Eldorado’s Arreola pitches, hits Sunrise to All-Star victory

Lucio Arreola wanted his last time wearing an Eldorado baseball uniform to be a special moment. So after walking consecutive batters with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday at the College of Southern Nevada’s Morse Stadium, the senior pitcher never lost his composure.

Arreola struck out the final batter to pick up the save and help propel the Sunrise Region to a 4-2 win over the Sunset Region in the Southern Nevada Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Game.

“It feels good to close the game,” said Arreola, who also was 2-for-3 with a double. “It means a lot to me. There hasn’t been a (Eldorado) player to make first-team (All-Sunrise) since 2006. I’ve been working really hard to get here.”

Sunset Most Valuable Player went to Arbor View’s P.J. Gonzalez, who was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run. The Sunset jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Spring Valley’s Dylan Drachler scored on an error, and Cody Schmidt of Desert Oasis laced an RBI single to left.

But the Sunrise’s pitching was too much.

Foothill’s Tyler Van Stone tossed a scoreless fifth to grab the win.

Coronado’s Chandler Blanchard and Julian Burrola hit wind-aided doubles to start the sixth, and the tying and go-ahead runs scored on an RBI groundout by Liberty’s Jesse Keiser and a wild pitch.

In the earlier Senior Game, Foothill’s Jenson Neff hit a two-run home run and the Sunrise plated six runs in the top of the first to top the Sunset, 12-5.

The Division I-A all-star game will be at 3:30 today at Morse Stadium.