Mesquite baseball won three games in last year's 4A state tournament. The Wildcats two losses that eliminated them were adminis

tered by Canyon del Oro.

Fast forward to this year's 4A tournament, second round where Canyon del Oro continued to haunt Mesquite on Monday afternoon

#5 Canyon del Oro scored eight runs in the fifth inning, overcoming a six-run deficit and knocking off #4 Mesquite, 13-11, at Mesquite.

CDO advances to the winner's bracket, third round on Wednesday. The Dorados next opponent is #1 Salpointe, a 6-0 winner over #8 Bradshaw Mountain. The loss was Mesquite's first in the double-elimination tournament. The Wildcats play again Wednesday, hosting  Bradshaw Mountain at 4 p.m.

Mesquite (18-13) bolted to an 8-2 lead after four innings. Wildcats leadoff hitter Jake Gorrell was the catalyst. The junior shortstop ripped a pair of two-run homers and scored three runs in the first four innings.  

But CDO (18-10) got busy and thensome in the fifth inning. The Dorados sent 12 batters to the plate with a pair of hits highlighting the rally. The first was a pinch-hit, two-run triple by Sam Martinez.  Two batters later second baseman Jacob Charlson belted a grand slam  to center putting his team ahead for the first time since the top of the first.

CDO, which cranked out 19 hits, tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the seventh - two thanks to a two-run homer by designated hitter Lucas Casey. Casey was 3 for 5 with a single, double and home run, two RBI and scored three runs. CDO got three hits apiece from three more players - cleanup hitter Michael Jones (single, double, triple and walk), Ernie Alvarez (three singles) and Tarrell Reid (three singles and a walk). 

Mesquite finished with 12 hits  Five players produced two hits apiece - Gorrell,  Kash Rogers, Nate Lebron, Mason Ulm and Noah Forney. 

CDO's Regen Mazura was the winning pitcher in relief on a day not kind to pitchers. Mazura pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowed four hits, three runs, walked one and fanned one. Ulm took the loss. He threw Ulm two innings and was touched for seven hits, seven runs, walked two and struck out two.