GV, Gorman aim to keep baseball streak alive

With the top two seeds from each zone still playing, this weekend's 4A State Baseball Tournament promises to be one of the most competitive in recent years.

When five-time defending champion Green Valley (30-2) and Bishop Gorman (25-7) arrive in Reno for their first-round games, they'll find tough Carson (29-5) and Douglas (24-8) clubs waiting.

And the northern zone's top two squads will have a lot to prove when the action opens at Nevada-Reno's Peccole Field Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Since 1980, Las Vegas-area schools have won 18 of 20 Nevada baseball titles (Reno in 1984 and Carson in 1992 being the exceptions).

While neither Carson nor Douglas may boast a pitching duo like the Gators' Mike Nannini and Joe Orloski, both northern schools feature a top-notch ace.

Carson likely will send Daryl Resner, the zone pitcher of the year, to the mound for its opener against Gorman while Douglas probably will pitch southpaw Brady Obard in game one against Green Valley.

* SOFTBALL BREAKTHROUGH?: While the northern baseball teams look to break through in Reno, the Las Vegas-area softball squads will try for only their second large-school softball title since 1984 and their first in six years.

To do that, Silverado, Green Valley, Bonanza or Cimarron-Memorial will have to get past a quartet of perennially tough Northern squads, a group headed by two-time defending state champion Galena.

With consensus Northern Zone pitcher of the year Kourtney Davis on the mound, the Grizzlies (30-6) have been virtually unbeatable, sweeping through a treacherous zone tournament with relative ease over the weekend.

Reed (25-14), the second seed from the north, may be the best hitting team in the state. Carson (26-9), which won the zone tournament in 1996 and '97, has an experienced lineup led by zone player of the year Leah Sanchez, a senior pitcher/outfielder.

No. 3 seed Douglas (27-11) comes into the event with a world of confidence, courtesy of a stunning 25-inning, 1-0 victory over McQueen in a zone tournament game. The Tigers also have one of the area's top hurlers -- senior Lori Shepard -- who threw every pitch in that marathon contest without walking a single batter.

"In order for a southern team to break through, they're going to have to be mentally prepared," said Silverado coach Chuck Pope, whose club defeated Douglas and lost to Galena in nonleague games this season. "You can't make errors against the northern teams. Too many of their games are 1-0 or 2-1, and errors will cost you."

* STRETCH RUN: Although Cheyenne track coach John Dixon admits his Southern Zone champion girls squad may face an impossible mission against defending 4A champ Reno this weekend, he gives his club a slight edge over the rest of the field on the boys side.

"Reno is coming down here with a really strong girls team, but their boys are beatable," said Dixon, whose boys won last year's 4A title. "I'm hoping we'll have the advantage, but we'll get strong competition from Reno and Cimarron."

Of course, track and field meets of this magnitude often are full of surprises. Just ask three of the area's top athletes, all of whom failed to finish among the top four in their event at zone, thus missing out on the state meet.

Cimarron-Memorial senior Charles Ehizuelen, the defending 4A champion in the triple jump, wound up fifth overall, while Silverado's Dustin Hudspeth and Bonanza's Cory Jeffers -- two of the zone's top distance runners -- placed eighth and sixth, respectively, in their best events.

On the flip side, Cimarron-Memorial freshman Shameka Davis shocked the rest of the field in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, capturing three titles in her first zone meet. The victories in the 100 and 200 came against Mojave sophomore Nicole Ireland, who posted the area's top times in both events during the season.

* ON THE LINKS: Expect the South to dominate this year's 4A state golf tournament, which opens Wednesday at Stallion Mountain Country Club. The four area qualifiers -- Durango, Green Valley, Bonanza and Gorman -- all should finish among the top five, with defending state champion Reno also likely to be in the mix.

According to Green Valley coach Del Sagers, whose squad captured the 1994, '95 and '96 state titles before losing in a tiebreaker to Reno last year, depth will be the key in the 36-hole event. "For us, it's going to be how our four, five and six golfers shoot," he said. "If I can get good scores from them, we'll be in the hunt."

If last weeks' Southern Zone tournament is any indication, the battle for the individual trophy should be hotly contested, with more than a dozen local golfers capable of coming out on top. Keep a close eye on defending state champ Ben Auten (Bonanza), along with Gorman's Tyler Mays, Green Valley's Dallas Massey, Durango's Randy Creighton and Galena's Travis Whisman, the top threat from the North.

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