Sierra Vista comes together, routs top-seeded Bonanza

Nick Christensen

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

Sierra Vista's softball team spent the past two months as an enigma, a preseason favorite that limped into a third seed in the Sunset Region playoffs.

Now, the riddle is starting to unravel.

A night after downing surging Shadow Ridge 7-0, the Mountain Lions sent Southwest Division winner Bonanza into the one-loss bracket with a 13-4 rout Wednesday at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park.

"I just knew if we played to our capabilities we could play with anybody," Sierra Vista coach Jerome Streets said. "They've done a good job the last two nights of playing to the level of their capabilities."

The Lions led 1-0 after three innings, but steadily built on that lead in the following frames while picking apart alternating Bonanza pitchers Megan Lambertz and Joyce Delp.

"We'd scored one run off of them up to that point," Streets said. "I was really surprised to get (13) runs."

Meanwhile, Streets' pitching tandem of Kylee Kissane and Rebecca Rumsey have teamed well, alternating starts the past two nights.

"I think they're finally playing with confidence and playing together," Streets said. "We struggled early on finding an identity being so young. They're just doing a good job playing together."

Sierra Vista will face Northwest champion Cimarron-Memorial at 5 p.m. today.

Once Around Town

Vegas has now beaten two of the three Southeast teams it lost to in nonleague games scheduled during league play.

The one left is today's opponent, top-ranked Silverado. Skyhawks starter Kelly Griego, the state's strikeouts leader, shut out Green Valley in her team's 1-0 win Wednesday.

The last time Vegas and Silverado met, Griego and the Skyhawks cruised to an 8-3 win.

"It's going to Silverado. That trip, we hit a warp as we get off the 95 and head on over," Vegas coach Kevin Jones said. Now, though, "You're not thinking so much about who you're playing, you're thinking about playing your best."

The Sunrise Region's two division champions play at 5 p.m. today at Craig Park.

The Gators escaped their first meeting with Foothill with a 2-1 win. They completed the season sweep with a 5-4 win at Green Valley, leaving Foothill players scratching their heads as they slumped to watch the rest of the baseball game.

"It'd be nice to at least get them one time," Falcons coach Tom Mayes said. "Now would be a great time, when it really counts."

Foothill advanced Wednesday with a 7-1 victory against Desert Pines at Craig Park. It was a marked contrast from the 2-1 loss to Las Vegas in the teams' first-round game.

"They just had a few more hits than we did and beat us 2-1," Mayes said. "The girls know they can play. It's a matter of who's going to get some hits and make the fewest amount of errors."

Foothill will make another try at beating Green Valley at 3 p.m. today at Craig Park.

But on the plus side, the Grizzlies got to play one more playoff game than any other first-year school this year.

"To be able to do what we've done as a first-year school, it's impressive," Spring Valley coach Emily Watkins said. "It's just disappointing because I know we were capable of more. But they're a good group of kids and there's nothing but good ahead."

The Grizzlies will return infielder Molly Bausher, pitchers Stacey Dilts and Taylor Gilliland and sluggers Ashley Dehler and Tyiama Turner to next year's club.

"The girls are excited. Everyone can come back and they'll just have had more time working together," Watkins said. "In our division, Clark loses their best pitcher, Bonanza loses theirs ... there are some other young players from young teams in this division, but I think this year has helped these kids come together."

Spring Valley finished the season 13-13. Centennial advances to play Bonanza at 3 p.m. today at Craig Park.

That wasn't a problem Wednesday, as the Panthers scored seven runs in the sixth inning to back up Lindsay Callaway's 13 strikeouts as Palo Verde cruised to a 10-0 win against Shadow Ridge. The Mustangs were eliminated from the playoffs.

"It just took a turn," Panthers coach Jaime Ditto said. "They got a little confidence, which they hadn't had, and they just came on like gangbusters."

Palo Verde was led by Brittany Martin, who went 3-for-4 with a run, two doubles and four RBIs. Amanda Montalto added three runs while going 2-for-2 at the plate.

The Panthers move on to play Clark at 5 p.m. today at Craig Park.