Cimarron squeaks past Gorman in 14

Zack Hall

Thursday, May 11, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.

A strong wind wreaked havoc on the opening day of the Southern Nevada Softball Tournament Wednesday at Sunset Park.

Throughout the day, blowing dirt blinded hitters and forceful winds turned line drives into pop flies, and vice-versa.

The situation was most evident in Cimarron-Memorial's 1-0, 14-inning win over Bishop Gorman.

"We had to change our strategy to try and hit the ball into the ground instead of driving it up in the air and hitting the gaps because they weren't going anywhere," Spartans coach Gary Kaempfer said. "A lot of those balls looked like they were hit hard and they just died."

The Spartans (22-10) attempted 18 bunts in the marathon game to try to combat the wind.

Two players thankful for the wind were the starting pitchers. Cimarron's Kristen Jasper struck out 19 and Gorman's Theresa Liedlich had 17 Ks. Both pitchers threw all 14 innings.

It was Liedlich who got the hard-luck loss.

The game appeared to be headed to a 15th inning when Gorman (6-18) retired the first two Cimarron batters in the 14th.

But the Gaels' defense went on to make two costly errors in the inning.

The first error put Jaime Hughes on first base, and the second allowed Krystian James to reach first, with Hughes advancing to second.

Devon Baxter then slapped a single down the right field line to score Hughes for the game-winner.

"I told (Baxter) before she went to the plate, 'You don't have to pull the ball, if you have to go to right field, go with the pitch,' " Kaempfer said. "We were working on that all day yesterday."

The Gaels let their best scoring opportunities go to waste in the 10th and 11th innings.

In the 10th, pinch-runner Shannon Strout was tagged out at the plate by catcher Nicole Smillie after Liedlich singled with one out and two runners on.

The next inning ended in nearly the same way when Lisa Comastro was nailed at the plate.

"She (Smillie) did a great job," Kaempfer said. "We concentrated on defense as far as throwing the balls accurately so she didn't have to go up and get it or (go) too low in the dirt.

"We took our time, the throws were right on, and she did a good job of blocking the plate."

In Sunrise Region action, the Northeast Division finished the day with a 3-1 record against teams from the Southeast, long considered the powerhouse of Southern Nevada softball.

Las Vegas beat Chaparral 3-0, Valley edged Green Valley 4-2 and Eldorado blanked Basic 10-0. The only exception was a closer-than-expected 4-0 Silverado win over Rancho.

Aside from Cimarron's narrow escape, the Sunrise Region games went as expected, with Durango, Centennial and Bonanza posting lopsided wins.

Basic was the only team eliminated from the double-elimination tournament, losing to Chaparral 4-0. The rest of the elimination games were suspended due to the high winds and will be completed today.