Friday, May 10, 2002 | 9:20 a.m.
After just three batters and four pitches, Thursday's 4A Sunrise Region Baseball Tournament game between Basic and Las Vegas had rout written all over it.
The Wolves jumped on Wildcat starter Troy Remer from the outset, scoring three runs on three hits before their cleanup hitter even came to the plate.
An easy win wasn't in the cards for Basic, however, as Remer regained control and settled into a pitching duel with Matt Elliott for the next six innings. In fact, the Wolves' 5-4 victory wasn't in the bag until Elliott retired Las Vegas' best hitter, Sean Kazmar, with the tying run on base in the final frame at Burkholder Field.
"We kind of hurt ourselves," Basic coach Mike Kazek said. "We missed some signs and didn't execute a couple of things that led to double plays. If we had executed, I think we might have chased (their pitcher), but he battled and threw a heck of a ballgame."
The Wolves (23-10) await the winner of today's 3 p.m. game between Las Vegas (22-12) and Green Valley (20-15) at 6 p.m. at CCSN's Lied Field.
Elliott finished with a six-hitter, striking out six, walking three and hitting one batter. He also led off the game with a double on the first pitch, helping produce Basic's early three-run advantage.
Eric Ciarolla followed Elliott's hit with an RBI single, then scored moments later on Micah Schnurstein's homer to right field.
Schnurstein, Brian Lake and Leland Montoya all had two hits for the victors, while Kazmar went 2-for-4 for the Wildcats.
In other Sunrise action Thursday, Silverado rallied to defeat Foothill 6-5 to remain unbeaten in the tournament. The Skyhawks (22-11) will face the winner of today's 3 p.m. game between the Falcons (18-13) and Chaparral (14-17) at Burkholder at 6 p.m.
In Thursday's early Sunrise games, Green Valley knocked off Eldorado 8-4 and Chaparral topped Desert Pines 6-5.
In the 4A Sunset Region Tournament, first-year Sierra Vista defeated Durango 12-2 to eliminate the Trailblazers -- once ranked 11th in the nation -- from the playoffs. Elsewhere in the Sunset, Bishop Gorman routed Bonanza 15-3 in five innings behind homers from Dan Mangiapani, Chris Ortiz, David Rodgers and Anthony Garcia. The Gaels (26-10) will play the winner of today's 3 p.m. game between the Bengals (23-10) and Cimarron-Memorial (20-12) tonight at 6 at Durango.
Also on Thursday, Centennial got two homers and four RBIs from Bryce Massanari in a 10-2 win over Palo Verde. The Bulldogs (29-6) will match up with the winner of today's noon game between the Panthers (20-15) and Sierra Vista (20-12) at 3 p.m. at Sierra Vista.
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