Nannini silences Gorman

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, March 25, 1998 | 9:37 a.m.

There might not have been anything tangible on the line in Tuesday's non-conference baseball game between Bishop Gorman and Green Valley, but don't tell that to Gators' coach Roger Fairless.

After watching his top-ranked team rally from a three-run deficit in the sixth inning, Fairless sent staff ace Mike Nannini -- generally considered the top pitcher in southern Nevada -- into the game to shut down the Gaels.

Even though the right-hander threw on Saturday. Even though the conference season starts Thursday. And even though a win over second-ranked Gorman would get the Gators no closer to their ultimate goal of winning a sixth consecutive 4A state title.

"I felt that they'd come back pretty hard to get back into the game, and I wanted to give them a fair chance to win it," Fairless said.

The move paid off, as the hard-throwing Nannini silenced a Gorman lineup that had produced four home runs in a contest affected by heavy winds at Hadland Park. The senior struck out five of the seven Gaels he faced, paving the way for the visitors' wild 11-9 victory.

"It's real tough," Gorman coach Tim Chambers said. "We see a couple of soft throwing lefties, and then they bring him in as its getting dark. I felt like if we would have held the lead, we probably wouldn't have seen him."

Gaels' pitcher Nate Fouts nearly prevented the late-inning drama, striking out the first two batters he faced in the sixth with his team up 9-6. But a pair of walks and back-to-back singles by Joe Orloski and Matt Stratton knotted things up for Green Valley (8-1).

And after Nannini (3-0) stranded Gorman's Jason van Meetren at second in the bottom of the sixth, the visitors struck for the winning runs to take their first lead since the opening inning.

Once again, the Gaels (8-2) nearly escaped unscathed, thanks to second baseman Dallas Pollaro's unassisted double play. But Ben Schiess' bloop single to short left scored Dan Krynzel from third to put Green Valley over the top.

"They showed a lot of character tonight," Fairless said. "We made a lot of mistakes, but we fought back against a very good baseball team. They could have laid down, but they battled back at the plate."

The defeat -- Gorman's first since an opening day 2-1 loss at Silverado -- spoiled a brilliant offensive day for the Gaels, who pounded out 11 hits, including seven for extra bases.

Van Meetren led the charge for the hosts, homering in his first two at-bats and coming up with the only hit off Nannini, a double in the seventh inning.

Pollaro and Ryan Selleck also added home runs for Gorman, while freshman Garrett Guzman blasted a shot over the fence for Green Valley.

* ELSEWHERE: Jeff Perrone knocked in the game's winning run with a single in the sixth inning, leading host Bonanza (5-3) to a 9-6 victory over Chaparral (4-3). ... Silverado (4-3) blasted 27 hits, including nine doubles, in a 26-1 rout of host Clark (1-7). The Skyhawks got a two-hitter from Jason Vita and four hits apiece from Vincent Valliente, Brandon Perry and James Wickman. ... Allen Camacho went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, and Tommy Krier drove in two runs to lead host Cheyenne (4-3) over Basic (3-4).

* SOFTBALL: Bishop Gorman junior Nicole Koval threw a no-hitter to lead the Gaels to a 2-1 victory over visiting Green Valley. ... Durango freshman Aja Sherman tossed her second no-hitter of the season to help the host Trailblazers to a 9-4 win over Valley.