Thursday, March 27, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
This would be one of those instances in which numbers do a team justice much more than words.
Numbers? How about a phenomenal 32-1 run ratio in five games. Or two no-hitters, both by sophomores.
Of course, the most important stat, a 5-0 record Silverado compiled in three days, was the reason the Skyhawks won the Clark Invitational Easter Softball Tournament Wednesday at the Community College of Southern Nevada.
Silverado beat Del Campo, Calif., 2-0, for the championship, capping off three days of brilliant play.
The two-time defending Sunset Division champion and two-time defending Southern Zone titlist improved to 10-3 this season, riding the arm of senior pitcher Meka Anderson. Anderson pitched a three-hitter Wednesday and was named the event's MVP.
It was a far cry from last weekend, when Silverado was struggling in a tournament in Bullhead City, Ariz.
"Last weekend," Anderson said, "we got our butts kicked. This tournament, we came around and played well together. Confidence-wise, this is a big boost."
Silverado sophomore pitcher Tiffany Finateri and senior shortstop April Arata were named to the all-tournament team.
"The girls are really coming around," said Anderson, 4-2 with a miniscule 0.33 earned-run average. "We're picking each other up."
Arata scored a run and drove in the other for Silverado. In the sixth inning, she ripped a full-count run-scoring single to center, supplying the Skyhawks the insurance run they needed.
"We really didn't hit the ball well last weekend," said the soft-spoken Arata. "But we got a lot of confidence back."
Thanks in no small part to Anderson, who allowed only one Del Campo runner past first base. She and Finateri both won two games this week, sophomore Julia Yurek the other. Yurek was pitching just the sixth game of her prep career when she no-hit Mar Vista, Calif., 17-0 on Tuesday.
"They've worked really hard," Silverado coach Chuck Pope said. "Those two have been wanting time for a while, but the problem was we had an all-stater in Meka."
The stingy Anderson has surrendered only two earned runs in 42 1/3 innings. Finateri has a 4-1 mark, Yurek 2-0.
Long term, Pope's pitching options could multiply. If Finateri and Yurek develop as they have, Pope can keep Anderson's innings down and permit her to remain strong and vital into mid-May, when Silverado figures to need her most.
Anderson hinted that she isn't near the form she'd like to be.
"I think I have a few weeks before I peak," she said.
In the meantime, the rest of the Skyhawks can do some maturing.
"We are so damn young," Pope said. "We only start two seniors, and we need to grow all the time. We can't be complacent. We're young, we're growing, we're learning."
And they're winning.
* WEDNESDAY'S GAMES: Hilltop, Calif., beat Chaparral 7-1 for third place, and Bonita Vista, Calif., topped Green Valley 5-1 in the fifth-place game. In other games, Sacred Heart of San Francisco beat Rancho 7-0, Linfield downed Clark 4-1, Basic shut out Western 10-0, Mira Mesa doubled up Cimarron-Memorial 10-5, Taft Union slipped past Cheyenne 2-1 and Patrick Henry beat Bonanza 7-1.
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