‘I don’t give a damn where you put us’ — Trojans quiet doubters in 7-1 road league victory vs. Boulder City
Not a lot of folks knew what this victory meant to the boys except the ones going through the fire themselves.
After completing six games in the last eight days, the Trojans were able to finally put to rest a seven-game losing streak that bordered on the lines of insanity for a program as talented as Pahrump Valley.
Postgame, Trojans head coach Drew Middleton couldn’t praise the program enough for digging deep in the tank when the team needed it the most.
“That’s exactly what we needed. Boulder is a team everyone thinks could be the team to beat, so to come onto their field and blank them—that’s a huge outing,” Middleton said.
Behind their Trojan workhorse, junior Samuel Mendoza, the elusive starter no-hit Boulder City through four and a third innings on his way to completing a complete-game shutout.
“Yeah, it feels good. It feels really good when you have people that can back you up and make the plays,” Mendoza said postgame. “Our team did our job.”
Fielding seven clean innings without an error since March 28 against Sierra Vista, the Trojans were completely sound in the field behind Mendoza’s flawless 75-pitch performance.
The senior only allowed five hits and one run over seven innings, striking out two and walking three.
“It’s good. He’s (Middleton) working on my mechanics—telling me I need to throw faster, go out more, throw with more distance. That’s really the focus,” Mendoza said. “I was able to mix in my off-speed well for the first strike and it kept them off-balance.”
Combining for 11 total hits, Pahrump Valley (9-13, 3-3) blew the top off the game late as the Trojans combined for a three-spot in the fifth and sixth innings, putting the game far out of reach for a struggling Boulder City offense that only mustered five hits in the last three innings.
Back-to-back singles in the top of the second—up the middle and to right field—by seniors Kayne Horibe and Vinny Whitney set up senior catcher Ben Cimperman to drive in the game’s first run with an RBI to right field.
Boulder City’s starter, Gavin Robinson, gave up five hits and one run over four innings, striking out five and walking none.
The Trojans carried their slim 1-0 lead into the fifth inning before sophomore infielder CJ Nelson drove in junior Tony Whitney on a hard ground ball to right field.
Senior Dominik Wilson then singled to right field to score Anthony Montanez, before V. Whitney added a final RBI up the middle, scoring Leland Delgado to move the needle a bit further, 4-1.
Leading the top half of the lineup, Montanez, while not driving in any runs, contributed significantly with a three-for-four performance at the plate, scoring twice.
On the afternoon, Montanez’s season batting average improved to a team second-best .379 through at least 45 at-bats.
The hit parade continued in the sixth inning as T. Whitney and Montanez began the inning with back-to-back base hits after senior Dominic Chiancone drew a walk to load the bases.
Catching a break, the Trojans received their fifth run for free on a bases-loaded walk before a pastball by the Eagles (11-10, 6-2) catcher Spencer Aten allowed T. Whitney to score with ease.
A fielder’s choice by Wilson to score Montanez gave the Trojans a 7-1 lead and one last insurance run as they headed into the final two frames.
Mendoza continued to pitch to contact, something the junior has consistently done all year.
“Hats off to Samuel Mendoza. He’s been nails for us all year. He knew we needed a win and just went out there and shoved for seven innings,” Middleton said. “He’s not overpowering, but he throws four pitches, locates all of them, and just outpitches you. He’s got that mentality—‘Hey, beat me.’ And he’s our guy on the mound.”
Boulder City attempted to get their offense in motion in their final three outs as the Eagles plated their first run of the game following a double by Gavin Rhodes, a single by Karter Law and an RBI single to left field by Will Teeples that drove in Rhodes.
But the Trojans would have the last laugh as Montanez cleanly initiated a 5-4-3 double play that sent Pahrump Valley’s dugout into a frenzy.
“Playoffs are in two weeks, and we’ll be back on this field,” Middleton said. “At that point, you throw records out the window.”
Looking ahead
With only five games left to play this regular season, including two last league games against Moapa Valley, the Trojans currently sit in third place overall, recently moving up a spot in front of Virgin Valley, who the Trojans previously swept earlier this year.
Even if the Trojans can sweep Moapa Valley, a program they’ve beaten twice via a walk-off in extras on opening day and a 14-4 victory on March 17, the tie-breaker would still fall to The Meadows for second place in the division.
As the third seed, the Trojans would most likely face the Mustangs in the opening round of the playoffs.
“You may have to bleep this out but I don’t give a damn where you put us,” Middleton said. “Just throw us on the field, let us put our best nine out there, and go win a baseball game.”
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
