Friday, May 20, 2005 | 9:54 a.m.
Today's semifinals at Lied Field, CCSN Henderson
1 p.m. -- Centennial vs. Spanish Springs
4 p.m. -- Green Valley vs. Sierra Vista
7 p.m. -- Centenial-Spanish Springs winner vs. Green Valley-Sierra Vista loser
Saturday
12 p.m. -- Championship
3 p.m. -- "If game"
Good fortune alone may not settle winning and losing, but it's hard to argue about the role luck played in setting up today's second-round games in the 4A state baseball tournament at Henderson's Lied Field.
First Thursday, Green Valley came back from a 6-1 sixth-inning deficit to shock Centennial with a 7-6 victory.
Then Sierra Vista, this year's team of destiny, scored four sixth-inning runs without getting a hit as the Mountain Lions downed Spanish Springs 8-5.
The surprising, if not stunning, runs by both teams set the stage for today's game, when Green Valley and Sierra Vista will face for the fourth time this year at 4 p.m. at Lied Field. The winner of that game advances to Saturday's state championship - the loser has to win again at 7 p.m. Friday to move on.
Green Valley, winners of eight state championships between 1993 and 2003, came out sluggish against Centennial. The game started as a defensive battle, similar to last week's Sunrise Region championship game in which the Gators edged Basic 2-1.
But Centennial got a late-inning jump on Gators ace Greg Krause, scoring two runs in the fourth and sixth innings and another run in each the fifth and seventh to build a seemlingly insurmountable 6-1 advantage. The seventh-inning run, scored off an RBI triple by Jordan Salazar, looked like the last insurance run the Bulldogs would need to upset the Sunrise champions.
But Green Valley's Louie Greb was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh inning, and after Justin Mishalow flew out to right, Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone pulled starter Tyler Lavigne in favor of Tyler Pickett.
Pickett gave up a double to Ryan Heroy, then a two-RBI single to Cole Cosgrove - enough to spark a glimmer of hope in the Gator dugout.
After back-to-back base hits by Josh Konicek and Chris Zuniga, Matt Harrison had a two-RBI single to left to bring home two more runners. Tyler Hanson's single brought home the tying run, and Greb singled again to score Harrison as the Green Valley players stormed the field and half the crowd of around 600 went berserk.
"I just tried to stay back on the curveball and I got out in front of one," Greb said. "We always seem to have a lot of heart."
The rally came after Green Valley couldn't buy a hit all day, the Centennial defense holding strong and making spectacular plays both in the infield and outfield.
"Finally some line drives started falling and it all came through," Gators coach Nick Garritano said. "This will be something these kids never forget for the rest of their lives."
Sierra Vista's run was similarly memorable.
Chris Carter was hit by a pitch from Spanish Springs ace Steve Masten to lead off the sixth. Drew Leary reached on a fielder's choice, but Carter stayed alive on an error by Masten. Another fielder's choice by Chuck Howard knocked out Carter but advanced Leary to second - and another fielder's choice by Mountain Lions pitcher Chad Riddle sat down Howard but advanced Leary to third.
Mark Baca was hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing up Sierra Vista slugger Scott Berke, the south's leading home run hitter with 13 this year.
On a 2-2 count from Masten, Berke hit a fly ball relatively deep, but very playable, to left-center field. Spanish Springs left fielder Ryan Laing went to make the routine play, with center fielder Thomas Farmer speeding over to back him up - when Laing dropped the ball.
It was a mistake that cleared the bases, and a wild pitch by Masten brought home Berke for Sierra Vista's final runs of the evening.
Even then, Spanish Springs wasn't done. The Cougars scored two runs off Mountain Lions closer Justin Mettelka, the first Mettelka has given up since March.
"They took a couple swings at him," Sierra Vista coach Nate Selby said of Mettelka. "He settles down and finds a way to get out of it. He gets better as he gets things together."
The unlikely plays of Thursday bring together Sierra Vista and Green Valley for the fourth time this season in today's state semifinal game. The Gators took the first and second games - 2-0 on March 10 and 3-0 on April 1 - but Sierra Vista came back in the third game of their non-league series to edge the Gators 5-3 on April 16.
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