SUNSET BASEBALL: Centennial keeps its cool, heads to final

For six innings Thursday, Centennial’s defense was impeccable, but the Bulldogs booted two balls in the final inning to make things interesting.

Centennial shrugged off the mistakes, and Jake Rogers completed a three-hitter as the Bulldogs topped visiting Cimarron-Memorial 5-1 in the winners’ bracket final of the Sunset Region baseball tournament.

“We’ve been trying to emphasize good defense like everybody does, but we’ve also been trying to emphasize bend but don’t break,” Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone said. “And they bent a little bit in that inning, but we didn’t break.”

After one out, Derek Decolati and Noah Parker reached on consecutive errors to bring the tying run to the on-deck circle.

But Rogers struck out Luis Flores, then got Alexander Marco to ground out to third to end the game.

“I wasn’t really that nervous, because I know that they might boot one, but they’re going to get the next one that comes to them,” Rogers said. “And we ended up pulling it out.”

Centennial (26-9) advances to the championship game at noon Saturday. Should the Bulldogs lose that game, a second game would be played to determine the champion. Bishop Gorman (29-5) plays Palo Verde (19-14) at 4 p.m. Friday at Centennial. The winner faces Cimarron (14-18) at 7 for the right to play Centennial.

“It feels really good, but we’ve still got some work to do,” Rogers said. “We’ve still got to get the last game.”

Rogers, who pitched an inning to get the save in a 5-4 win over Shadow Ridge on Wednesday, needed 97 pitches in his complete game Thursday. He struck out three with one walk.

“I felt good,” Rogers said. “It was just like a little light bullpen before the game. And my arm felt fresh.”

The Bulldogs got him an early lead to help him settle in. Frank Sessa drove in a run with an RBI groundout, and Garrett Holden had an RBI single in the first as Centennial took a 2-0 lead.

“That was really nice coming out in the second inning with a two-run lead,” Rogers said. “It’s always nice pitching with the lead.”

Centennial added an unearned run in the third, then two more in the fifth. Cimarron was nearly out of a bases-loaded jam when reliever Jacob Godman got Tanner Wright to bounce the ball back to the mound. But Godman dropped the ball on the transfer, allowing Kyle Horton to score for a 4-1 lead.

The next batter ripped a line drive to Godman’s twin brother, Jaret, at third base. Jaret Godman snagged the liner, stepped on third to force one runner and fired to first, but Justin Cuddeback couldn’t scoop the low throw to complete the triple play, and the Bulldogs scored another run on an error later in the inning.

Horton was 2-for-4 with two runs, and Holden went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Centennial.

Justin Lucas drove in Cimarron’s run with an RBI single in the third.

Palo Verde 3, Bonanza 2 — Mitchell Rathbun scored on a passed ball with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give the Panthers the win over the Bengals.

Sam Powers led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. He stole second and went to third when the throw from the catcher squirted away from the shortstop.

Bonanza intentionally walked Rathbum and Ryan Merino to bring up Asher Bouldin. Bouldin grounded to short, and Nick DeSoto fired to the plate to get Powers for the first out.

But Micah Higa mishandled the first pitch to the next batter, and Rathbun scored to keep Palo Verde’s season alive.

Bonanza had tied the game in the top of the inning without the benefit of a hit. Chris Dunn walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by third baseman Merino.

Powers went 3-for-4 to lead Palo Verde. Reliever Ryan LaPolla pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief to get the win. He struck out three. He had a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the sixth, and a strikeout with runners at first and second to end the seventh.

Byron Naftzger was 3-for-4 for Bonanza, which finished 18-14.

Bishop Gorman 8, Shadow Ridge 1 — Jack Little fired a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts as the Gaels staved off elimination.

Little took a shutout into the seventh before Quinn Ayers got the Mustangs on the board with a one-out solo homer to left.

Marques Paige was 2-for-2 with a double, two runs and two RBIs to lead Gorman, which scored five runs in the third inning to take control.

Nick Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI, and Nick Israel was 2-for-4 with a run for the Gaels.

Ayers was 2-for-3 for Shadow Ridge, which finished 19-14.

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters