Las Vegas survives late Silverado rally
Las Vegas High baseball coach Sam Thomas quipped after Wednesday’s game that he thinks no lead is safe.
So he can be excused for not kicking his feet up in the sixth inning.
Las Vegas almost lost a sixrun lead after Silverado scored four and loaded the bases with two outs. But the Wildcats escaped with a 6-4 road victory in the regular-season finale.
“This is high school baseball. There is no such thing as enough of a lead,” Thomas said. “We’re in a good place. When we figure out a way to not give up a big inning, we’ll be on the right track.”
Until the sixth, Las Vegas (16-13, 9-11 Sunrise League) looked as if it would run away with the game. The Wildcats put the leadoff man on base in the first five innings, and he scored four of those times. Starter Brandon Smith was cruising through four innings, and Las Vegas led 6-0 in the sixth.
Silverado (11-17-1, 8-12) loaded the bases in the fifth, but Smith escaped the jam. Then in the sixth, the Skyhawks woke up, getting two hits and a walk before Thomas turned to Brady Ojeda.
“I thought Brady came in and did a good job,” Thomas said. “I sat in this dugout and knew it wasn’t going to be a 6-0 ballgame. It never is against Silverado.”
Ojeda ultimately escaped, but not before Silverado made things interesting. Tyler Paasche singled home a run to make the score 6-2, and Jarod Hill knocked in two before Ojeda sent the game to the seventh. Grant Mccarty walked for the Skyhawks in the seventh, but a double play ended the game.
“We came out and played today,” Las Vegas center fielder Kevin Verduzco said. “Next week is playoffs, so we’re trying to prepare ourselves for playoffs.”
Verduzco led off the game by reaching base, advancing to second on Joel Lindahl’s bunt and scoring on Daniel Jimenez’s single. The situation repeated in third when Verduzco doubled, Lindahl bunted him over and Jimenez knocked him in.
Verduzco scored three runs.
“The more the leadoff guy gets on, the more the team works,” he said.
Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal. com or (702) 387-2944. Follow @J15emerson on Twitter.