Kosinski pitches Skyhawks to softball win

Aly Kosinski isn’t always mentioned in a discussion of the area’s top softball pitchers.

With a few more performances like the one she authored Monday, the Silverado senior will force more people to take notice.

Kosinski tossed a three-hitter, walking two and striking out three, as the Skyhawks (10-4, 7-3 Southeast League) moved closer to clinching a Sunrise Region playoff spot with a 1-0 win at Basic.

“So much of the game is based on stats,” Silverado coach Victor Pierro said. “When you look at stat sheets, she’s not up there in strikeouts, but what she has is her fighting ability.

“She works hard, and that’s what separates her from so many other girls. She’s a tough kid. She’s one of the toughest players I have out here.”

Kosinski wasn’t overpowering Monday — two of the three strikeouts were called; the other was on an off-speed pitch — but she did a masterful job of keeping the Wolves off-balance.

The Wolves (10-9, 4-6) had only one runner reach third base.

“She worked from ahead in the count, and when she does that, she can force the batters to hit her pitches,” Pierro said.

Adrian Brown had two of Basic’s hits, both on ground balls over second base. The other hit was Lacey Romo’s dribbler up the third-base line leading off the seventh inning.

The ball stopped on the foul line as Kosinski, catcher Riana Splinter and third baseman Taylee Heckman all waited for it to take one more rotation and roll foul.

Romo tried to take second with most of the Skyhawks focused on the ball, but Heckman rifled a throw to shortstop Amanda Barnard, who tagged out Romo.

Kosinski tossed only 79 pitches, 50 of them strikes.

She got the lone bit of run support she needed in the top of the sixth.

Splinter, who went 3-for-3, singled to center to start the inning. After a popout, Heckman looped a single into right-center. Splinter hesitated at second base but continued to third and was safe when Brown’s on-target relay was dropped.

Kaitlyn Amaral followed with a chopper to short that forced Heckman at second and allowed Splinter to score.

Silverado moved into a tie with Green Valley for second place in the Southeast League. Both teams have a one-game lead on Foothill for fourth and a two-game edge over Liberty for fifth with four league games left.