Las Vegas cruises to road win over Green Valley

Las Vegas High’s softball team used a six-run second inning to take control on the way to a 14-3 road win over Green Valley on Thursday.

“We made good adjustments at the plate today,” Las Vegas coach Darleen Fernandez said. “At first we wanted to take everything in the air, but once we decided we wanted to stay on top of the ball and drive it into the ground that’s when things really took off for us.”

Junior Melina Fabian was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs for the Wildcats (4-2, 4-2 Class 4A Sunrise League). Senior Arienn Ackerman was 2-for-3 with a double and added three RBIs.

Windy weather at Green Valley (4-5, 1-3) played a factor in keeping runners off base at times, but couldn’t keep the Wildcats’ offense down.

“After that six-run inning it was tough for us to get on base,” Fernandez said. “And it’s because that wind was taking the ball in the air. So once they buckled down and make some adjustments we were a lot more successful.”

Fernandez was pleased with the approach her batters took at the plate and the pitches they chose to attack.

“Pitch selection is something we’ve been working on a lot,” Fernandez said. “Sometimes we get caught swinging at pitchers’ pitches instead of our pitches. I feel like this game we did a better job of zeroing in on our ball that we could hit hard.”

Sophomore Skylar Gorrell pitched a two-hitter to get the win. Gorrell only struck out two batters and relied on her defense to make the outs to keep Green Valley off the scoreboard.

“When Skylar gets ahead of batters she does a lot of good things for us in circle,” Fernandez said. “That’s one thing that has been, and will continue to be, important for us is her getting ahead of batters. She did a phenomenal job of that.”

Contact reporter Bill Slane at bslane@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4559. Follow @bill_slane on Twitter.