Silverado breezes past mistake-prone Liberty

The Silverado softball team might have realized the errors of its opponents' ways.

After averaging more than 10 strikeouts per game last season, the Skyhawks are putting more balls in play -- and putting opponents on their heels.

On Thursday afternoon, visiting Silverado capitalized on nine Liberty errors in a 10-3 win.

Skyhawks coach Victor Pierro was especially pleased with his teams' aggressiveness at the plate and ability to take advantage of favorable situations.

"In years past, we've had a problem with strikeouts," said Pierro, whose team is off to a 12-1 start (4-0 in Southeast Division play). "We averaged between 10 and 12 strikeouts a game last season. We talk about that every game -- you give yourself a chance, put the ball in play, and anything can happen."

The miscues by the Patriots (16-4, 3-1) started early.

Silverado's first two batters of the game -- Alexa Garcia (1-for-3, three runs) and Amanda Barnard (2-for-3, two runs) -- reached base on errors, and cleanup hitter Mikayla Thielges knocked them in with a double. In the second inning, the Skyhawks added five runs, as another Liberty error contributed to two more runs.

"Our goal is to get on top of teams early, kind of demoralize them," Pierro said. "We want to put pressure on them. We talked about getting the lead early and forcing them to make mistakes."

With Katie Devlin pitching, the 7-0 lead was more than enough. Devlin had 11 strikeouts and held the Patriots hitless through five innings.

• Arbor View 14, Cheyenne 0 -- At Cheyenne, Amanda Jones pitched a five-inning perfect game to lift the Aggies.

Jones struck out nine. Nichole Diaz was 4-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Savannah Webster went 2-for-4 with four RBIs for Arbor View.

• Cimarron-Memorial 1, Legacy 0 -- At Cimarron, Carrie Sheehan pitched a no-hitter and scored the game's only run.

Sheehan, who had two hits, singled and took second base on an error in the fourth inning. She then scored on Alex Goyen's single.

• Green Valley 13, Del Sol 0 -- At Green Valley, Razia Ali pitched a five-inning no-hitter, striking out eight for the Gators.

Kayla Anderson was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI for Green Valley.

• Shadow Ridge 3, Palo Verde 1 -- At Palo Verde, Mandy Harmon pitched a one-hitter and struck out 11 to lead Shadow Ridge.

Britney Cato was 3-for-3 for the Mustangs.

Panthers pitcher Missy McCormick struck out 12.

• Foothill 10, Basic 0 -- At Foothill, Amber Stater went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and three RBIs to lead the Falcons past the Wolves.

Rosanne Ritchie was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Foothill.

Shelbie Medrano pitched a three-hitter and struck out five to get the win.

• Centennial 11, Mojave 1 -- At Centennial, Johnna Brown went 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs as the Bulldogs won in five innings.

Katie Lee was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Centennial. Lindsay Konopelko pitched a one-hitter and struck out nine.

• Coronado 16, Tech 0 -- At Tech, Allie Amato pitched a five-inning one-hitter, striking out two, and had a home run, a double and four RBIs to lead the Cougars. Kim Makiri was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for Coronado.