Southern zone softball described as free-for-all

James Yodice

Monday, May 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Nobody is safe.

As the Class 4A Southern Nevada zone softball tournament prepares to get under way Tuesday afternoon at Sunset Park, the overriding theme is that the double-elimination format is conducive to producing any number of unlikely results.

Silverado and Green Valley go into the three-day tournament as the top seeds, with Eldorado and Cimarron-Memorial as second seeds.

Does that mean anything? Not really, considering three of the top four seeds in the zone baseball tournament are now on vacation.

"It's anybody's ballgame," said Green Valley coach Cindi Davis. "Whoever is the most hungry, whoever plays with the most heart (will advance)."

There are four first-round games at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Sunset Park, then four more games at 4 p.m. The event continues Wednesday afternoon and winds up Thursday afternoon. The top four teams in the eight-team field move on to the state tournament May 22-24 in Carson City.

Silverado (27-6) is the two-time defending zone champions. With pitchers Tiffany Finateri and Meka Anderson at coach Chuck Pope's disposal, the Skyhawks look very strong.

Chaparral (14-9) features one of the Sunrise Division's best players in Andrea Redner.

Green Valley (21-6), which went undefeated during the Sunrise Division season, is led by shortstop Crissy Buck, the Sunrise player of the year, and the power-hitting Rachel Mohler.

"It's a free-for-all," said Cheyenne coach Pat Beckwith, whose 12-12 Desert Shields play Green Valley in the first round. "Anyone can beat anyone in that first round."

The Desert Shields are counting on the middle of their lineup to put a dent in Green Valley. Second baseman Kolbi Clothier and first baseman Monique Armstead have been a dangerous duo, more so since Beckwith dropped Clothier from the No. 2 spot to third in the order, just ahead of Armstead.

The most intriguing first-round matchup pits Basic (14-14) against Cimarron-Memorial (17-7). Wolves' coach Aly Cerrone was the Sunrise coach of the year, the Spartans' Gary Kaempfer Sunset coach of the year.

Cerrone is a strong proponent of the wide-open-tournament theory.

"Silverado and Green Valley are at the top of their division, but they're very beatable," Cerrone said. "There are no standout teams and no teams that are really awful."

Pitcher Jen Redding, who's been very good of late, will have to be the first line of defense for Basic. Behind her, the Wolves feature solid infielders in second baseman Carly Lucas and third baseman Andrea Brandon.

Cimarron, which beat Basic 4-3 in the season opener, is sending Erin Stordeur against Redding.

"She's got to pitch a great game," said Kaempfer. "(Redding) has been throwing excellent."

Shauna Newmiller, Cimarron's first baseman, leads the Spartan offense.

A team to keep an eye on is Eldorado (21-4). Sundevils pitcher Amanda Berg, the Sunrise pitcher of the year, could lead the team to state if she has her 'A' game this week. Eldorado plays Bonanza in the first round.

"I don't know that she's any stronger than anyone we've faced," said Bonanza coach Cheryl Speer, who had to deal with five or six great pitchers in the Sunset Division. "But she obviously is a very good pitcher."

The Bengals (17-7) hope to see center fielder Chrystal Stevens, shortstop Kelly Glass and outfielder Rachel Milligan on base. Also, Bonanza has been buoyed by the return of injured players Lindsey Johnston and Meredith Shulman.

Roundup

* BASEBALL: Of the top four seeds, four-time defending state champion Green Valley was the only one to advance to this weekend's Class 4A zone tournament second round. Bishop Gorman, Durango and Rancho were taken out last weekend. The Gators play Cimarron-Memorial at 5 Friday afternoon at UNLV's Wilson Stadium. At 2 p.m. Friday, Silverado meets Chaparral in an elimination game. The Skyhawks sent Bishop Gorman packing with a 5-4 victory last Saturday, one day after eliminating Durango with a 3-1 win and two days after Chaparral knocked off the Trailblazers 7-1. The Cimarron-Green Valley loser plays the Chaparral-Silverado winner at 8 Friday night in another elimination game. Action continues Saturday at Wilson Stadium, with the top two teams earning invitations to the state tournament May 22-24 at Wilson Stadium.

* BOYS' VOLLEYBALL: Tonight marks the penultimate regular-season games for Clark County. The top matchup is Chaparral at Basic in the Sunrise Division. The Cowboys must beat the Wolves to have a chance to win the league on Wednesday night when Chaparral plays host to Green Valley. The Cowboys are one game behind the Gators. If Chaparral loses tonight and Green Valley beats Eldorado, the Gators lock up the division.

* BOYS' GOLF: The Southern Nevada Class 4A zone tournament is today and Tuesday at Sunrise Country Club's West layout. Bonanza and Green Valley are division champions, and they are joined by Basic, Las Vegas, Chaparral (Sunrise) and Durango, Bishop Gorman and Silverado (Sunset). Also, the top five individuals not on a qualifying team earned tournament berths. That small group includes last year's individual state champion, Western's Joel Kijowski.

* TRACK, SWIMMING: The Southern Nevada zone preliminaries in track and field are Wednesday afternoon at Durango, with the finals set for Saturday at Durango. ... The zone diving meet is Friday afternoon at UNLV, the zone swimming meet is Saturday morning at UNLV.