State preps baseball roundup: Shadow Ridge reaches 4A title game

Pitching often runs thin by the time the postseason rolls around in high school baseball, but no one shared that fact with Shadow Ridge’s Brock Morrow.

The junior hurler went three strong innings Friday, allowing one hit while striking out five, to give the Mustangs, the No. 1 seed from the Desert League, an 11-1 victory over Durango, the No. 5 seed from the Mountain League, in an elimination game at Bishop Gorman to earn a berth in the Class 4A state championship game.

Shadow Ridge (28-6), the defending 4A state champion, will face Foothill (27-6), the Mountain’s top seed, for the title at 10 a.m. Saturday at the College of Southern Nevada. The Mustangs must defeat the Falcons twice to claim a repeat championship.

Shadow Ridge scored four runs in the first inning Friday and never looked back against Durango (14-18). Reliever Ian Grafmank ensured the win by allowing no hits over the final two innings.

Austin Lynn went 2-for-2 with three RBIs to lead the Shadow Ridge offense, and Grayson Tressler went 2-for-3 with a walk-off single that invoked the 10-run rule in the fifth.

— No. 5M Durango 10, No. 4M Silverado 0: At Gorman, pitcher Eric Galvan allowed just one hit over five innings and went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to earn a victory over the Skyhawks (13-18) in an elimination game.

Class 3A

— No. 1S Pahrump Valley 8, No. 2S Virgin Valley 6: At Virgin Valley, the Trojans survived a five-run seventh-inning rally to advance to the state championship game. Pahrump Valley will face South Tahoe in the championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Virgin Valley. South Tahoe defeated Virgin Valley 9-1 in an elimination game later Friday. South Tahoe must defeat Pahrump Valley twice to claim the championship.

Class 2A

— No. 2S Lake Mead 8, No. 1S Needles 4: At Reno, Trevor LaPres went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and the Eagles advanced to the state championship game. Cameron LaPres tossed 3 1/3 two-hit innings to earn the victory for Lake Mead, which will face Yerington for the title at 9 a.m. Saturday at Peccole Park. Yerington must defeat Lake Mead twice to claim the championship.

— No. 1N Yerington 9, No. 1S Needles 8: At Reno, the Lions (24-5-2) came back from an eight-run deficit to beat the Mustangs (25-13), scoring the final two runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a spot in Saturday’s championship game.

Class 1A

— No. 1S Indian Springs 10, No. 2S Pahranagat Valley 5: At CSN, the Thunderbirds (20-4) defeated the Panthers to advance to the state championship game. A three-run fourth inning broke it open for Indian Springs, which will play Pahranagat Valley (21-10) in the title game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bishop Gorman. Pahranagat Valley must defeat Indian Springs twice to claim the championship.

— No. 2S Pahranagat Valley 8, No. 2N Wells 6: At CSN, the Panthers got strong pitching in the late innings survive the elimination game and earn another shot at Indian Springs.