Durango, Palo Verde advance in tourney

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2001 | 11:39 a.m.

At Durango High School

Saturday's Results

Durango 14, Cimarron-Memorial 4

Bishop Gorman 14, Palo Verde 5

Sunday's Results

Las Vegas 7, Bonanza 3

Western 11, Basic 7

Monday's Results

Palo Verde 12, Cimarron-Memorial 10, 10 inn.

Durango 4, Bishop Gorman 3

Today's Games

Bonanza vs. Basic, 5 p.m.

Las Vegas vs. Western, 8 p.m.

Wednesday's Games

Palo Verde vs. Gorman, 5 p.m.

Bonanza/Basic winner vs. Las Vegas/Western loser, 8 p.m.

It was a night of unlikely comebacks Monday in the American Legion State Baseball Tournament at Durango High School, with one stunning rally leading to victory and another ultimately going for naught in an elimination defeat.

In Game 1, Cimarron-Memorial clawed its way back from an eight-run deficit to force extra innings, only to see Palo Verde prevail 12-11 in 10 innings. With the loss, the third-seeded Spartans -- defending state Legion champs -- were knocked out of the eight-team event.

In the nightcap, Durango rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to down rival Bishop Gorman 4-3. The No. 6 Trailblazers remain in the winner's bracket and await the winner of Wednesday's Palo Verde-Gorman contest.

"Obviously, you want to be here, but there's still a lot of baseball to be played," Durango coach Tom Appleyard said. "It's nice to get guys rested, but you still have to play the game on the field."

Baffled for eight innings by Gaels left-hander Paul Schmidt, the Blazers (50-30) entered the ninth trailing 3-1 after leaving the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh. But with Schmidt in the dugout and right-handed reliever Chris Brown on the mound, the hosts finally came up with some clutch hits in the ninth.

After Coltyn Simmons walked to start the inning, Don Sutton smashed a double to right field, cutting the lead to one and moving the tying run into scoring position. One out later, Casey McDonald doubled in Sutton, knotting the score.

McDonald moved to third on a wild pitch, then came across with the game-winning run moments later when the Gaels could not turn a double play on Danny Kelly's grounder to short.

"We were all waiting for a couple of hits, maybe a run to get it started," Sutton said. "If we don't come through at the beginning we usually come through at the end."

In the early game, the Spartans (18-15) found themselves down 7-1 after one inning and 11-2 after three, then mounted a comeback reminiscent of the Cleveland Indians' wild 12-run rally against Seattle Sunday night.

"We were talking about the Indians (in the dugout)," Cimarron coach Kevin Kohler said. "When it got to be 11-2, we felt like we had nothing to lose."

The No. 2 Panthers (26-11) took an 11-5 lead into the ninth before the Spartans' Robert Grana crushed his second homer of the game, and 21st of the summer -- a three-run shot that pulled Cimarron within two. Later in the inning, Kyle Fitzpatrick's two-out flare down the third-base line scored Jared Johnson and Doug Long to extend the contest.

In the 10th, however, Cimarron's magic ran out. With the bases loaded and two out, reserve infielder Anthony Rodriguez hit what looked like a sure groundout to short. But the ball took a bad hop, catching Chis Davila in the face and allowing Matt Switzer to score from third.

Justin Newman finished with five hits to pace the Panthers' attack, while Grana collected five hits, three runs and four RBIs for the Spartans in the loss. Reliever Jared Johnson also played a key role in Cimarron's comeback, shutting Palo Verde out from the fourth inning until the 10th.

In today's action, Bonanza will face Basic in a 5 p.m. loser's out game, followed by a winner's bracket contest between Las Vegas and Western at 8 p.m.