Cimarron rally caps wild Legion affair

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1998 | 1:38 a.m.

As he drove to UNLV's Wilson Field on Monday afternoon, Cimarron-Memorial's Colby Hyt wasn't entertaining notions of playing in his team's American Legion State Tournament game. He simply wanted to be there.

Instead Hyt, who arrived at UNLV's Wilson Stadium in the eighth inning, found himself suiting up, stepping to the plate and taking part in a wild eight-run comeback to help the Spartans defeat Durango, 15-13, in 11 innings.

"As soon as I got here, they needed me," said Hyt, who had an appointment he couldn't miss in the morning. "I was getting dressed while guys on my team were hitting (in the eighth)."

Cimarron's rally was especially shocking considering the Spartans came within three feet of not even coming to bat in the eighth inning.

With the Trailblazers ahead 12-4 and two men on base, Durango outfielder James Burgess sent a long fly ball to left field. Cimarron's Mike Esposito made the catch against the wall, ending the inning and preventing the 10-run mercy rule from halting the contest.

"After that ball didn't make it out, the guys said, "Let's come back and win it," Cimarron coach Bill Rodriguez said.

The Spartans took the first step toward that goal in the bottom of the eighth, sending 13 men to the plate against three different Durango pitchers. Ten singles, including a two-out shot by Hyt, evened the score at 12.

"We didn't think (Hyt) would be here at all, but the game lasted so long," said Rodriguez, who found himself running out of players as the contest wore on. "(Hyt) changed the complexity of the game."

After the two clubs traded runs in the ninth, the Spartans finally ended the wild 42-hit affair with two runs in the 11th. James Nepa provided the big blow, a double to left, and Cimarron got help in the form of a throwing error by shortstop Eric Kitchen.

Despite the win, the Spartans failed to advance to the semifinal round, losing a tiebreaker to Durango and Reno. All three teams finished with 2-1 records in pool play, but Cimarron allowed the most runs in its three contests.

"We knew our situation," Rodriguez said. "We could have come out here and died, but we wanted to win."

Mike Esposito (7-1) picked up the victory, while Brent Ashton earned the save.

Ashton also had the most productive day at the plate for the victors, going 5-for-6, while Durango shortstop Jack Newark was 4-for-5 with five RBI before leaving the game with a pulled groin.

Durango ends round-robin play as the Pool A runner-up and will face Silverado in one semifinal at 4:45 p.m. today.

* Silverado 8, Bishop Gorman 6: The Skyhawks finished atop Pool B behind five innings of scoreless, one-hit relief from James Vita (10-0). Silverado roughed up Gorman starter Jason Van Meetren, tallying seven earned runs off the right-hander in the first 6 1/3 innings. Ryan Ruiz hit a three-run homer for the victors, while teammate James Wickman went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Gorman, the runner-up in Pool B, will play Reno in the second semifinal at 8 p.m. tonight.

* Green Valley 18, Las Vegas 8: The Gators posted back-to-back seven-run innings in the fifth and sixth, only to get knocked out of the tournament when Silverado won. Ben Schiess (3-for-4, 3 RBI), Billy Schmitt (3-for-4, 2 RBI), Justin Gentile (2-for-2, 2 RBI) and John Slack (2-for-3, 2 RBI, four runs) led the assault for Green Valley, while David Krynzel picked up the victory.

* Reno 9, Western 5: The Knights captured the Pool A top seed and advanced to the semifinal round with the victory. Kevin Bills, who led the state in homers during the 1998 high school season, was 2-for-4 with three RBI for Reno, while Pat Connors went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored for the Warriors.