Gorman opens with 13-5 win

Spencer Patterson

Friday, April 13, 2001 | 10:19 a.m.

Last week, Bishop Gorman's baseball team learned the hard way that hosting a prep baseball tournament doesn't guarantee success in the event, dropping all four games in its own Desert Classic, three to clubs from Miami, Fla.

On Thursday, the Gaels made sure they wouldn't suffer the same fate in this week's Bishop Gorman/Valley Easter Classic, opening the 46-team extravaganza with a 13-5 win over Pleasant Grove (Utah) at Peccole Park.

"It's a good way to start off," Gorman coach Ken White said. "Pleasant Grove is always a good baseball club, very well coached. It's nice to beat a team you really respect like that."

The Gaels, ranked 10th in this week's Sun statewide poll, flexed their muscles at the plate, belting 15 hits -- including seven doubles -- off a parade of four Viking pitchers.

"We're starting to swing the bats a little better," White said. "Hitting is something we've really been stressing."

Gorman scored a pair of runs in the first, then broke the game open with a four-run third and a three-run fourth. Gaels catcher Cooper Fouts led the charge with back-to-back doubles, knocking home a run and scoring two more, while Chris Brown (4-for-4) contributed RBI singles in the third and fourth. Greg Marshall also had a pair of doubles for the victors.

Sophomore right-hander Russ Warthen did the rest, holding the Utah squad to two runs in five innings to improve to 6-1 on the season. Brian Young worked the final two innings, and the Gaels added four more runs in the sixth to salt away the win.

The Gaels (14-8) also picked up a win in the nightcap, outlasting The Bishop School (Calif.) 4-3. Gorman got all four runs in the first inning on a two-RBI single by Fouts and a two-run double by Brown (2-for-3), and pitchers Paul Schmitt and Matt Peters made it stand up.

In other Easter Classic games involving local teams Thursday, it was Chaparral 10, Orange (Calif.) 0; Chaparral 12, Arapahoe (Colo.) 1; Birmingham (Calif.) 10, Valley 2; Littlerock (Calif.) 20, Rancho 5; Palo Verde 4, Gardena (Calif.) 1; Western 3, Kennedy (Calif.) 2, Silverado 8, Antelope Valley (Calif.) 1; San Fernando (Calif.) 12, Desert Pines 5; Desert Pines 11, San Francisco University 10 and Eldorado 11, Olympus (Utah) 2. Western and Santa Monica (Calif.) also played to a 6-6 tie in a game ended by a time limit.

The Wolves (16-7) upended Elk Grove (Calif.) 9-4 in the semifinals, then rallied for a 7-5 win over Eastlake (Calif.) in the finale. Basic trailed 3-0 after the first inning, but scored six in the third, taking the lead for good on a two-run double by Micah Schnurstein.

"When they jumped out on us, we didn't die," Wolves coach Mike Kazek said. "We came right back."

Junior pitcher Matt Elliott earned the tournament's MVP award after earning a win and a save and striking out 11 batters in 9 2/3 innings. Schnurstein went 9-for-18 in the tourney with a grand slam, and Mark Rose finished the five-game sweep 11-for-17.