Yuma Catholic baseball rolls in playoff opener

Yuma Catholic baseball takes down Empire in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs.

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Erik Topete racked up 4 hits to lead the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks to a 10-3 victory over the Empire Ravens on Tuesday in the AIA 3A Round of 16.

No. 2 Yuma Catholic advances to the quarterfinals. No. 15 Empire is eliminated from the postseason.

In the first inning, Topete scored off a throwing error to give the Shamrocks a 1-0 lead. In the second inning the Shamrocks added two more runs courtesy of RBIs from Hiram Silva and Topete to make it 3-0. The Ravens would not score until the the fifth inning when Asher Bird hit an RBI single.

The Shamrocks would respond scoring seven more runs throughout the game Mickey Fox, Ivan Guzman, Joey Carey and Leonel Avelar chipping in with RBIs. Yuma Catholic would go on to take it 10-3.

For Yuma Catholic, Silva tossed seven innings, giving up the three runs and striking out 11 Ravens.

Topete went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and scored two runs.

For Empire, Brady Carey started the game and tossed three innings, giving up two earned runs with four strikeouts.

Yuma Catholic will face No. 7 Kingman on Saturday in the state quarterfinals.