1A STATE: Pahranagat Valley posts workmanlike victory in opener

It doesn’t seem to matter to Pahranagat Valley where the Class 1A state softball tournament is played.

The Panthers show up, go about their business, congratulate each other after another win and get ready to play again.

Seeking its third straight state championship, Pahranagat Valley (19-8-1) found Majestic Park to its liking Thursday, making short work of Northern League runner-up Wells (15-13-1) with a 5-1 victory in the winners’ bracket semifinal.

The Panthers will play Northern League champion Carlin (18-8-1) at 4 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship, The loser will play again at 6 p.m.

“We’ve got some kids who are real veteran ball players,” Pahranagat Valley coach Mike Sparrow said. “They’ve been in the postseason before.

“We just try to go out and do the things we do every day. You don’t have to do anything special. If you just do the fundamental things you do every day in practice, good things are going to happen.”

The Panthers won the 2007 state title at Henderson International and the 2008 tournament at Wells. They clearly felt at home in their first visit to Majestic Park.

Addie Canning fanned the side in the first inning and finished with nine strikeouts in a two-hitter, and the Panthers scored all the runs they needed in the first.

“Addie just pitched a really good game,” Sparrow said. “She was hitting her spots.”

In the bottom of the first, Molly Hansen led off with a walk and Tami Spencer singled. Mary Higbee’s sacrifice advanced the runners before Canning delivered an RBI single. Chanae Canning then reached on an error to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

Pahranagat Valley added single runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings.

The Leopards’ lone run, aided by a Panthers error, came in the fifth.

Spencer went 2-for-2 for Pahranagat Valley. Hansen was 1-for-1 with three runs and an RBI.

“We need to liven up our bats a little bit,” Sparrow advised.

Carlin 20, Lake Mead 5 — Lake Mead (14-17-1) scored the first two runs in the top of the second inning, then watched Carlin score the next 20.

The Railroaders exploited four Eagles errors, six walks and some questionable defensive decisions to score two runs in the second inning, seven in the third and 11 in the fourth.

Winning pitcher and leadoff hitter Sam Salisbury was 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs, and No. 2 hitter Kayla Anthony was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs.

The Nos. 8 and 9 spots in Carlin’s order batted a total of eight times and scored eight runs.

Ashley Newton had a hit, two walks and two RBIs for Lake Mead, which will meet Wells in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Friday.