DESERT CLASSIC: Malm’s no-hitter helps Bishop Gorman baseball team win 16th straight

There isn’t much Jeff Malm hasn’t accomplished as a Bishop Gorman baseball player.

He has won three straight Class 4A state titles, an American Legion World Series and Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year award and played for the U.S. Junior National team.

But before Saturday, he hadn’t pitched a no-hitter for the Gaels. His first came in the Blue Division title game of the Bishop Gorman Desert Classic.

Malm struck out seven in his third complete game of the season, Johnny Field and Erik Van Meetren homered, and Gorman handed Foothill (Calif.) a 10-0 loss in five innings at the College of Southern Nevada.

If not for walking Foothill leadoff batter Eduardo Diaz in the first inning, Malm would have pitched a perfect game. Malm said he was “not at all” thinking about the no-hitter.

“Leading off the game with a walk, I just never really thought about it,” said Malm, who has signed with Southern California. “The main thing is that we won to keep the streak going.”

Ranked 11th nationally by Baseball America, Gorman (17-3) has won 16 straight games. The Gaels piled up 54 runs and 56 hits in their four tournament wins.

“He was hitting his spots and working ahead,” Field said of Malm (4-1), who lowered his ERA to 1.01. “They couldn’t touch him today.”

The Gaels scored seven runs in a second inning highlighted by Field’s three-run homer to left-center field with two outs.

“At that point, we were up 4-0 and it’s still a ballgame, and he kind of puts the slam on it,” Gorman coach Chris Sheff said of Field’s home run.

Van Meetren led off the fifth with a homer to left to end the game by the 10-run rule.

R.J. Santigate was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Joey Rickard tripled for Gorman, which has scored 10 or more runs in 14 of its past 16 games.

“We’ve just been playing great lately,” Field said. “Everyone’s hitting, everyone’s clutching up. We’ve got all the confidence in the world.”

Cimarron-Memorial 13, Taylorsville (Utah) 10 — At Cimarron, Dyllon Nuernberg hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give the Spartans the win in the Blue Division’s third-place game.

Kris Kaplan was 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs, and Kody Gorden had a double, a triple and two RBIs for Cimarron.

Eldorado 11, Olympus (Utah) 0 — At Eldorado, Alan Guerrero hit a grand slam to highlight a seven-run fourth inning as the Sundevils dominated Olympus in five innings.

Eric Larsen was 2-for-3 with two runs, and Jared Hoven went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run for Eldorado.

Nelson Herrera tossed a four-hitter with two strikeouts to get the win.

Jordan (Utah) 10, Rancho 4 — At Rancho, Kelton Caldwell had a home run, a double and three RBIs to lead the Beetdiggers over the Rams.

Rancho’s Brandon Pletsch had a triple and three RBIs, and Zak Qualls and Justin Neubauer each added two hits for the Rams.

Kearns (Utah) 5, Shadow Ridge 4 — At Rancho, the Cougars scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and held on to edge the Mustangs.

Bruce Butler and Jordan Blaylock each went 2-for-3 for Shadow Ridge.