Aces top Cougars, move to 3-0 in Legion tourney

The Desert Oasis Aces had their hands full with the Henderson Cougars on Monday in the American Legion state tournament, for three innings.

Then the Aces went to work.

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. Eight of the nine batters who hit for the Aces scored at least one run.

With the win, the Aces remained undefeated and will play the the Silverado Hawks at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The Cougars will face the the Southern Nevada Blue Sox in the first game at 5:30 p.m.

UNLV signee Edarian Williams went 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs, Israel Gutierrez was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Chaison Miklich went 1-for-3 with a run and three RBIs. Miklich also scattered four hits over 3⅓ innings while allowing just one run to earn the victory.

“I think we just kind of come to these games knowing we’re confident we can win no matter what,” said Miklich, who is hitting .444 with two home runs in the tournament. “We don’t really press and we’re kind of just having fun.”

Having fun to the tune of a .493 batting average through three games.

Williams and Parker Schmidt both are hitting .500 for the Aces, having each gone 5-for-10 with two doubles.

“I’m just trying to keep my same approach, same swing, not do too much, just help this team out, that’s what I’m here for,” said Williams, who graduated from Rancho. “I’ve known most of the (Aces) for the last couple of years, so it’s easy to blend in now and just do what I do — go play ball.”

Ryan Kiernan was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Michael Stella, who was 2-for-2 with a run for the Cougars.

Silverado 12, Centennial 6 — Dax Fellows, Jarod Hill and Zach Johnson each collected three hits as the Hawks eliminated the Bulldogs.

Fellows and Hill each scored twice. Starter Austin Whittaker earned the win after allowing five runs on five hits and six walks over 4⅔ innings. Christopher Cortez got the save, lasting two innings and giving up one run on three hits.

Austin Krysczcuk and Samuel Simon each had two hits for the Bulldogs.

Southern Nevada Blue Sox 4, Reno 0 — Nick Thompson fired a three-hit shutout as the Blue Sox eliminated the Knights.

Thompson struck out six and retired the last 11 batters he faced. Ryan Murphy went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI, and Kyle Turner was 2-for-3 with a run to lead the Blue Sox offensively.

Caden Grogan was 2-for-3 for the Knights.