Centennial faces tough road

Spencer Patterson

Monday, May 13, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

The Centennial Bulldogs blitzed their way through last week's 4A Sunset Region Baseball Tournament, outscoring four quality opponents 51-13.

Their reward? How about a state bracket that features Northern Nevada's top team, the defending state champion and the club with arguably the best pitching in the state at the moment.

Centennial (31-6) will battle 2001 champ Green Valley (22-16) in round one of the 4A State Tournament Thursday, with the winner advancing to play either Basic (24-11) or Reno (31-4) later that day.

"We win our region and we get Green Valley and (Gators' lefthanded ace Ryan) Tabor. It's not much of a reward," Bulldogs coach Charlie Cerrone said. "But when you get to the final eight teams in the state, all of them are going to be tough."

The Wolves, who lost the Sunrise final to Silverado 5-0 on Saturday, will open against the Northern Region's most consistent winners this season. The Huskies were upset by Wooster, 7-2, in Saturday's Northern title game -- just their second loss to an in-state foe all year.

"They're going to be a tough team to draw first off," Basic coach Mike Kazek said. "State has been won by a south team for a long time now, but the northern teams have made great strides lately."

Kazek's club has been among the favorites to challenge for a state title all year, thanks largely to a deep pitching staff that includes UNLV signee Matt Elliott.

Centennial, meanwhile, has earned its reputation on the strength of a potent offense, scoring 10 or more runs in 24 of 37 games this year.

The tournament's other four-team bracket will feature a matchup between Sunset runner-up Bishop Gorman (27-11) and Northern champion Wooster (26-9). The Gaels are among the state's hottest teams at the moment, with their 6-4 loss to Centennial Saturday just their second loss in their last nine games.

The fourth first-round game will pit Sunrise champion Silverado (24-11) against Bonanza (25-11). The Skyhawks surrendered just seven runs in four tournament games last week.

The tournament begins Thursday and concludes Saturday, with games at both Burkholder Field and CCSN's Lied Field.

One team that won't participate in this week's event, to the surprise of many, is Durango -- a squad once ranked 11th nationally by Baseball America. The Trailblazers lost their two regional games to Palo Verde and first-year Sierra Vista, the latter by a stunning 12-2 score last Thursday.

"We just got in a funk and we never came out of it," Blazers coach Mike Gomez said. "That last game epitomized our whole season -- we got behind in the first inning, made some mistakes on defense and couldn't come back. It symbolized the year for us: We didn't come ready to play."

The Colts will be joined by Sunrise champion Silverado and Sunset champion Centennial, along with Eldorado, Las Vegas, Bonanza, Palo Verde and McQueen.

Action runs Wednesday through Friday at Henderson's Stephanie Lynn Craig Complex.

Also participating will be Sunset champion Centennial, defending state champion Chaparral and Palo Verde. Semifinals matches are Tuesday, with the state final slated for Wednesday at 7 p.m.