CCSN baseball off to strong start

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      The Community College of Southern Nevada baseball team is off to an impressive start, winning seven of its first nine games.
      The Coyotes, loaded with local players, opened the season Feb. 1 with a doubleheader sweep (9-0, 8-7 in 11 innings) of Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College.
      Green Valley High graduate Ryan Myers hurled five shutout innings in the opener and Durango High alum John DiBetta belted a game-winning solo shot in the 11th inning to lift the Coyotes to a dramatic win in the second game.
      CCSN then split a pair of games with Pima (Ariz.) Community College on Feb. 4, rallying to win the first game, 8-7, before blowing an 11-3 lead in the second game in a 13-11 loss at Coyote Park in Henderson.
      Bishop Gorman High grad Ben Quinto lined a game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh to lead CCSN to victory in the opener against Pima.
      The Coyotes stormed back from a 6-0 deficit to down Pima, 12-6, in the first game of a Feb. 5 doubleheader, but dropped the nightcap 11-3.
      CCSN, which will host the Coyote Classic tournament Thursday through Saturday, then won its first three games at a tournament at Dixie College in St. George, Utah on Feb. 10 and 11.
      The Coyotes scored nine runs in the sixth inning to sail past Utah Valley State, 10-1. Chaparral High alum Dwayne Sparks, second on the team in hitting with a .476 average, went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
      CCSN cruised past the College of Eastern Utah, 12-5, in its second game of the tournament. Gorman grads Nick Didier and Quinto each went 2-for-3, and John Perry, a New York Yankees draft pick from Colorado, also went 2-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs.
      The Coyotes -- who will host Lethbridge (Canada) College Thursday at 10 a.m., the College of Southern Idaho Thursday at 1 p.m. and the College of Eastern Utah Friday at 1 p.m. -- also topped Salt Lake Community College, 6-1, at the Dixie tournament.
      CCSN scored two in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead and added three more in the sixth to seal the victory. Team co-captain Jon Slack, a Green Valley grad and Toronto Blue Jays draft pick, went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Coyotes. Slack is tops on the team with a .486 average and 12 RBIs.
      Richard Gilbert, a Texas Rangers draft pick from Montana, held Salt Lake to three hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out 12 and didn't allow an earned run in improving his record to 2-0.
      The championship game of the CCSN Coyote Classic will be played Saturday. Game time was unavailable at press time.