Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 7:22 a.m.
Silverado softball coach Chuck Pope has challenged his players mentally and physically all season to prepare for the competitive teams from northern Nevada. On Wednesday afternoon, his players responded.
Spurred by a stellar pitching performance from Tiffany Finateri, Silverado dominated perennial northern power Douglas 10-2 in the red championship game (consolation bracket) of the annual Fred Davison Memorial Tournament held at the Sam Boyd softball complex.
The victory gave the Skyhawks, ranked fourth in last week's SUN softball top 10, a 5-1 record in the talent-laden 36-team tournament and improved their overall record to 15-5. Douglas, ranked second in last week's poll, fell to 11-6.
"I hope this victory gives us some momentum," said Pope, whose team initiated the action by bunting and running the basepaths aggressively (five steals)."We beat two good teams (Hilltop and Helix) earlier in the day, then finished things off by beating a really tough Douglas team."
Despite appearing in two of Silverado's previous five tournament games, Finateri's arm appeared fresh. She scattered six hits over seven innings (half coming in the first two innings) and allowed only one earned run.
"I was a little shaky early on," said Finateri, who fanned four Douglas batters while walking only one. "I tried to focus, but it was tough. My teammates gave me some early runs and that really helped me settle down."
Silverado fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first but came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Amber Meuir drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Kristen Joner followed with an infield hit, then Julia Yurek singled up the middle to tie it.
The Skyhawks collected two more runs in the inning on a single by Keely Commerford that was misplayed by Douglas' Rosie Contri.
The three-run first proved to be all the support Finateri would need.
"She's (Finateri) been struggling lately, so she really needed a performance like that to get her confidence going," Pope said. "She looked like the old Tiffany Finateri out there today."
Yurek powered the Skyhawk offense with three hits and four RBIs. Commerford, Silverado's designated hitter, contributed two hits and two RBIs.
Lincoln (Calif.) won the grand championship of the tournament by defeating Upland (Calif.) 6-2. Green Valley and Durango made it to the top half of the championship bracket before bowing out.
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