Hard as it may be to believe with the May snowstorms and strong winds that have blown through Nevada lately, the 4A baseball and softball regional playoffs are set for this week.
The top two teams in the Northern Region, along with the Sunrise and Sunset region champions, advance to the state tournament. The baseball tournament takes place May 20-22 at Aces Ballpark in Reno while the softball tournament goes May 21-22 at the University of Nevada-Reno's Christina Hixon Field.
But before we get to that, there's a little business still to be taken care of. Here's a quick breakdown of baseball postseason:
SUNRISE REGION
Green Valley (Henderson) is the defending region champion and the Gators (26-5), who are No. 2 in the MaxPreps state rankings, have to be considered the favorites again this season. Green Valley won 13 straight before an 8-3 loss to Coronado (Henderson) in the regular-season finale and features a potent offense led by senior Cameron Harper (.478, 10 HR, 49 RBI; 6-0, 3.24 ERA), junior Brett Harrison (.448, 8 HR, 49 RBI), junior Gabe Douglas (.527, 33 RBI) and senior Bobby Shiroky (.482, 4 HR, 35 RBI).
The Gators should get past Chaparral (Las Vegas), which beat Eldorado (Las Vegas) 4-2 in a play-in game Saturday to earn the final playoff spot from the Northeast League, and would then meet the winner of the matchup between No. 10 Silverado (Las Vegas) and No. 12 Las Vegas. Silverado (20-9) has played well down the stretch, winning six of seven behind Nebraska signee Drew Robinson (.488, 7 HR, 32 RBI) and Bobby Johnson (.478, 5 HR, 46 RBI). Las Vegas (22-8), meanwhile, got a huge season from junior Tanner Chauncey (.620, 2 HR, 42 RBI).
No. 5 Rancho (Las Vegas) (26-5) went unbeaten in the Northeast League and poses a major threat, although the Rams arguably received the tougher draw. Not only do they open with a dangerous Coronado (15-7-2) side that beat the Rams 7-4 on March 15, but a likely second-round game against 23-5 Foothill (Henderson) is looming, also. Rancho is well-equipped, though, with a deep pitching staff led by juniors Eric Holdren (8-1, 2.49 ERA) and Brandon Pletsch (3-0, 0.71 ERA), who have each verbally committed to San Diego State. Standout junior Brandon Pletsch (.526, 5 HR, 42 RBI) ignites the offense. Foothill senior Jordan Stewart (.432, 11 HR, 43 RBI) has emerged as one of the top catchers in the state not named Bryce Harper.
Predicted winner: Green Valley
SUNSET REGION
Four-time defending 4A state champion Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) is once again the team to beat, although the No. 1 Gaels (29-3) could see a few speed bumps in a deep region that is loaded with talent. Gorman is expected to see Centennial (Las Vegas) ace Michael Wagner (4-3, 1.71 ERA, 59 Ks), who signed with the University of San Diego, in the opener. Should the Gaels win, they would then play No. 7 Arbor View (Las Vegas) (20-9), with senior OF Nick Urban (.554, 6 HR, 40 RBI) and UNLV signees Buddy Borden and Zack Hartman, or Bonanza (Las Vegas) (16-12), which features Kris Bryant (.476, 20 HR, 46 RBI), a potential first-round pick in next month's MLB draft.
Junior T.J. White (.454, 7 HR, 48 RBI), who sat out last season after transferring from Calvary Chapel Christian (Las Vegas), has given Gorman coach Chris Sheff another offensive weapon to go along with senior Johnny Field (.495, 12 HRs, 61 RBI), sophomore Joey Gallo (.506, 12 HR, 49 RBI) and Co.
The other side of the bracket features an intriguing potential second-round matchup. Should No. 3 Sierra Vista (Las Vegas) get past Palo Verde (Las Vegas) in the opener, the Mountain Lions (25-6), who are led by Oregon signee Nick Kingham (.424, 10 HR, 49 RBI; 6-2, 1.59 ERA, 58 Ks), would likely get another shot at Northwest League champion Legacy (North Las Vegas).
The No. 6 Longhorns (21-8) blasted Sierra Vista 16-4 back on March 13 and have been one of the state's hottest teams, winning 14 in a row to close the season after starting out 2-6. Junior Pierce Skinner (.500), along with seniors Anders Ortiz (.457, 5 HR, 35 RBI) and Donald Glover (.470, 3 HR, 31 RBI), have paced Legacy offensively. UNLV signee Joey Lauria and the Longhorns pitching staff will no doubt be tested.
