Lucas pitches no-hitter to win title game of tourney

Willie Lucas threw a no-hitter to beat Mojave 5-0 in the championship game of the Cowboy Classic to help the Trojans win the tournament.

“I’ve thrown like four-hitters, I guess, but nothing really that close,” Willie said to the Review-Journal.

Trojans coach Brian Hayes praised all his pitchers during the tournament, called the Cowboy Classic, which was played at Chaparral High School in Las Vegas.

“We played well in all phases of the game during the entire tournament,” Hayes said. “Garrett Lucas, Josh Ferrer and Willie Lucas all pitched complete game shutouts, with Willie’s being a no-hitter in the championship game.”

The Trojans (11-10-1 overall, 3-0 Sunset League) won three of four games, beating Virgin Valley (10-9, 1-2) 8-0 on Monday, Desert Pines (5-13, 1-2) 6-0 on Tuesday and losing to El Dorado (8-11, 2-9) 4-3 on Monday.

Pahrump then played in the final with Mojave (8-9, 3-0).

The Trojans offense pumped out some runs in the tournament.

Willie Lucas also had a hot bat during the tourney. He had a double and two RBIs against Virgin Valley and then in the game with Desert Pines he had a double and two RBIs.

Other hot hitters for Pahrump were Cyle Havel, who had two hits and an RBI against Virgin Valley, Nico Velazquez, who had two doubles against Desert Pines, Parker Hart, who had two hits and a double against El Dorado and then Hart and Garrett Lucas both had doubles against Mojave.

“Offensively, we are starting to put it together,” Hayes said. “Parker Hart and Willie Lucas have hit well all year and continued it during the tournament. Garrett Lucas, who struggled mightily early in the season has turned it around and has driven in some big runs. Drew Walker seems to score at least two runs a game for us and sophomores Dylan Grossell and Nico Velazquez get on base and have provided some timely hitting from the bottom of the order.”

Hayes also had great things to say about his defense.

“Our defense played very well,” the coach said. “I think we only made three or four errors the entire tournament. John MacDonald has played solid defense at third and has made some adjustments in his swing with some positive results.”

Pahrump had an easy time in league play against Western on April 7, defeating the Warriors (1-13, 0-3) 13-0.

“We did everything well against Western,” Hayes said. “Josh Ferrer pitched well, our defense was solid and we hit the ball well. It was a fun game to watch.”

The Trojans return to league play on April 17 and host Sunrise Mountain (2-12, 2-1) at 3:30 p.m. and have another home game at 3:30 p.m. on April 21 against Durango in non-league play.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com