Gorman, Durango tangle for last spot in final four

As the 4A Southern Zone Baseball Tournament moves into its second week, it's still anyone's guess which two teams will represent the Las Vegas area in the upcoming state tournament.

One thing is certain, though. By Tuesday, one of Nevada's top teams will be on the outside looking in, officially out of the double-elimination event.

For the fourth time this season, Sunset Division rivals Bishop Gorman (25-5) and Durango (28-3) will meet today at 4 p.m. at Durango. The winner will join Cimarron-Memorial, Green Valley and Silverado in this weekend's zone final four.

Durango fell into the consolation bracket with an opening-round loss to Green Valley on Thursday, then stayed alive with a 10-3 win over Cheyenne on Friday. Gorman won its first game against Basic, then dropped an 8-2 decision to Cimarron on Saturday.

"Obviously, neither I nor anyone else would've guessed this would happen," Durango coach Mike Gomez said. "But we've put ourselves in this position. Now we're going to do what we can to move on."

Gomez will likely throw senior right-hander J.T. Sherman, the Trailblazers' starter in Game 1. Gorman is expected to counter with senior lefty Ben Fox, who has yet to appear in the tournament.

"No one wants to go home, but someone has to," Gorman coach Tim Chambers said. "I expect it to be a typical Durango-Gorman game. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will probably win."

Whoever emerges from the contest will face Silverado (17-6) Friday at UNLV's Wilson Stadium. The winner's bracket game between Cimarron (20-7) and six-time defending state champion Green Valley (18-9) will follow.

* NORTHERN FINAL FOUR: The 4A Northern Zone Baseball Tournament narrowed its field from eight to four over the weekend. Regular season champion Reno (29-4) and McQueen (18-9) remain in the winner's bracket, while Galena (19-13) and Wooster (18-12) will meet in Friday's first loser's out contest.

* SOFTBALL PAIRINGS SET: First-year varsity program Palo Verde claimed the eighth and final berth to this week's 4A Southern Zone Softball Tournament with a win over Clark on the regular season's last day. The Panthers (12-15) will take on Sunrise Division champion Green Valley (25-6) in round one.

In other first-round action, Basic (16-12) will face Durango (25-8), Cimarron (22-8) will meet defending zone champion Silverado (15-10) and Chaparral (16-12) will try to topple Sunset Division champion Bonanza (26-3).

The double-elimination event kicks off Wednesday at 2 p.m. and continues through Friday's championship, slated for 3 p.m. All games will be played at Sunset Park in Henderson.

archive