Odd man out?

Five Southwest teams vie for four postseason spots

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Five great teams and only four playoff spots.

That's the reality again this year for high school baseball teams in the Southwest Division as Sierra Vista, Bishop Gorman, Durango, Bonanza and Spring Valley will bang heads with all hoping not to be the team to have to watch the other four come playoff time.

How good is the Southwest Division? Good enough that the Las Vegas Review-Journal chose five teams from the league to make up half of the Top 10 in its March 30 prep baseball rankings -- Sierra Vista (No. 2), Gorman (No. 4), Spring Valley (No. 5), Bonanza (No. 6) and Durango (No. 10).

The favorite in the division is defending state champion Sierra Vista (32-5 last year), coached by Nate Selby. Despite losing Chris Carter, Justin Garcia and Chad Riddle to graduation, the Mountain Lions return a talented cast including senior leadoff man Scott Berke (batting .400 this year), who cracked an area-high 12 home runs last year; Kyle Gutchewsky (.491), who had a 16-game hit streak at press time; Chuck Howard (.406); Chad Claus (.333); and Lance Ray (.463).

Sierra Vista's pitching staff is equally impressive with seniors Drew Leary (7-0, 1.44 ERA in 2005) and Howard (3-0 this year) and junior Justin Baca (4-0) all proving to be quality starters, and senior Justin Mettelka (0.95 ERA in 2005) handling the Lions' closing duties. Leary, who pitched a gem against Centennial in the Class 4A state title game last May, also carries a big bat and was hitting .467 to start the spring.

With so much hitting and pitching talent, Sierra Vista, which started 12-2, proved it can play with anyone in the state in a 7-6 win over Silverado on March 11. The loss was the only one at press time suffered by the Skyhawks (13-1), ranked No. 1 by the Review-Journal and No. 14 in the entire nation by Baseball America in its April 3 poll.

Pressing Sierra Vista in the Southwest should be Gorman (24-11), coached by Chris Sheff, which got off to a nice 15-2 start. Still a somewhat young team, the Gaels return seven starters but only two of them are seniors.

One of the biggest bats in Sheff's lineup is senior Cory Roveri (.524), a second-team All-Sunset selection after batting .514 with four home runs and 33 RBIs last year. Teammates Jeff Malm (.500, 25 RBIs), Brandon Garcia (.593), David Fry (.541, three home runs), Paul Sewald (.485) and Scott Dysinger (.333) were all swinging a hot stick early.

The Gaels were averaging a healthy 11.6 runs per game while allowing just 3.7 per game in their first 17 contests and had scored in double-digits in 14 of 17 games.

On the hill, the Gaels also were racking up some impressive numbers thanks to Donn Roach (4-0, 1.52 ERA), Garcia (3-0, 3.11), Casey Reese (2-1), Jeff Malm (2-1) and Sewald (2-0, 2.33).

Gorman started off divisional play losing at Durango before bouncing back with wins over Bonanza and Spring Valley at its home field, Hadland Park.

In just its second year of existence, Spring Valley (19-10) and skipper Mike Gomez have already turned heads in Las Vegas baseball circles. The Grizzlies, who were that fifth team in the standings last year, would love to make their first playoff appearance later in the spring. But in the rugged Southwest, all schools that make the postseason truly earn it.

Spring Valley started 10-4-1 this campaign and with a talented outfield that includes seniors Kenny Mickens (.354, six home runs last year) and Jeff Gonzales (.438, 35 RBIs, 21 stolen bases), the Grizzlies won't surprise anyone. Mickens, like former Las Vegas High School outfielder Cameron Johnson, current Wildcats outfielder Josh Chasse and Coronado right-handed pitcher Trevor Clausen, signed a letter of intent to play for San Diego State and manager Tony Gwynn next year as part of the Aztecs largest signing class in history.

Senior pitcher Devin Alleman (8-2, 1.07) is Gomez's top starter. Austin Chatterly, Kyle Wolak and sophomores Jose Barajas and Tyler Anderson round out a nice rotation for Spring Valley.

With a year of experience under their belts and the realization there is no room for error in the division, Spring Valley's players will have to win home games against the top teams in the division and steal one on the road somewhere down the line to get good position for the postseason.

Always one of the most underrated teams in town, Bonanza (18-15), coached by Derek Stafford, has plenty of experience and pitching this year, returning 13 lettermen to the squad.

Seniors Colby Shreve (20 strikeouts), Ross MacDonald (3-0, 0.69, 30 strikeouts) and Ben Haberkorn (0.62 ERA) and juniors Ryan Pineda and Eric Abraham (2-0, 2.14) give Stafford the luxury of always having a quality starter to give the ball to.

Shreve, one of the most-talented players in the Silver State, will stay in Nevada and attend UNLV next year. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound right-hander was a first-team All-Southern Nevada pick on the mound last year and also was a second-team All-Sunset pick at third base. Shreve hit .352 with 20 RBIs last year and started this year out hitting at a .424 clip.

If the Bengals are to secure a playoff spot again this spring, the team will need to support its pitchers with offense, something Jake Danneffel (.421, 12 RBIs), Pineda (.378, 11 RBIs) and Tomo Delp have provided.

With a 9-4-1 overall start and 10 seniors on his roster, Stafford expects to make the playoffs and should have enough talent to fall among the top four teams in the league.

Getting off to a nice 3-0 start in the Southwest and a 12-4 overall mark, Durango (27-10), coached by Sam Knapp, is always a force to be reckoned with in the league.

The Trailblazers, who won their only state title in 1999, lost Mike McClaren, Kris Cichoski and Koa Kahalahoe to graduation and also saw Mike McDade transfer to Silverado. But a talented and young team remains, which should contend in the league.

Cal-State Fullerton signee Tommy Pham started the season off like he was playing for a Major League Baseball contract, hitting a torrid .660 (31-for-47) -- tops in Southern Nevada -- after batting .415 in 2005. Sophomore teammate Niko Vazquez (.485, 47 RBI last year) also was hitting the cover off the ball, batting. 447 to start the year.

Durango's pitching staff is led by senior southpaw Josh Damewood (7-0, 1.45 ERA last year), a UNLV signee who started this spring with a 3-0 record and a 2.06 ERA. Damewood also was tearing it up at the plate, hitting .483 with 20 RBIs to start the season.

Providing depth for the Trailblazers are Brandon Graff, Shane Langvad, Kyle DiMartino, Brad Johnson, Jayson McClaren and Mike Stiles.

Clark (5-23-1), led by first-year coach Frank Chapman, will continue to rebuild for the future after starting 0-2 in the Southwest and 0-9 overall. The Chargers' top players are senior Stephen Wohlgemuth and junior catcher Justin Perrault.

Another team looking toward better days is Western (1-21), now helmed by former Rancho coach Dave Anderson. The Warriors' top players are senior catcher Dean Issacs and juniors Kolin Niday and Joe Armstrong.

After an 0-2 league start and an 0-11 overall record, Western will probably have to wait for better days.

In Southwest Division play today, Spring Valley hosts Clark at 3:30 p.m., Western welcomes state champs Sierra Vista at 3:30 p.m. and Durango plays host to Bonanza in a critical game at 6 p.m.

On Wednesday, Sierra Vista hosts Durango in a showdown at 3:30 p.m., Western welcomes Gorman at 3:30 p.m., Clark hosts Bonanza at 3:30 p.m. and Class 3A state champion Faith Lutheran hosts Spring Valley in a 7 p.m. game.