Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Griego mows down Wildcats

Maybe it was that she was hitting her elbow on her hip, slowly wearing down her hard-to-beat arm. Or maybe it was that a good softball team was finally starting to figure out her pitches after five innings of getting smoked.

But after striking out 10 of the first 19 batters she faced, Silverado pitcher Kelly Griego finally looked beatable in the last two innings she pitched Wednesday night.

Las Vegas High scored three runs off four doubles in the last two innings to make a decent showing in an 8-3 loss at Silverado.

"When we come to this field, we play on our heels," Wildcats coach Kevin Jones said. "We made mistakes, we're not ready. By the fifth inning, the game was getting out of hand, and we settled down. We started seeing the ball better."

Silverado coach Steve Hodges wasn't concerned with Las Vegas' late success against his ace.

"They hit the ball late, it was the fourth time they'd seen her today," Hodges said.

Griego finished with 14 strikeouts, and gave up two earned runs.

"There's always been some big dominant kid," Hodges said. "With 14 strikeouts, she's the big dominant kid. She's got two strikeouts an inning, that makes it easier when you only play defense on one player per inning."

The Wildcats resume league play today at Valley, while Silverado hosts Del Sol. Both teams also play Friday.

Once Around Town

Earlier this week, Spartans pitcher Kelsey McCoy pitched a perfect game against Mojave. Wednesday, Cimarron's Jennifer Liddell threw a no-hitter against Cheyenne, with two fifth-inning walks the only blemishes in the contest.

"They have a lot of confidence," coach Joe Sarro said. "The whole key to them, they don't walk a lot of people. They got good varsity innings last year, no doubt both have stepped up."

Even more frightening for other Northwest teams -- both McCoy and Liddell are sophomores. That creaking sound from Summerlin is the shifting of the softball balance of power.

"They more than held their own last year as freshmen," Sarro said. "They're interchangeable. It's hard to say we have a one or a two. We have two wins against Palo Verde, they each have beaten Palo Verde once. They're both more than capable of getting the job done."

Cimarron-Memorial hosts Shadow Ridge today.

"She's one of the top players in this city, but she hasn't been recognized the last two years," Chaparral coach Craig Deputy said.

Ralston, who is likely headed to Southern Utah University, has helped Chaparral make a remarkable comeback over the last three seasons. The Cowboys are currently 11-10.

"Three years ago winning five games and to have 15 last year and 11 right now, I feel good about what we've done with the talent we have," Deputy said.

Valley plays at Chaparral on Friday.

The first-year Dragons have won three games this year, and while they don't yet have a league victory, Dinkel's more worried about getting her kids some experience.

"We're still having a lot of errors on paper, really," Dinkel said. "A lot of kids are inexperienced. It's hard not to complicate errors."

By that, Dinkel means over-correcting after an error, causing yet another error.

"I think that we'll struggle and have our battles with the teams that are known, the Silverados and Coronados and Green Valleys," she said. "What I told our kids, you've got nothing to prove. All you've got to do is step up and mentally be ready."

Dinkel in particular points out shortstop Lisa Kosinski as a player who's done well this year, hitting .423 so far this year.

"She's very consistent," Dinkel said. "She's not getting into big extra-base hits. She gets on base a lot, even when she's not getting a hit."

Del Sol plays Green Valley at Del Sol on Friday.

At least, that's how coach Jerome Streets refers to things so far for the 17-8 Mountain Lions.

"We're pretty young this year," he said. "It's been up and down."

His pitching tandem of Kylee Kissane and Rebecca Rumsey, both juniors, have both been working on situational pitching.

"Just hitting spots and changing speeds," Streets said. "Teams in town are good teams, they're going to hit. It's a matter of putting the ball where we'll have more success playing defense."

Sierra Vista hosts 3A champion Pahrump Valley on Saturday.

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