Palo Verde holds on to edge Gorman, 9-8

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2001 | 10:17 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

Wednesday's Games

Palo Verde 9, Bishop Gorman 8

Bonanza 6, Las Vegas 3, 6th inn. (susp. due to rain)

Today's Games

Durango vs. Palo Verde, 5 p.m.

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

Survival was the name of the game at the American Legion State Tournament Wednesday night, and No. 2 Palo Verde did just that -- barely.

After watching Bishop Gorman erase an early seven-run deficit to tie the game at 8, the Panthers pushed a run of their own across in the bottom of the eighth, then survived a tense ninth inning to hang on 9-8 at Durango High School.

"I wish we could find a way to hit in the middle innings, but they showed a lot of heart again," Palo Verde coach Mike Besser said. "They found a way to win."

The Panthers (27-11) went up 7-0 in the second inning, largely on the strength of Eric Newman's grand-slam homer. But trailing 8-3 in the fourth, the Gaels (17-18) began chipping away.

Mike Peters' solo homer made it 8-4 in the seventh, and Chris Brown's two-run shot in the eighth reduced the deficit to two runs and chased Palo Verde starter Brandon Kintzler from the contest.

Gorman completed its comeback on an RBI double by Cameron Brown and a run-scoring single by Chris Siewart in the top of the eighth, but the Panthers answered right back to regain the lead. Matt Switzer came through with a two-out single to left-center, enough to score Nick Pickard from second just ahead of the throw.

The Gaels nearly rallied again in the ninth, putting the first two batters of the inning on base. But Newman stranded runners on second and third to pick up the save and advance his club into the next round.

Gorman played the game under protest after head coach Ken White complained that Kintzler was routinely stepping off the rubber early during his delivery.

Chad Connally and Robbie Richards had two hits apiece for the Panthers, with Peters and Siewart each collecting two hits for the Gaels. Gorman's Kevin Marshall contributed a three-run homer in the third inning.

Palo Verde will face Durango (50-30) today at 5 p.m. A Panther win would force the two teams to play again on Friday.

Wednesday's second elimination game was suspended by rain with Bonanza leading Las Vegas 6-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The contest was slated to be finished early today. The winner will advance to play Western (16-10) tonight at 8.

Spencer Patterson

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