Predicted winner: Bishop Gorman
NORTHERN REGION
No. 4 Reno (27-3) enters the postseason as the prohibitive favorite with leadoff hitter Nick Bietz, who committed to San Francisco, and UCLA signee Patrick Gallagher anchoring the middle of the lineup. But with the runner-up in the region also advancing to the state tournament, the intensity will likely get turned up a notch or two in all the other games. The Huskies are expected to get by Douglas (Minden) in the opener and would then square off with either Damonte Ranch (Reno) or McQueen (Reno) in the next round.
McQueen (18-11) comes in on a roll, having beaten Reno on May 1 before taking two of three from No. 8 Spanish Springs (Sparks) to close the regular season. Damonte Ranch (19-10), meanwhile, features one of the region's top offenses. Galena (Reno) rolled through the Sierra League with Oregon State signee Brian Pointer leading the way offensively and open the postseason against Wooster (Reno). The Grizzlies (91-6) have been ranked behind Spanish Springs (Sparks) all season, however, and will get a shot in the second round should the Cougars knock off Bishop Manogue (Reno).
Spanish Springs (24-6) stumbled to the finish line, but did manage to secure the No. 2 seed from the High Desert League and its first home playoff game in school history.
Predicted winner: Reno
SPANISH SPRINGS FAVORITE IN SOFTBALL
Top-ranked Spanish Springs (Sparks) (26-1) will look to bring the 4A state softball title back to northern Nevada when the Northern Region playoffs begin Thursday at Bishop Manogue (Reno). The Cougars are loaded with talent, including Division I signees Karlyn Jones (Pittsburgh), Ashley Decker (Cal) and Karley Hopkins (Nevada), as they seek their third state crown in the last four years.
Centennial (Las Vegas) broke the North's four-year stranglehold on the state title last season. While Spanish Springs is the clear favorite in the Northern Region, it is wide-open in the two southern Nevada regions. Green Valley (Henderson) (24-6) won the tough Southeast League and is the team the beat in the Sunrise Region, but the Gators have a tough potential second-round game against Basic (Henderson) and standout junior P Lacey Romo (18-5, 1.14 ERA, 228 Ks in 141 IP) staring at them. Las Vegas (20-8) made the region semifinals a year ago, but the Northeast League champs have a difficult opener against Foothill (Henderson), which is not a typical No. 4 seed after finishing in a three-way tie for second place in the Southeast but losing out on the tiebreakers.
The Sunset Region is balanced as well. Southwest League champion Durango (Las Vegas) has won 14 straight and is capable of making a run, as the Trailblazers (20-7) showed last year. But they will first have to get past defending champion Centennial and would then likely face Palo Verde and its talented pitcher, Melissa McCormick. On the other half of the bracket is Northwest League champion Legacy (25-3), which is riding a 14-game winning streak and features Darcey Cochran (.541, 3 HR) and Sierra Pico (.536, 2 HR, 19 RBI; 21-3, 1.94 ERA).
Predicted winners: Spanish Springs, Green Valley and Legacy
TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO FOR JOHONNOT
Karli Johonnot of Centennial (Las Vegas) stayed on course in her quest to capture four individual titles at the Sunset Region track and field meet, winning the girls pole vault and high jump last week at Del Sol.
Johonnot cleared 10 feet to win the pole vault on Wednesday and won the high jump Friday with a mark of 5-5. She was also the top qualifier in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and will look to finish her quadruple this Friday when the meet concludes. Legacy's Avione Allgood dominated the throws as she broke her region record in the shot put by more than 2 feet with a winning mark of 44-5. Allgood came back on Friday to complete the double with a region-record toss of 14-1 in the discus.
Krystal Onyema of Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas) swept the jumps as she took the triple jump on Wednesday in a state-best 37-3 and edged Taylor McJunkin of Pahrump Valley (Pahrump) in the long jump, 17-2 to 17-1½.
Green Valley high jumper Durrell McDonald won the boys Sunrise Region title on Wednesday with a leap of 6-9 to break the region record of 6-8 set by Terrence Ruffin of Chaparral (Las Vegas) in 2001. Dominic Jones of Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas) went an impressive 23-2½ to win the Sunset boys long jump.
The Northern Region 4A meet takes place Saturday at Damonte Ranch (Reno).
David Schoen works at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is a former Associate Sports Editor and Turn2 columnist for the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune. You can reach him at ByDavid1@aol.com.