LAS VEGAS -- Arbor View baseball coach Chris Martinez experienced somewhat of an epiphany during his team's Nevada American Legion state tournament game Monday night.

Martinez, who has always preferred the seven-inning format used in regular-season Legion games, suddenly discovered the advantages of the nine-inning configuration used in the playoffs.

After struggling at the plate for the first seven innings, the eighth-seeded Aggies (18-17) erupted for eight runs in the eighth and went on to beat No. 4 Green Valley 9-3 in an elimination game at Wilson Stadium.

The win lifted Arbor View into today's 5 p.m. losers' bracket semifinal.

"It's a tough format to use here at the end of the year," said Martinez, who noted that the longer games can take a late-season toll on players competing in extreme temperatures. "But tonight, it did help us out a bunch, and we found a way to win it."

Tyler LeBaron went 3-for-3 with a double to lead the Aggies, though he insisted the win was the result of a complete team effort.

Arbor View's Zachary Quintana broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, driving an RBI double off the left-field wall to give his team a 1-0 lead.

But that advantage didn't last long, as the Gators (17-14) made the most of three hits and a key Aggies error in the bottom of the inning to go ahead, 3-1.

Green Valley starter Nolan Kohorst, who struck out 10 in seven innings of work, settled down and appeared to have the victory in hand as the game progressed.

But Arbor View blew the game open with the help of seven hits and three Green Valley errors in the eighth, sending 14 batters to the plate while chasing Kohorst and Gators reliever Bobby Shiroky to take a 9-3 lead.

Starter Zachary Hartman (6-1) earned the complete-game victory for the Aggies, striking out three and holding Green Valley to one earned run.

BISHOP GORMAN 16, RANCHO 6 -- In the late game, the defending state and national champion Titans (55-12) fell behind early before cruising past the Rams in seven innings.

Johnny Field went 4-for-5 with a double and four RBIs to lead Gorman, which collected 17 hits while scoring at least one run in every inning.

With the victory, the Titans earned a third-round bye and will rest until playing Rancho or Arbor View on Thursday.

Brandon Pletsch went 3-for-4 to lead Rancho (20-18).

Gorman, the Nevada Class 4-A state high school champion, is 95-16 in all games in 2009.

The state tournament ends Saturday, with the winner moving on to the Western regionals Aug. 6-10 at Fairfield, Calif. The American Legion World Series will be played Aug. 14-18 at Fargo, N.D.

NOTES -- Faith Lutheran won the Silver Division title with a 15-5 record ... Gorman was second at 14-6, with Desert Oasis at 13-6 and Sierra Vista 12-7 ... Those four teams are in the Silver Division State playoffs, which started Tuesday at Eldorado High School ... That tournament runs through Friday, with the winner advancing to the Central States playoffs Aug. 6-9 at Milbank, S.D. ... In the final Silver standings, Coronado was 11-9, with Pahrump Valley, Foothill and Liberty all at 10-10 ... Eldorado was 9-11, Centennial 3-17 and Western 2-18 ... In the Junior Division, the Durango Blazers and Durango Purple tied for first at 17-2 ... Coronado Blue was 16-3, as was Spring Valley ... Gorman Blue was 14-5, with Gorman Orange 13-6.