Gators stay on pace

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, April 5, 2000 | 10:39 a.m.

Already the biggest game on their schedule, Tuesday's clash with rival Silverado took on extra significance for the Green Valley Gators last Friday.

That's when the Gators dropped their conference opener to Basic. A loss to the Skyhawks in Tuesday's battle of nationally ranked area powers, and Green Valley would drop to 0-2 in the Southeast Division.

Instead, the six-time state baseball champions from Henderson stayed in the division race, posting a 5-3 home win over Silverado to remain one game behind Basic.

"After the Basic game, it put some pressure on us to win, especially in this division," Green Valley coach Nick Garritano said. "You drop to 0-2 in this division and you never know what's going to happen."

With Silverado ace Robbie Van, a UNLV signee, squaring off against hard-throwing Green Valley junior Jake Dittler, the two teams played to a scoreless tie for the first three innings.

But after the Gators (13-2, 1-1) scratched out the game's first run on an RBI single by Zeke Parraz in the bottom of the fourth, they got to the Skyhawk left-hander for four more in the fifth.

After Garrett Guzman drew a walk and Billy Schmitt singled, Parraz doubled to left-center to plate both baserunners. A John Grose single brought home the inning's third run and, after a Ben Scheinbaum single, Bronson Duck's grounder sent Grose home to make it 5-0.

"(Van) started leaving some pitches up, I thought," said Parraz, who finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs. "And he wasn't throwing off-speed pitches, so I just sat on a fastball."

The Skyhawks (12-2, 0-1), who managed just two hits through the first five innings, finally solved Dittler in the sixth, scoring three runs.

Mike Eshragh got things started with a solo home run. Then, after Ryan Ruiz and Tommy Rojas singled, Eric Nielsen doubled to right-center to make it 5-3.

"Their lineup is so potent, you're nervous the whole game," Garritano said. "We were just taking it out-to-out, batter-to-batter."

With Silverado senior James Wickman -- one of the Skyhawks' six Division I signees -- at the plate representing the tying run, Garritano called on closer Brice Sells.

And the senior responded, retiring Wickman to end the sixth and then working a perfect seventh to complete his team's victory.

The Gators won despite an 0-for-7 day from David Krynzel and Ben Schiess, the top two hitters in their order and two-thirds of an outfield Baseball America called "the nation's best." Guzman, the third member of that trio, finished 1-for-2 with a walk.

Green Valley came into the game ranked No. 16 by Baseball America, with Silverado No. 20.