Centennial (Las Vegas) broke northern Nevada's four-year stranglehold on the 4A state softball championship last season, but the Bulldogs are expected to have a tough time pulling off the repeat this time around. In fact, you need two hands (and maybe even some toes) to count the number of legitimate candidates for the title this year.
Most schools in southern Nevada are playing in various Spring Break tournaments, so this is the perfect time to preview the top teams and players from the three 4A regions.
1. Northern Region
The High Desert League is home to four of the last five state champions and should factor in once again this season. Spanish Springs (Sparks) won back-to-back state titles in 2007-08 and the Cougars are one of the favorites behind standout pitcher Karlyn Jones, who has signed with Pittsburgh, and Cal-bound shortstop Ashley Decker. Spanish Springs figures to battle Reed (Sparks), the defending region champion and state runner-up. The Raiders are led by junior P Destinee Levesque and senior 1B Kristy Pasley. Both teams are off to undefeated starts in league play, but will be tested by Reno, McQueen (Reno), North Valleys (Reno) and Elko in arguably the state's deepest league. Reno features Nikki Rahming and Carly Corthell, while Elko is led by standout senior catcher Casey Smith.
The Sierra League is expected to be a battle between Douglas (Minden), Damonte Ranch (Reno) and Bishop Manogue (Reno), although don't count out Carson (Carson City) and Galena (Reno). Behind pitcher Kalyn Paque, Damonte Ranch already took two of three games from Bishop Manogue and its pitcher, Megan Dortch. The Mustangs are tied atop the league standings with Douglas at 5-1.
2. Sunrise Region
Foothill (Henderson) and Green Valley (Henderson) are perennial powers in the Southeast League, but those schools could get a run from upstart Basic (Henderson). The Wolves are off to an 11-0 start behind junior P Lacey Romo, who tossed a perfect game in the season opener and had 18 strikeouts, along with a home run in a 4-0 win over Coronado (Henderson) last week. Foothill is the defending region champion has advanced to the state tournament three straight years.
The Falcons lost state player of the year Shelbie Medrano to graduation, although the Falcons are getting contributions from senior SS/C Kylie Ishikawa, senior 1B Kylee Taylor, senior 2B Myranda Mortel and sophomore P Alex Petrolia. Green Valley has 10 returners, including senior 1B/3B Ali Bodnar, junior SS Shelby Vickers, senior P/3B/OF Alicia Firelein and senior C Kayla Anderson, which should keep the Gators in the upper half of the standings. Also expected to be in the mix is Liberty (Henderson), which welcomes back senior P/utility Breanna English (.548, 44 RBI; 12-5, 1.03 ERA last season), sophomore P/3B Francesca Foti (5-0, 1.19 ERA) and sophomore SS Megan Patras (.407, 26 RBIs), along with Coronado and senior C/3B Devyn Choltko.
In the Northeast League, defending champion Valley (Las Vegas) is off to a good start behind sophomore CF Zoe Galindo and junior P/SS Mickayla Romero. The Vikings were the only team in league to beat Las Vegas last season, and those two teams are the favorites once again. Las Vegas has just four starters back in senior P/1B Monique Hernandez, senior C Chelsea Lewis, junior C/CF Jenise Gutierrez and junior SS Krizzel Galvez. If any team can break into the top two it appears to be Chaparral (Las Vegas). The Cowboys are led by junior SS Kendy Reynoso and have eight starters back.
3. Sunset Region
Centennial beat Reed 7-4 in 11 innings last season for its first state title since 2004. The Bulldogs return senior P/3B Lindsay Konopelko (12-5, 2.73 ERA; 10 HRs) and junior C Kylie Bartlett (Jr.), and have been boosted by freshman P Taylor Huntly. Seven seniors departed, however, opening the door for several teams in the Northwest League. Defending region champion Shadow Ridge (Las Vegas) was also hit hard by graduation, although junior OF Ashley Eldridge is back and P Jasmine Bouie replaces the departed Mandy Harmon in the circle.
