Gators’ Garritano filling Fairless’ footsteps just fine

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

He doesn't have the track record of Rodger Fairless, but Green Valley coach Nick Garritano has already exceeded his own expectations.

Since Garritano took the reigns of Green Valley's baseball program in 1999, the Gators have won two state championships, one in 2001 and another in 2003.

Six years after taking over for Fairless, who guided the Gators to six consecutive large-school state championships in the 1990s, Garritano has Green Valley back into the state tournament, preparing to face Centennial in Thursday's opener at CCSN in Henderson.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't want this job," Garritano said. "I didn't want to follow in his footsteps. All you're going to do is fail. I took over in '99, we had a real rough start. In 2000 we got a little bit better. In 2001 we had a real magical year - a good group of kids and we won it.

"And here we are in 2005 playing in a state tournament, hopefully we've got an opportunity to win our third championship in five years."

To do that, the Gators will have to use an unfamiliar formula - less offense, more defense, and a little bit of the attitude that a team that's won eight of the last 11 championships should have.

"One thing that we've been trying to stress is they need to get a little swagger about them," Garritano said. "You can walk into a field believing you're going to win, believing you're the best team in the state of Nevada. And maybe it's just these kids are pretty modest. That '01 and '03 team walked on the field and they knew they were going to win."

Of course, the Gators are still trying to get their sea legs under them. After smooth sailing through the first month of the 2005 season, the team encountered a rough stretch. The Gators lost three of their six games in the second-half of league play.

"I think through that whole regional, we played three one-run games and I think it showed the kids if you don't give up and keep fighting and scratching until the last out's made, good things can happen," Garritano said. "Hats off to our pitching staff and our defense, they did a great job."

The defense stayed strong to the last out in last week's Sunrise Region championship, a 4-6-3 double play that ended a 2-1 game at Basic.

"Everyone's kind of like, we're not hitting, this and that," Gators shortstop Ryan Foley said. "Now we kind of pride ourselves on defense and pitching. Hopefully our hitting's going to come around sooner or later. It should."

Garritano again looks back to his two championship squads as a benchmark for offense.

"Hittingwise I think we're behind," he said. "That 2001, 2003 team, they really hit the ball well. They were feeling the ball, crushing the ball this time of year. We're sort of battling through things. Hopefully we can battle offensively here soon."

That might be tough in Green Valley's first-round game against Centennial (4 p.m. Thursday, Lied Field at Morse Stadium). The Bulldogs have some excellent pitching, led by Tyler Lavigne and Mark Smith.

The Bulldogs and Gators usually play at least one game each year, but the two were unable to put one together due to scheduling conflicts.

As far as Garritano's concerned, they might as well be playing Spanish Springs.

"It's scary because we know nothing about that team," he said. "We can't really worry about who you're playing, you just have to play the game. They're going to run a pitcher out there, and I guarantee he's going to be solid."

Foley agreed that there's no advantage to familiarity.

"The only thing you use an opponent for is motivation," he said. "If our team comes out and does what we need to do, it should be a good game."