Western remains on a roll

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2001 | 11:15 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

Tuesday's Results

Bonanza 11, Basic 4

Western 14, Las Vegas 9

Today's Games

Palo Verde vs. Bishop Gorman, 5 p.m.

Bonanza vs. Las Vegas, 8 p.m.

Thursday's Games

Durango vs. Palo Verde/Gorman winner, 5 p.m.

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

The top seed has been knocked out. So have the defending champs.

Meanwhile the Western Warriors, eighth seeds at this week's eight-team American Legion State Tournament, roll on.

Tuesday night, the Warriors continued to be the story of the Legion postseason, downing No. 4 Las Vegas 14-9 at Durango High School to move within one victory of Saturday's championship round.

Western has now won five straight playoff contests, dating to last week's District Tournament.

"This team has really come together, and we have something special going," graduated senior Paul Reardon said. "The way we're playing right now, I think we're going to win this thing, no matter who you put in front of us."

Reardon was a big reason Western (15-10) won Tuesday, pitching 5 1/3 innings to pick up the victory and belting a two-run homer and two doubles at the plate.

"He's capable of that every night," Warriors coach Justin Martinez said. "He's our leadoff hitter because he's so fast, but he's hit third, fourth and fifth for us this year. He can do it all."

Western jumped on the Wildcats (19-8) early, taking an 8-0 lead with seven third-inning runs. Mark Radcliffe joined Reardon with a two-run home run in the inning, and Las Vegas hurt its cause with a pair of costly errors.

The Warriors upped the lead to 12-3 with four runs in the sixth, with Reardon, Radcliffe and Corey Hanson all doubling to lead the way. Vegas got within four runs in the eighth, but Western reliever Tommy LaFronz shut the door on the 'Cats' comeback hopes, striking out three of the six batters he faced.

"We're on a roll, riding a wave," Martinez said. "Our hitting has stepped up big-time these past two weeks. We're playing good baseball at the right time."

Sean Kazmar had a three-run homer and a double, and Trace Grant collected four hits for the Wildcats in the loss.

The Warriors will face the winner of today's 8 p.m. game between Bonanza (18-12) and Las Vegas Thursday at 8 p.m. Should Western lose, another game would be played on Friday.

In Tuesday's early game, No. 5 Bonanza toppled top-seeded Basic 11-4, knocking the regular season champs from the event.

"I think the layoff hurt us, the 10 days between games, but we're not making any excuses," said Wolves coach Mike Kazek, whose club went 0-2 in the tournament after coming in with a 27-7 mark. "We fell a little short in this tournament, but we had a great summer, and I've got almost my whole varsity team coming back next year."

The Bengals got three hits apiece from Brandon Willmott and Mark Severino, and nine strong innings from pitcher Kameron Francom. The right-hander scattered 11 hits and two walks to go with 10 strikeouts.

"Kameron's been a solid pitcher since he was a sophomore. Today he showed his maturity," Bonanza coach Rick Barry said.

In today's 5 p.m. game, No. 2 Palo Verde will take on No. 7 Bishop Gorman, with the victor advancing to face Durango Thursday at 5 p.m.