Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 10:42 a.m.
Two days after receiving Southern Nevada's top pitching honor from area coaches, Las Vegas High senior John Dischavio went out and proved he deserved it.
The hard-throwing right-hander -- who was selected as one of four All-Southern Nevada first-team pitchers -- shut down a potent Chaparral offense Wednesday night, lifting his club to a 4-2 victory in Round 1 of the Sunrise Region Tournament at Henderson's Burkholder Field.
Dischavio limited the Cowboys to seven hits in a complete-game win. Despite the game's significance, the Wildcat pitcher only got stronger as the contest wore on, holding his opponents without a hit after the third inning and striking out four of the final six batters he faced.
"He battled real hard on the mound," Wildcats coach Sam Thomas said. "It looked to me like he really stepped it up at the end of the game."
Las Vegas (21-10) advances to play Silverado (19-7) in Round 2 of the double-elimination tournament Saturday at 10 a.m. The Skyhawks moved on with an easy 18-6 win over Valley in Wednesday's early game.
Early on, it looked like Chaparral had Dischavio solved, as the Cowboys stranded three runners in the first two innings and then scored a pair of runs in the third to take a 2-1 lead. Bijan Damavandi, Chris Trzaska and Drew Stater all doubled in the frame, and the Vegas bullpen came alive with activity.
But in the bottom of the fourth, the Wildcats gave their ace all the offensive support he would need. Anthony Pluta led off the inning with a single, then stole second and scored on a long double by Pete Arroyo. After David Hamilton sacrificed Arroyo to third, Jared Jones brought home what would be the game-winning run with a groundout to second.
The Northeast Division champs added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Clayton Mofford, and that was more than enough with Dischavio heating up on the mound.
"It's a lot easier to pitch when you know you have a two-run lead," Dischavio said. "You can make a mistake and you won't lose the game."
As the final three innings progressed, Dischavio looked more and more comfortable, relying almost exclusively on his fastball to blow Chaparral's lineup away.
In Wednesday's first contest, Silverado put 10 runs on the board in the third inning to take a 12-0 lead. But Skyhawk starter James Wickman started to get wild in the fourth, allowing Valley to score five runs on just one hit.
The Vikings rally was far from enough, however, as Ryan Ruiz's three-run triple spearheaded a six-run sixth inning.
"A win's a win," Silverado coach Brian Whitaker said. "You have to keep moving forward in the tournament."
Skyhawks catcher Tommy Rojas, who suffered injuries in a single-car accident on Sunday, started the contest behind the plate before leaving in the fourth inning.
"Tommy was cleared to play about 1 (p.m.) today, and that was a big inspiration for everybody," Whitaker said. "The kid's all heart. Physically, he's sore and banged up and stiff."
The next round will likely see a matchup between Wildcats right-hander Anthony Pluta, a signee with Long Beach State, and Silverado left-hander Robbie Van, a UNLV signee.
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