Durango, Cimarron advance in 4A state baseball tourney

Spencer Patterson

Friday, May 21, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

While southern domination was the story once again on Day 1 of this year's 4A State Baseball Tournament Thursday, Northern Nevada's representatives served notice their time may be nearing.

Durango and Cimarron-Memorial got all they could handle from their Reno-area opponents Thursday at UNLV's Wilson Stadium. Yet both local entries emerged victorious, advancing to play each other today.

For Durango, a 7-6 win over Northern Zone champion Reno had plenty of tense moments, including a wild final inning in which an apparent game-tying three-run Huskies homer instead bounced off the top of the wall, keeping the Trailblazers in the lead.

"We didn't play well today, but we're glad to get out of here with a win," Trailblazers coach Mike Gomez said.

As for Cimarron, a lackluster offensive night threatened to spoil ace pitcher Mike Esposito's one-hit shutout in a 3-0 victory over Wooster.

"It's a good thing I started Esposito tonight, or we might be 0-1," said Spartans coach Calvin Valvo, who considered saving the Southern Zone MVP for the second day.

In Game 1, Durango (33-4) had a seemingly comfortable 4-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings. In the sixth, Brandon Perry cracked a solo homer to left to give the Blazers a 7-4 edge.

Perry's shot would prove critical, as the Huskies brought the tying run to the plate with two out in the dramatic seventh.

Kaiser sent Reno's coaches, players and fans into a frenzy, blasting a shot to deep left field. Stopping to watch the ball's flight, Durango outfielder Eric Kitchen gave every indication it would leave the park, then played it off the wall to hold Kasier to a double.

"When I saw Kitchen turn, it was either one heck of a decoy or it was a Fenway Farewell," Gomez said.

With the tying run in scoring position, Sherman struck out Jim Wallace to preserve his complete-game victory.

In the tournament's second game, the Spartans scored three runs off Wooster starter Kevin Rabe in the first inning on RBIs by Esposito, James Nepa and Jared Massanari.

That would be all the scoring.

Esposito took a no-hitter into the seventh before giving up a seeing-eye single to Derek McNeil. The Cimarron right-hander allowed only two Wooster (20-14) runners to reach base and faced just one over the minimum.

But the Spartans' lack of offense spoiled Valvo's plans to pull Esposito from the game early in order to give his ace a better chance of pitching again in the three-day, double-elimination event. By tournament rules, Esposito can work four more innings in the tournament.

Tournament action continues at 2 p.m. today, with Reno taking on Wooster in an elimination game. Durango and Cimarron will square off at 5 p.m.. Game 3, slated for 8 p.m., will pit the Reno/Wooster winner against the Durango/Cimarron winner in another elimination contest.

The state championship will be played Sunday at 10 a.m.

* BLAZERS NARROWLY MISS GOLF TITLE: By the slimmest of margins, Durango finished second Thursday at the 4A State Boys Golf Tournament at Reno's Hidden Valley Country Club.

After two days and 36 holes, the Trailblazers five golfers finished dead even with the Galena Grizzlies at 765. A champion was determined by tiebreaker, with the Grizzlies' sixth golfer besting Durango's sixth man by seven strokes.

Junior Travis Whisman of Galena won his second consecutive individual state title with a two-day total of 138 (69-69) on the par-72 course.

Whisman's nearest competitors, Durango's Randy Creighton and Green Valley's Joey Matyas, finished six and seven shots back, respectively.

* TOP VOLLEYBALL SEEDS REBOUND: After opening-round losses on Wednesday, top seeds Durango and Chaparral stayed alive in the 4A Southern Zone Boys Volleyball Tournament.

The Trailblazers eliminated Cheyenne 15-8, 15-11 while the Cowboys ousted defending champion Basic 15-13, 15-9.

In winner's bracket action, Bonanza downed Western 15-10, 15-11 and Las Vegas held off Green Valley 18-16, 15-6. The tournament continues at Chaparral High School today and Saturday.