Gorman boys of summer come up one rally short

Friday night, the Las Vegas Knights couldn't hold on to their lead. Sunday night, they simply couldn't get one.

Two days after squandering a seven-run lead to put themselves in a do-or-die situation, the Knights were eliminated from the American Legion World Series, falling 7-5 to Edwardsville (Ill.) at Cashman Field.

Las Vegas (a club consisting entirely of Bishop Gorman players) got off to a rough start Sunday, spotting their foes a pair of three-run innings to put themselves behind the eight ball.

And although the Knights got within one run in the fifth, the club that rallied for six of its eight victories in the state and regional tournaments couldn't do it one more time.

"It's tough, real tough," Knights coach Tim Chambers said. "We were in a position where we controlled our own destiny."

Chambers' club likely would not have been in that situation had it not been for a disastrous ending to the Las Vegas squad's opener on day one. The Knights took a 13-6 lead into the seventh inning, before Danville (Calif.) put together a stunning nine-run frame.

The locals responded in their first must-win game on Saturday, posting an 18-8 victory over Excelsior (Minn.). And with Stanford signee Jason Van Meetren scheduled to pitch game three, the Knights' chances of advancing looked good.

But Edwardsville touched the right-hander early, taking a quick 3-0 lead on Todd Haug's three-run blast. An inning later, the Illinois club platted three more runs on RBI singles by Dave Crouthers and Chad Opel and a run-scoring triple by Tim Hansel.

"We could've gotten by after the first inning, but not the second inning," Chambers said.

The Knights began chipping away off Edwardsville starter Nick Seibert, scoring runs in the second and third to make it 6-2.

Van Meetren, who began to heat up on the mound as the game wore on, got out of a huge jam in the top of the fifth, stranding runners on second and third by retiring three consecutive batters.

That effort seemed to bring the Knights' bats to life. In the bottom of the fifth, Nick Didier, Van Meetren and Ryan Lee (4-for-5, 3 RBI) opened the frame with three straight hits to get things going for the hosts.

But three runs would be all Las Vegas would score, as Edwardsville cut down Lee at home to prevent the Knights from tying the score at six.

From there, Seiber (3-0) took over, limiting Chambers' charges to two baserunners over the final four innings.

"We really started to hit the ball hard in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but then we laid back down," Chambers said.

Van Meetren, in particular, struggled at the plate, going 1-for-5 to lower his regional and Series average to .147. His contribution on the mound -- an 11-strikeout complete game -- left a lasting on his teammates, however, as they hugged one-another before walking off the field for the last time this summer.

"I'm not disappointed at all," Chambers said. "We definitely did much more than a lot of people expected us to. Next to my child being born, this week was the greatest thrill of my life."

Edwardsville (39-7) will play State College (Pa.) (55-9) in today's first semifinal at 4:30 p.m., with Danville (Calif.) (59-10) and Cherryville (N.C.) (40-15) slated to meet in the second game.

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