Wednesday, April 22, 1998 | 8:46 a.m.
The Green Valley High baseball team moved up to No. 4 in this week's USA Today national poll, but the Gators didn't have very long to enjoy their lofty ranking.
Visiting Silverado snapped the hosts' 19-game winning streak on Tuesday, handing Green Valley a 2-1 defeat behind seven strong innings from Joe Carque and a rock-solid defense.
"Silverado must be the fifth-best team in the country," said Gators coach Rodger Fairless, referring to his team's No. 6 ranking in last week's USA Today poll. "They were a better team today than we were."
Green Valley (21-2, 8-1 Sunrise Division) lost for the first time since a 4-3 nonconference defeat at Cimarron-Memorial on March 16. It was only the second home loss for the Gators in the past two seasons.
"We just made it a point to approach this as just another league game," said Skyhawks coach Brian Whitaker, whose club won its eighth straight game. "In the past, we got too excited about the chance to beat a team like Green Valley."
Silverado (15-7, 7-2) pulled within one game of league leaders Chaparral and Green Valley by defeating Gator ace Mike Nannini, widely considered the area's top pitcher.
The senior right-hander struck out nine batters and surrendered only five hits. But the visitors managed to push two runs across in the fourth inning thanks in large part to an error by Nannini.
After singles by Robbie Van and Mike Eshragh put Silverado runners on first and second with nobody out, Vincent Valiente bunted back to the pitcher. Nannini wheeled and fired to third but his throw missed the mark, allowing Van to score the game's first run.
Nannini got Ryan Ruiz to ground into a double play on the next pitch, but Eshragh came around on the play to make it 2-0.
From there, Carque took over, holding the Gators to a lone run in the fifth on an RBI-single by John Slack. The junior got help from his defense, which turned three double plays, including two in the final three innings.
"It's all in our head," Carque said. "When we play Green Valley, everyone tends to get scared. I just tried to think of them as any other team."
* ELSEWHERE: While the Silverado baseball team pulled off the day's biggest upset on the adjacent field, the Skyhawks' softball squad held onto sole possession of first place in the Sunrise Division with a 4-0 victory over host Green Valley.
"As far as we were concerned, this was the championship game," Silverado coach Chuck Pope said. "We can't take anybody lightly, but we sure like where we are right now."
The Skyhawks (21-5, 8-1) scored three runs off Gators' starter Nicole Truax in the top of the fourth inning, two on a two-out RBI single by Christy Moores, to blow the game open.
"It felt good, especially against this team," said Moores, who played in only her third game after missing most of the season with a shoulder injury.
Silverado's Tiffany Finateri scattered seven hits in seven innings for the shutout.
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