Both those teams trail Arbor View (Las Vegas) in the standings early on, though. Bolstered by the return of senior 1B/SS/OF Savanah Webster and senior Kayla Griffith, who each missed last year due to injuries, along with senior P Amanda Jones and junior CF Nichole Diaz, the Aggies are 3-0 and already own an 8-2 win over Centennial. Palo Verde (Las Vegas) is also off to an unbeaten league start behind junior P Melissa McCormick (205 K, 1.80 ERA) and senior SS Lauren Stover (.384, 30 RBI). Legacy (North Las Vegas) has six starters back, including senior OF Darcey Cochran (.624, 29 steals); P Sierra Pico (.633, 36 RBI; 2.01 ERA, 168 Ks and senior IF Kayla Murray (.505, 37 RBI).
Cimarron-Memorial was one of the preseason favorites with six starters back, including all-state junior P/1B Carrie Sheehan (1.10 ERA, 228 Ks), but the Spartans have stumbled to a 0-3 start. In the Southwest League, defending champion Durango (Las Vegas) has a wealth of experience with eight starters back. Senior SS Jaexie Balilea leads the way along with senior P/1B Nicole Herrera and senior 2B/P Taylor Short. Four other teams are expected to contend for the remaining three playoff spots. Bonanza (Las Vegas) lost its pitching battery from a year ago, but still has 10 letterwinners. Senior P Courtney Spencer (2.36 ERA) is one of five seniors on the roster while junior 1B Emily Osborn and sophomore RF Nicholette Lind lead the Bengals offense. Desert Oasis (Las Vegas) has eight starters back from a team that qualified for the postseason in its first varsity season.
Sophomore C/SS Emily Heinz (.426) leads the offense, along with junior 1B/OF Nicole Liakos (26 RBI), senior OF Cheree Austin and senior P/1B/OF Morgan Hughes. Clark (Las Vegas) has seven starters back led by junior SS/OF Anna Jaehn and sophomore P/OF Julia Hagen, who steps into the circle after the departure of Elisa Dawson. In addition, Spring Valley (Las Vegas) should contend with sophomore SS Katie Campo (.449, 23 RBI); junior 1B/OF Jessica Martinez (.446, 16 RBI) and junior P/OF Nicole Matyskiel (.373, 18 RBI) all back.
RENO OFF TO HOT START
The Reno baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps state rankings and was the only undefeated team in the state heading into Tuesday's game against No. 15 Douglas (Minden). The game was a rematch of the 4A Northern Regional championship game that Douglas won 4-3.
STRONG MARKS AT LAS VEGAS TRACK CLASSIC
The Western (Las Vegas) girls track team dominated the sprints at Saturday's Las Vegas Track Classic at Del Sol (Las Vegas). Antoinette Garrett won the 200 meters in a meet-record time of 24.98 seconds, Tierra Tyler took the 100 (12.27) and Paradise Sanders was first in the 400 (57.84). Centennial's Karli Johonnot was the girls athlete of the meet as she won the 100 hurdles (15.41), the 300 intermediate hurdles (44.39) and the high jump (5-foot-6).
Chaparral’s Malcolm McMurray won the boys long jump with a mark of 22-1/4 and was named the boys field athlete of the meet. Jovani Hernandez of Canyon Springs (North Las Vegas) was impressive in winning the 800 in 1:57.03, while junior Colin Smith of Del Sol (Las Vegas) took second in the 3,000 in 8:58.00, a time that was almost 15 seconds faster than the previous meet record.
NEVADA FALLS TO UTAH
Reno guard Stephanie Rovetti scored a game-high 17 points, but the Nevada Senior All-Stars fell to Utah 72-65 in the "Battle of the Border" All-Star WBCA Pink Zone Game in Orem, Utah on Saturday. The game is sponsored by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
David Schoen works at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is a former Associate Sports Editor and Turn2 columnist for the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune. You can reach him at ByDavid1@aol.com.
