Skyhawks make quick work of Spartans

Maybe it was the impending start of spring break that motivated Silverado’s baseball team. Maybe some of the players wanted to get home and watch the NCAA basketball tournament.

Whatever it was, the Skyhawks acted like they were in a rush to get somewhere Friday.

Visiting Silverado came out swinging from the start and made quick work of Cimarron-Memorial, scoring 11 runs in the top of the first en route to a 14-4 five-inning victory.

“It was really nice to see our guys have a great approach and be able to succeed against good pitching,” Skyhawks coach Brian Whitaker said. “Cimarron’s a class act. For us to come over here and play like that, be able to work our pitching staff, get ready for the spring break tournament and get our guys some at-bats against good pitching, I couldn’t be happier.”

Kevin Pindel was 3-for-3 with three RBIs to lead Silverado (4-3), and Chase Cortez and Payton Ballard had three hits apiece for the Skyhawks, who pounded 18 hits against three pitchers.

The first eight batters reached base in the first as Silverado was aggressive early in the count. The Skyhawks sent 16 batters to the plate in all, and 11 of those at-bats ended after the first or second pitch.

Cortez doubled and singled in the inning, while Ballard and Pindel added two hits. James Skelly and Dax Fellows had two-run doubles for Silverado in the first.

“Everybody came out hitting today. And hitting gets contagious, too, so that was nice to see,” Whitaker said. “These guys, they put in the work and they deserve some return on their investment, and that’s kind of what we got today. It was fun to see.”

Silverado, which travels to California for a tournament next week, used five pitchers to keep the Spartans (2-5) in check.

Alexander Marco hit a three-run homer in the fifth for Cimarron to cut the Skyhawks’ lead to 14-4.

Jaret Godman was 3-for-3 with a double and run, and Derek Decolati went 2-for-3 for the Spartans.

“We’ve come over here many times and it’s not gone this way,” Whitaker said. “Our purpose today was to come over here and work. It’s easy for high school kids to start looking forward to spring break and start to have their minds wander a little bit, but these guys don’t do it. It’s a lot of fun coming to the ballpark.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