Taylor, Western ambush top-seeded Basic, 11-7

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Aug. 6, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

American Legion State Tournament

Saturday's results

Sunday's results

Today's games

Tuesday's Games

In an event filled with upsets, the Western Warriors pulled off the biggest stunner so far at the 2001 American Legion State Tournament Sunday night.

The Warriors, seeded eighth in the eight-team field, toppled top-seeded Basic -- the regular season champion -- 11-7 at Durango High School.

Western (15-10), which had to play its way into the event with three wins at last week's District Tournament, became the third team to defeat a lower seed in four first-round contests.

"That's a very big win for us," Western coach Justin Martinez said. "We're starting to put it all together, and I think we're on a good roll."

The Warriors won behind starting pitcher Shaun Taylor. The graduated senior threw 149 pitches before giving way to reliever Tommy LaFronz in the ninth inning. Taylor allowed seven runs -- two earned -- and struck out 11 batters.

"I pitched in a lot of games this summer, so I'm used to it," Taylor said. "We've had pitching all year. Now our bats and defense are coming along."

After seeing a 4-1 lead evaporate when Basic (27-8) scored four fourth-inning runs, Western quickly got its offense going again. The Warriors tied the score with a run in the sixth and took control of the game with four more in the seventh.

"We had a meeting after they took the lead, and we said, 'It's a nine-inning game, and a nine-inning game is a lot different. You get a lot more at-bats in nine innings,' " Martinez said.

Jordaan Boesch provided the big hit in the seventh -- a two-run triple to right field -- and Mark Radcliffe gave Western some insurance in the eighth with a towering two-run homer to deep left field.

Boesch and Radcliffe finished with three hits apiece to lead the Warrior attack, with Josh Feinberg and Andrew Reed each chipping in two hits. Eric Ciarolla and Brian Lake both had two hits for the Wolves.

Up next for the Warriors is a clash with Las Vegas Tuesday at 8 p.m. The fourth-seeded Wildcats (19-7) were the only top seed to win in round one, handling No. 5 Bonanza 7-3 in Sunday's early game.

Pitcher Trace Grant, a rising sophomore, set the tone for Las Vegas, yielding just three hits and one unearned run in six innings of work.

"Tracy is an oustanding pitcher for a young freshman," said Wildcats coach Izzy DiMaria. "When he's a senior, forget about it. He'll be a stud and a half."

Las Vegas got on the board behind back-to-back doubles by Dave Hamilton and Sean Kazmar in the first, then added to its lead on Daniel McKean's two-run homer in the fourth.

Kazmar wound up with three hits for the Wildcats, with teammates Jared Jones and Tim Mott contributing two hits apiece. Greg Garrison had a pair of hits for the Bengals (17-12) in the losing cause.

Bonanza will square off against Basic at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a loser's-out contest.

In Saturday's first-round games, No. 6 Durango pounded No. 3 Cimarron-Memorial 14-4 and No. 7 Bishop Gorman downed No. 2 Palo Verde 14-5. The Spartans will face the Panthers in an elimination game today at 5 p.m., followed by an 8 p.m. tilt between the Trailblazers and Gaels.

Spencer Patterson covers high school sports for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4085 or at spencer@lasvegassun.com.