Las Vegas High heads to regionals undefeated

Nick Christensen

Thursday, May 5, 2005 | 9:14 a.m.

Las Vegas High had the toughest second-half schedule in town.

On the surface, it's a preposterous statement. The Wildcats play in the Northeast Division, considered the weakest of the six 4A leagues in Nevada.

But look at the schedule, and scattered in between those Northeast games were contests against teams like Silverado, Coronado, Cimarron-Memorial and Foothill, all playoff teams and two of the three other top-seeded teams from the 4A South.

So while the Wildcats completed their 12-0 Northeast Division season with an 7-1 win at Desert Pines on Wednesday, they also know there's more to life out there than Valley and Canyon Springs.

"They know at this point they have to play harder than ever," Vegas coach Kevin Jones said. "We can't take any breaks. They're two-games gone. They have to take one game at a time."

The Wildcats will enter next week's double-elimination Sunrise Region playoffs as a top seed, facing Foothill at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park in Henderson. But they enter having lost games to Foothill and Silverado, and splitting a pair of games against Coronado.

"We have to play 110 percent. Everybody will be really hard to beat," said junior Alicia Delatorre. "Now we know that it's not going to be an easy game. We can't have any regrets about anything."

Jones said he's comforted by how close all three losses were.

"We know we can compete with Foothill. Coronado, we split with this season. Silverado, we made some key errors at the beginning of the game," he said. "We know we have to play our best because the teams from the south(east) are very good."

Once Around Town

On an off day from league play, Silverado downed Sierra Vista 7-1 in what coach Steve Hodges called an important tune-up game.

"He wanted to see our pitching and we wanted to see his just before we got into the playoffs," Hodges said. "I think both of us did it out of respect for each other's teams and programs. I'm sure facing Kelly (Griego) is going to help them and I'm sure facing (Kylee) Kissane's going to help us."

Hodges, whose Skyhawks have already clinched the Southeast Division's top seed, said he's glad to be on the top half of the bracket, scheduled to face the Northeast's second seed if he makes it by the Northeast's fourth.

"The seeding makes me more comfortable than having to play Vegas in the second round," he said. "Whoever plays Vegas in the second round, one of those teams will lose and is going to have to win five straight to win it. That's tough to do."

Silverado closes out league play this afternoon against Foothill.

Those who would be Southwest champs all struggled on Tuesday, with Bonanza losing to Bishop Gorman and Clark falling to Durango. Instead of the Southwest Division being settled, seeding became even more muddled. No team can safely say they know where they'll start the playoffs.

"Our league is wide open. Nobody believed me in the beginning," Sierra Vista coach Jerome Streets said. "I knew Gorman was going to sneak up on somebody. (Durango coach) Sandy (Morgan) always gets her kids ready to play. They caught Clark on a day they didn't swing the bat very well."

Tiebreakers don't favor Streets' Mountain Lions, so his team will likely start the playoffs as a third seed. But he feels confident about his chances next week, especially after facing Silverado's Griego.

"I think she's the best pitcher in the state," Streets said. "I don't think it matters where you end up, as long as you end up in the top four. We were favored last year, and we got bounced by Bonanza early. All that stuff, you throw it out the window."

Sierra Vista closes out its season Friday at Clark.

NORTHWEST: Things are just as muddled in the other half of the Sunset Region. Only Cimarron-Memorial has locked a seed, having won the Northwest title while steamrolling towards an undefeated ...

Wait. The Spartans lost to Shadow Ridge 6-2 on Tuesday, and Palo Verde fell to Centennial. And while Cimarron was looking at an undefeated season, Shadow Ridge now has the possibility of running the table in the second half of league play after starting out 3-2.

"Overall, every game's still important, but we played a little flat," Cimarron coach Joe Sarro said. "It wasn't with the same energy that we've had. Ultimately, we didn't really hit the ball."

Sarro acknowledged that the game meant more to the Mustangs than it did to his team.

"It definitely (was more important) for them as far as a big game," he said. "They played well and did what they needed to do. We didn't have the same enthusiasm or energy and they're a good team."

Cimarron closes its regular season on Friday when the Spartans host Centennial. They'll open the playoffs at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park, likely facing Spring Valley.