LAS VEGAS — Desert Hills found its bats — and just in time — to rally for an 8-6 victory over Tucson, Ariz., Friday afternoon at the Bishop Gorman Invitational.
Down 6-1 in the fourth inning, the Thunder scored two in the fourth and three in the fifth to tie the game, then played small ball to squeeze a pair of runs home in the sixth and come away with the win.
“Trey Winget came in to pitch and really shut them down,” DH coach Jerry Beck said. “We started chipping away at the lead after that and were able to come back and get the bats going.”
Desert Hills had already lost its first two games in the tournament and was staring down 0-3 when the rally began. Down 6-1, Chad Nelson led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, and Preston Creager followed with a single of his own. A balk moved them both up 90 feet and each scored on RBI groundouts by Chance Milne and Drew Thorpe to make it 6-3.
Winget pitched an uneventful top of the fifth and the Thunder put together a rally in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. With one out, Winget doubled to center. After a Brayson Hurdsman single, Winget stole third, then scored when the Tucson catcher threw the ball into the outfield.
With the score 6-4 and Hurdsman on second, Nelson walked to put the tying run on base. A passed ball moved both runners up and Creager’s sacrifice fly made it 6-5. Nelson was able to come home with the tying run when the THS first baseman dropped the ball on a dropped third strike throw to first on Milne’s at-bat.
Tucson threatened with a man on third in the top of the sixth, but Winget got a strikeout to end the threat.
In the bottom of the sixth, DH got two men on with one out as Sam Rhoton singled and Trey Allred reached on a catcher’s interference. Winget walked to load the bases and then Hurdsman and Nelson sacrificed home Rhoton and Allred with the go-ahead runs to make it 8-6.
Winget gave up a couple of base runners in the top of the seventh, but got a strikeout, a pickoff and a popup to end the game.
“That was a tough team, but the guys gritted it out,” Beck said. “We were able to find a batting cage this morning and we were able to work on our swings and change our approach at the plate — work the middle, oppo, line drives, get it out of the air. That helped a lot.”
Desert Hills, 5-6, will try and end the BG Tournament with a 2-2 record by battling Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday in a 1 p.m. game. It will be played at UNLV.
“That should be a cool experience for the guys,” Beck said. “We are closer to being ready for region play. Tomorrow will be a good test for us. I feel like we’ve got a few things figured out.”
The Thunder open region play with Hurricane next Tuesday.
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