Friday, Aug. 4, 2000 | 10:31 a.m.
The preliminaries are over.
After six days and 12 games, the top two seeds in this week's American Legion State Baseball Tournament are set to meet in the championship game, with the summer season's grand prize hanging in the balance.
No. 1 Durango (59-17) and No. 2 Cimarron-Memorial (39-8) will take the field at UNLV's Wilson Stadium Saturday at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to play in next week's Western Regional Tournament in Ogden, Utah.
The Spartans cruised into the finals with a 20-5 win over Cheyenne in Thursday's early game, while the Trailblazers rallied for a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Basic in the nightcap.
"It doesn't happen that way very often," Durango coach Tom Appleyard said, referring to the 1-vs.-2 matchup. "Usually there's upsets along the way, and there have been some really good ballgames, but the upsets didn't happen.
"Either team can win Saturday's game. If we don't come out to play Cimarron can beat us, and if they don't come out to play we can beat them."
Said C-M coach Bill Rodriguez: "Durango is probably the best team out here. All we want to do is hang with them and maybe something can go our way."
After cruising through their first two tournament games, the Trailblazers were pushed to the limit on Thursday night before rallying for their win over No. 4 Basic.
The Wolves (31-15) took advantage of two Durango errors in the first inning, scoring a pair of unearned runs to take a 2-0 lead.
From there, Basic starter Jared Prisbrey silenced the Blazers' normally potent lineup, holding the regular-season champs to one unearned run through the first six innings.
But with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Durango's offense finally got going, with a little help from the Wolves. Prisbrey walked Jeff Jacobsen and Danny Kelly, and Basic first baseman Matt Elliott committed consecutive fielding and throwing errors on a ground ball to bring the tying run to the plate.
Moments later, Adam Klestinec roped a double down the left-field line, giving Durango its 4-2 lead.
"I thought Prisbrey threw really well all night, and we were struggling hitting the ball," Appleyard said. "We were hoping we would hit the ball someplace and do something, but it was hard to string anything together tonight."
Trailblazers starter Jeff Jacobsen made the two-run advantage stand up, tossing 151 pitches for the tournament's second nine-inning complete game. The 6-7 right-hander limited the Wolves to four hits and eight walks, striking out 11 batters along the way.
"Basically, it's my year to step up," said Jacobsen, who will be a junior in the fall. "I knew I needed to stay in the game. Basic is a very good team, but I felt good tonight."
Klestinec went 3-for-4 with his game-winning double to lead Durango, but the heart of the Blazers' order -- Brent Johnson, Coltyn Simmons, Chris Kelly and Nate Bumstead -- combined for a 1-for-14 night at the plate.
Basic's Micah Schnurstein wound up 2-for-5 in the losing cause.
In the early game, Cimarron pounded out 19 hits -- including 11 for extra bases -- to knock the Desert Shields (29-26) out of the tournament.
Mike Luczynski went 3-for-5 with two homers, a double and seven RBIs, running his three-game tournament total to a whopping 14 runs driven in.
Brent Ashton also continued his torrid state tournament showing, going 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Jeremy Reese was another major offensive contributor for the Spartans, finishing 4-for-5 with a solo homer and four runs scored.
Jason Ruiz wound up 4-for-4 with five runs scored and four RBIs, while Roy Ratcliff ended the night 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
"That was our goal, to get them to hit and to get them more confident (at the plate)," said Rodriguez, whose club is batting a gaudy .471 in the tournament as a team. "That made the biggest difference -- the confidence."
Both teams will have their choice of pitchers for Saturday's title contest, with Brent Johnson and E.J. Shanks both well rested for the Trailblazers and Jake Vose and Brad Thompson fresh for the Spartans.
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