and Josh Sharman, the Aces have their sights set on getting back to the American Legion state title game, after losing to Basic in the final last season.
Southern Nevada’s Connie Mack all-stars endured a 14-0 loss to Danville Hoots in Huntington Beach, California on Friday in Western Regional qualifying play.