Friday, May 13, 2005 | 10:01 a.m.
The payback tour is complete. Las Vegas High is now three-for-three in games against the Southeast Division teams with which the Wildcats struggled during the regular season, with Vegas beating Silverado 3-1 Thursday to advance to today's Sunrise Region Championship.
Now, it's Silverado that will have to go three-for-three today if the Skyhawks plan on winning the Sunrise title. Silverado opens at 3 p.m. today with a game against Coronado at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park. The winner of that will have to win back-to-back games against Vegas to take the title.
"We'll worry about the first one and not worry about the second one and the third one," Skyhawks coach Steve Hodges said. "The most important thing for us is getting to the state tournament. If we win the first game tomorrow, we've still got another shot to play a game to get into the state tournament."
The runners-up from the Sunrise and Sunset regions play Saturday for the final berth in next week's state tournament.
Vegas last played the Skyhawks on April 13, on a warm, dusty afternoon at Silverado High School. Skyhawks starter Kelly Griego was her usual self, retiring 15 of the first 19 batters.
But in the final three innings, Las Vegas gained momentum. It started with a single by Cassandra Blanco in the fifth inning, followed by another single by Sarah Vannoy. In the sixth inning, Vegas scored its first run off an RBI double by Megan Webb. And in the seventh, the Wildcats had three consecutive doubles with two outs to make the game got more interesting.
While in the end, Vegas' late-inning rally didn't do anything for that game, Webb said it had a huge part in the Wildcats' confidence heading into Wednesday's playoff contest.
"We had come off strong at the end of the last game, and we had confidence coming into this game," Webb said. "We knew we could hit her, we just had to be focused."
Despite Vegas coach Kevin Jones saying there's still a 50-50 chance his team will win the Sunrise title, his team (33-8) would have to lose three games in a row to miss the state tournament.
Hodges said he thought the Wildcats were underestimated by a lot of people, particularly because they play in the Northeast Division.
"I don't think people gave them enough respect," Hodges said. "I know how good a coach he is. They scored three runs off us. The last time we played them, they scored three runs off us and we beat them. They didn't do anything today that they didn't do (a month) ago."
Griego gave up eight hits Thursday, striking out 10 Wildcats batters. Vegas starter Giovanna Guzman allowed three hits and struck out three.
Silverado will play Coronado at 3 p.m., the winner advancing to face Las Vegas at 5 p.m. and if necessary, again at 7 p.m.
Once Around Town
Shari Zeigler, the Cougars' coach, said the momentum started with 6-0 win against Rancho earlier Thursday at Craig Park.
"I had a good feeling about it because my girls decided to pick it up with the bats," Zeigler said. "They came to play Green Valley and came up with some big hits at the right time."
She said her advice heading into the Cougars' third game this year against Silverado is just to keep doing what they're doing. The teams split two games this year.
"I'm going to tell them, don't change a thing they're doing now," Zeigler said. "Each is playing their own role. They're going to come out on top. I know the team that gets up there and is successful at hitting is going to be the team that wins."
It'll be the Mountain Lions' second trip to the Sunset Region championship game. The last time, in 2003, Sierra Vista ran into Centennial star Shannon Crisp.
"It makes it a lot easier. I'm glad she's at UNLV now," Lions coach Jerome Streets said. "I'm really pleased with our girls for getting ready to play. If we maintain that focus, we'll continue to play well."
Streets said he won't be worrying himself with who wins the Cimarron-Palo Verde semifinal.
"I don't focus on other teams," he said. "I focus in on us playing our game. All the teams on our side of town are good. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day."
The Mountain Lions will play at 5 p.m. and, if necessary, 7 p.m. today at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park.
"This is a very resilient group of kids. They've hit some bumps in the road, they've dropped some losses that hurt them seedingwise," Panthers interim coach Gina Piccolo said. "They have a lot to prove. It's a very talented group of girls."
The team, which had dropped to the fourth seed in the Northwest Division, is also playing without coach Jaime Ditto, who resigned on May 3. Ditto has been involved with the team and watching all the games. But Piccolo said she thinks the change has still had an impact on the team.
"Any time you have that type of change, in any sport program, the kids unfortunately are affected more than even the coaches involved," she said. "I think they're disappointed about not having coach Ditto there but at the same time, I think her spirit really drives them.
"She's been there every game of the playoffs, cheering them on in the stands, and that means a great deal to them."
Spanish Springs, Reed and McQueen also won first-round games. Reno and Douglas advanced in the one-loss bracket.
Pahranagat Valley will face Tonopah this morning, with Mountain View scheduled to play the winner of that game at 12:30 p.m.
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