Cimarron avoids upset bid by Western

Zack Hall

Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

Some people questioned the inclusion of the Western High baseball team in this year's 4A Sunset Region Tournament, given its 8-18 record.

But the Warriors proved their case by almost pulling off the biggest upset of the season, only to fall to Cimarron-Memorial 3-2 in the ninth inning at Durango on Wednesday night.

Cimarron advances to play Bishop Gorman, which beat Palo Verde 3-1 on the same field.

Spartans (19-4) starter Jino Gonzalez struck out 16 batters in seven innings but was matched by Warrior left-hander Tom LaFronz, who pitched six innings, surrendering only one earned run.

"They played a great game tonight," said Spartans coach Calvin Valvo. "Guys were diving around making great plays. You've got to give them credit, they played with a lot of savvy and had nothing to lose.

"I think our kids took it for granted that this game was going to be easier than it was."

Cimarron stranded 16 runners in the first eight innings, for the most part unable to capitalize on Western's first six errors. It was the seventh error that killed the Warriors' upset bid.

In the bottom of the ninth, Cimarron's Robert Grana was on second and Matt Wagner was on first with only one out. Pitcher Shawn Taylor attempted to pick off Grana from second, but nobody covered the bag and the ball went into center field. That allowed Grana to advance to third, forcing the infield and outfield to play in.

Jason Ruiz lifted a ball into right field that likely would have been caught if the outfield was playing at regular depth but instead fell for the game-winning hit.

"We're not the greatest hitting team in the world but we'll battle," Valvo said. "The last couple games we've been pressing a little bit and tonight we were pressing. We didn't strike out a lot tonight but it seemed like they would come at the most inopportune moments."

In the day's earlier game, the Gaels (18-14) showed that they are a team that could be dangerous, especially when Pepperdine signee Brandon Boesch pitches.

Boesch pitched a complete game three-hitter, striking out five. His only mistake was a fourth-inning home run by Ryan Reeves.

"I felt really good today," Boesch said. "It's days like today I wake up and have goose bumps in the morning when I get out of bed. It's so fun to play zone baseball in this town with the amount of great competition down here."

Palo Verde's (12-14) Eric Newman nearly equaled Boesch's performance but was tagged with two runs, one of which was unearned, in the first inning.

In the fourth, Newman gave up three consecutive singles to put Gaels catcher Cooper Fouts on third base before throwing a wild pitch that scored Gorman's third run.

Gorman will play Cimarron at 10 a.m. Saturday at Durango in the winner's bracket game. Palo Verde will meet Western Friday at 4 p.m. in loser's bracket action.