Trojans fall short of state tourney by one game
The Trojans baseball team fell short of state in the second game played at Southeast Career Technical Academy on Friday against the Boulder City Eagles, losing 19-3.
It was their second game of the day and their pitching just seemed to hit a brick wall.
The team played its last three games of the season in the regional playoffs, starting with a 12-2 win against Mojave in Pahrump on May 11. The Trojans then traveled to Southeast Career Technical Academy, where they played two games. The first game against Chaparral on May 12, they won 15-8. Their last game was against Boulder City, a must-win situation.
Last game of the season in Pahrump
It appeared that Pahrump Valley could do no wrong at this point with 15 hits in the game. Drew Walker and Garrett Lucas both had four-hit games. Walker seemed to have left his struggles behind.
“I haven’t had a hit in two games,” he said. “I saw the ball really good today and was all over his fastball. Friday will be tough but I think we have the deepest pitching.”
The team was even able to start a two-out rally in the second, started by a single by Chase McDaniel. The rally would yield three runs and give the Trojans a 4-0 lead. By the fourth inning, the game was 7-0.
Trojans pitcher Bradda Costa agreed with Walker and felt the Trojans should have no problems on Friday. Bradda Costa showed no signs of tiring throughout the five innings he pitched.
“I was ready to pitch today,” Costa said. “My best pitch was my fastball.”
Lucas had four singles and Walker had a double and three singles, scoring four times. Willie Lucas, Garrett’s brother, chipped in a double.
The team looked good on Friday
Hitting and scoring during the playoffs was not a problem after the loss to Virgin Valley, their first regional playoff game. They scored 25 runs in the following three games.
On Friday the team played Chaparral and continued to look like nothing could stop them. The Trojans had eight runs by the end of the second inning. They went on to win 15-8.
But against the Eagles, Pahrump Valley used five pitchers to try to stop the bleeding.
“We started a pitcher and they would hit the ball to the left side,” fan Charlotte Uyeno said. “Then we would switch pitchers and they would hit the ball to the other side.”
It was a great season
The Trojans had a great regular season, going undefeated, 10-0, and they went deeper into the playoffs this season than any other recent season, taking the first league title since 2001.
His team hosted three league playoff games for having the number one seed and the team won three playoff games, which was the most since Trojans coach Brian Hayes took over five years ago.
“This was a good season for us,” Hayes said. “With the help of our senior class, we accomplished some things that had not been done before here since I took over the program five years ago. Looking at who we have returning next season, we feel like we will have a strong team.
“We lose some key pieces but we have some younger guys ready to step up and take on those roles. The thing these kids need to realize is that some of the other teams have some strong returners coming back too. We hope to see this varsity group play together and gain even more valuable experience during the summer season.”
Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com
