The biggest shock to the Class 5A baseball Southern Region tournament came before some teams played their first game.
Reigning 5A Southern Region and state champion Basic was pulled out of the tournament last Thursday before a scheduled opening-round game.
It was the first of several changes to the tournament during the first week of play in the 12-team double-elimination tournament.
Entering Tuesday, six teams remain in the tournament looking to get the South’s two spots in the 5A state tournament, which will be May 14-16 at Las Vegas High School.
Here are five things to know about the tournament, and what to look ahead to as it resumes Thursday at Durango:
1. Off-field drama
Basic was a favorite to defend its 2025 titles entering this year’s tournament. But hours before its first game, scheduled to be against Faith Lutheran, Basic was pulled off the bracket for playing an ineligible player.
The Wolves tried to get a judge to impose a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, arguing the school wasn’t aware that the player (who attended an online charter school) was ineligible due to his grades. At a hearing on Friday, the judge did not rule in Basic’s favor.
Also on Friday, Coronado was pulled out of the bracket. No reason was given. The Cougars had lost an opening-round game to Palo Verde and fell to the losers bracket.
Both Coronado and Basic’s spots in the bracket have been replaced with “(Vacant).”
In the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s only comment on the situation, a statement sent to the Review-Journal said in part: “While the situation precipitating these outcomes was not anticipated, the resulting investigations and determinations were made after the first round of the regional tournament had already commenced.
“Consistent with established practice and precedent, when teams are no longer eligible to advance in the postseason, they are removed from the bracket, and their opponents advance.”
2. Resilient Arbor View
The last significant change in the tournament came when Arbor View, which defeated Desert Oasis 7-2 on Thursday, had to forfeit the win and fall to the losers bracket.
No reason was given for why Arbor View had to forfeit the game against Desert Oasis.
Arbor View faced Liberty in an elimination game on Saturday – after Liberty was set to play Desert Oasis in a Friday elimination game – and the Aggies rolled to an 11–0 win. LSU commit Colton Christman threw a no-hitter for Arbor View in the victory.
Arbor View then defeated Durango 10-2 on Monday, advancing to play Faith Lutheran at 4 p.m. Thursday.
3. Gorman is back
Bishop Gorman missed the 2024 postseason and last year was eliminated on the third day of the tournament.
This year, the Gaels have shown to be the most consistent team in the region.
That’s helped them to a 27-5 record, the Mountain League title and get to Thursday’s winners bracket game against Centennial, where the winner will qualify for the 5A state tournament.
Gorman’s only loss to a Nevada team was an 8-4 loss to Sierra Vista on April 17. The Gaels have won nine state titles, but since 2016, the team’s 2023 5A title is the only championship won by the program.
4. Surging Centennial
Centennial might get lost in the shuffle of looking at the other 5A contenders entering the season — behind Gorman, Basic and Faith Lutheran and others.
But the Bulldogs enter this week with a chance to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
Centennial (25-9) won the Sky League and defeated Palo Verde and Faith Lutheran in its first two playoff games to get a shot at Gorman on Thursday, where the winner will also advance to Saturday’s region title game.
Centennial has won its last seven games, which included a 5-3 win over Basic on April 14.
5. Contenders in losers bracket
Each of the four teams in the losers bracket could make a run to Saturday’s region title game and qualify for state.
Faith Lutheran reached the state tournament last year and is coming off a 5-0 loss to Centennial on Saturday. But the Crusaders have most of their team back from last year and a deep pitching rotation.
Palo Verde and Desert Oasis square off at 1 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game. Desert Oasis lost to Gorman 2-0 on Saturday. Palo Verde has won seven of its last eight games.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
Class 5A baseball Southern Region tournament
Schedule
(Continued from last week)
All games at Durango
Thursday
Winners’ bracket
Game 19: No. 1M Bishop Gorman vs. No. 1S Centennial, 7 p.m.
Elimination games
Game 17: No. 3M Palo Verde vs. No. 2D Desert Oasis, 1 p.m.
Game 18: vs. No. 2M Faith Lutheran, 4 p.m.
Friday
Elimination games
Game 20: Game 17 winner vs. Game 18, 4 p.m.
Game 21: Game 19 loser vs. Game 20 winner, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Championship game
Game 22: Game 19 winner vs. Game 21 winner, 10 a.m.; Game 23 to follow if necessary
