I-A SOFTBALL: Trojans strike early, hold off Crusaders

A quick start helped Pahrump Valley’s softball team prepare for a hectic finish Wednesday.

The Trojans scored four times in the first inning and held on for a 6-5 win over host Faith Lutheran in a winners’ bracket semifinal of the Division I-A Southern Region tournament.

Pahrump Valley (21-13) will meet Boulder City (24-5) in the winners’ bracket final at 5 p.m. Thursday at Faith Lutheran.

“It’s great to get a win against this team,” Trojans coach Eli Armendariz said. “We played some great defense behind (starting pitcher) Whitney (Roderick). We were able to get some early runs, and that seemed to relax us.”

Amanda Pryor had an RBI single, and Lahela Kaiwi hit a three-run home run to give Pahrump a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.

Pahrump added two runs on a Lauren Koenig double in the third to build a 6-1 lead.

After the third inning, Faith Lutheran pitcher Mosie Foley shut down the Trojans’ offense with her change-up, finishing with 11 strikeouts.

“We started attacking the change-up earlier in the count instead of waiting on it with two strikes,” Armendariz said. “We need to be more selective at the plate.”

After allowing a run in the first inning, Roderick was dominant over the next four innings. The Crusaders had only one hitter reach base on an error in the third inning.

“I have worked really hard on my rise ball this season,” Roderick said. “My change-up is still a project, but I was able to utilize that some today.”

However, the Crusaders offense finally got on track with one out in the sixth inning. Vanessa Valdez doubled, and after a strikeout, scored on Lauryn Lipe’s RBI double. Foley singled in the second run of the inning, and Cheyenne Kidd drove in Foley with an RBI double. Roderick, who pitched a complete game Tuesday, escaped further damage by inducing a ground-out to end the inning.

“We came out strong today,” Roderick said. “Our bats were really hot early, but as the game progressed they cooled down. When my arm got tired, my defense made the plays, and they were behind me 110 percent.”

Claire Peck led off the bottom of the seventh with a double. She moved to second on a ground-out and scored on a second ground-out by Lauren Beatty. The game ended when Bryana Soliwoda made a running catch on a ball hit down the left-field line.

Boulder City 14, Virgin Valley 0 — At Boulder City, Mikaela Brown tossed a five-inning no-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks to help the Eagles beat the Bulldogs in the other winners’ bracket semifinal.

Katlyn Jackson was 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI, and Alyssa Ybarra went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Boulder City.

Nicole Schulz was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

Virgin Valley (12-19) will face Tech (14-8) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Thursday at Faith Lutheran.

Tech 18, Moapa Valley 11 — At Overton, Ashley Ramsey was 3-for-5 with a double and five RBIs as the Roadrunners overcame an 8-0 first-inning deficit to top the Pirates in an elimination game.

Kimmie Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Jan Danica Briones added two hits for Tech, which got two-run singles from Emmalyne Laymon and Patrice Jurisprudencia.

Tech took advantage of 15 walks, including two bases-loaded walks issued to Jasmine Ramos.

Kyla Shumway was 3-for-5, and Makayla Jackson added two hits for Moapa Valley (13-11-1).

Cheyenne 10, Mojave 7 — At Cheyenne, Courtney Gain was 5-for-5 with a home run, a double and six RBIs to lead the Desert Shields (21-16-1) past the Rattlers (10-13) in an elimination game.

Brittny Phillips was 3-for-3, and Italy Mora went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Cheyenne, which also got a two-run double from winning pitcher Alyssa Fata.

Itzel Loera was 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and Terren Vinson was 3-for-5 with a triple for Mojave.