Western Nevada College had Salt Lake starting pitcher Chris Bradford on the ropes and nearly out of the game in the third inning Thursday night. But Bradford survived the Wildcats' three-run outburst and pitched the Bruins to a 4-3 victory in the Region 18 Baseball Tournament in Henderson.
The Wildcats of Carson City play College of Southern Idaho, which gave eighth-ranked College of Southern Nevada a scare in a 6-4 defeat, at 3:30 p.m. today, Friday, in an elimination game. The winner of that game will meet the loser of the Salt Lake-CSN game at 7 p.m. Friday. WNC will need to win both games to advance to Saturday's title game(s) and earn a spot in the Western District Tournament.
After giving up the Wildcats' third run in the third inning, Bradford (8-7) retired 16 of the next 17 hitters.
In the ninth inning, Chase Tavonatti relieved Bradford, who gave up six hits and two earned runs, while striking out 10 and walking four. Tavonatti earned his fifth save of the season by retiring the Wildcats in order, including two by strikeout.
WNC starting pitcher Matt Young wasn't able to overcome the Bruins' mid-game rallies and exited in the sixth inning with the Wildcats trailing 4-3. Young (8-4) gave up seven hits and four earned runs. The freshman left-hander struck out six and walked six.
Like many of their scoring flurries this season, the Wildcats' three-run third inning started with Jake Bennett reaching base. Base hits by Bennett and David Modler set the table for the middle of WNC's batting order.
Following a walk to DJ Peters to load the bases, Reynolds roped a two-run single to center field, putting WNC on top, 2-1. Lichty added a sacrifice bunt to plate Peters for a 3-1 Wildcat lead. Joe Barlow's second-inning RBI double provided Salt Lake with the first run.
Young's fifth inning of work started with his fifth strikeout but soon became a struggle to find his control. Two free passes and a pair of wild pitches set up Austin Ovard for a run-scoring fielder's choice and Chris Fougner for a RBI base hit to tie the score at 3. Young, however, minimized the damage, ending the fifth by striking out Trevor Peterson with runners on first and second.
Young ran into more trouble in a sixth inning that began with a walk to Caleb Summerhays. A base hit to left by Michael Macove moved Barlow to third and Macove took second on the throw to third. The Bruins regained the lead, 4-3, on Skyler Mahoney's base hit to left field. On the play, the Wildcats threw out Mahoney trying to take an extra base.
Ty Fox relieved Young with two outs and Macove on third base. The freshman right-hander gave the Wildcats a boost by striking out Garrett Bushman to keep the deficit at one run. WNC saves leader Connor Zwetsch relieved Fox to open the seventh inning and escaped his first inning with two Bruins on base.
Zwetsch also navigated his way through a tight spot in the eighth. He stranded two Bruins on base by striking out Bushman and coaxing Ovard into a groundout, leaving the score at 4-3. Bennett and Reynolds each rapped out two hits for the Wildcats.
Second-seeded Salt Lake improved to 35-22, while the Wildcats, the No. 3 seed, dropped to 32-25.
The winner of the Region 18 Tournament plays host to the Western District Tournament May 14-16. The runner-up also advances to the next round of postseason play.