Van fans 14 to lead Silverado

Spencer Patterson

Friday, May 12, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.

Just nine days ago, the Silverado baseball team was all but left for dead as the Sunrise Region Tournament got under way.

Not only had the Skyhawks lost four of six games to end the regular season, but injuries to key players such as catcher Tommy Rojas and pitching ace Robbie Van left Silverado looking less like the team ranked 14th in the nation in March and more like a club ripe for an early playoff exit.

Yet now, as the tournament draws to its conclusion, the Skyhawks sit in prime position to earn the Sunrise's lone berth to next week's 4A State Tournament.

Silverado got a dominant 14-strikeout complete-game from Van Thursday night to earn a 6-1 victory over Basic at Henderson's Burkholder Field and move one victory from the regional crown.

"We are where you want to be," Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. "But both teams left will be showing up to play each other (today) with every intention of giving us fits."

The Wolves will play Green Valley in an elimination contest at 4 p.m. today. The winner of that all-Henderson battle will play Silverado on Saturday -- with the Skyhawks' opponent needing back-to-back victories to reach the state tournament.

"It's going to take a minor miracle, but we've told our kids if there's a team that can do it it's us," said Green Valley coach Nick Garritano, whose club stayed alive with a 7-4 win over Eldorado in Thursday's early game.

In the nightcap, Van surrendered a first-inning run before shutting down Basic's offense by changing speeds and hitting corners the way he did before battling elbow inflammation in the regular season's second half.

"I had all my pitches throwing for strikes," Van said. "I kept them off-balance, and it's nice to have six runs to work with."

The Skyhawks (21-7) got the lead for their left-hander in the top of the second, with James Wickman knocking in Tommy Rojas and David Nielsen with a double to right-center field.

Silverado got to Basic right-hander Matt Eliott for another in the third on an RBI double by Jeremy West and then made it 4-1 in the fourth when Joe Wickman's RBI groundout scored Bobby Morvay.

That lead was more than enough for Van, who struck out at least two batters in all seven innings and allowed just five hits -- all singles.

Rojas wound up 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, and Ryan Ruiz belted a run-scoring triple in the sixth to atone for three uncharacteristic errors in the field.

Elliott worked 5 1/3 innings for Basic (25-5), yielding four runs on five hits. He struck out six, walked five and hit two batters. Schnurstein finished 2-for-4 for the Wolves.

In game one, Gators starter Brice Sells spotted the Sundevils a 3-0 first-inning lead before settling down to pitch his club into the next round. The right-hander surrendered just six hits after the first and wound up with six strikeouts.

Green Valley (24-6) answered Eldorado's three-run first with a five-run second, with Chris McGovern, Bronson Duck and Billy Schmitt chipping in RBI singles and Nate Shue coming through with a two-run double.

Jarrod Hamilton wrapped up his prep career with a solid pitching performance for the Sundevils (15-14), going the distance and scattering nine hits. He also went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.

Spencer Patterson covers prep sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at 259-4085 or by e-mail at spencer@lasvegassun.com.