PVHS senior makes his mark on Trojans baseball program

Pahrump Valley High School varsity shortstop Aidyn Cratty in his last dance is hell-bound on just one goal this season: helping the Trojans raise the state championship banner over Rod Poteete Field once again.

In his sophomore year, Cratty was a puzzle piece in the the roster that claimed the first title for Pahrump Valley High School’s varsity baseball program since the school’s inauguration in 1974.

“I was the utility player. So I basically played everywhere,” Cratty said. “I think we have a really good shot at it this year. The team’s got a lot of potential, and when we can put all of us at play together, we’re a pretty solid team.”

Growing up, Cratty was influenced to play baseball from watching his uncles compete. The senior also spent a couple of years playing Pop Warner football but ultimately left the sport to focus more on baseball.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve been swinging a baseball bat and throwing a ball,” Cratty said. “I enjoyed football and even played for high school my sophomore year.”

Cratty’s cousin and current teammate, junior Kayne Horibe, have developed an uncanny chemistry as a result of playing travel ball together since they were twelve-years-old.

On the season, Cratty (1) and Horibe (2) hold the team’s only home runs recorded. Horibe also leads the Trojans in RBI’s with 23.

“He’s solid. A lot of my current teammates I’ve been playing with since eighth grade summer ball, which was when I moved to Pahrump from Vegas,” Cratty said.

This season — his final year with the Trojans — Cratty has been nothing short of superb at the plate.

The parting senior leads the state in runs scored (33) and is seventh in the state in stolen bases (21) behind only his teammate, sophomore INF/P Tony Whitney (27).

“Tony and I have little competitions on who could get the most stolen bases,” Cratty said. “So it’s a fun little thing we like to do to try and get us more aggressive on the bases.”

Last season, the Trojans entered the year with a vastly different roster after key players like Kyle McDaniel graduated and went on to play at Utah Tech University.

“Last year we were just trying to rebuild,” Cratty said. “And, yeah, it’s kind of hard to rebuild off of the kind of talent we had that year. The only thing we’ve really been struggling with this season is consistency at the plate. That’s really the only thing.”

For Cratty, wearing the Trojans uniform exemplifies more than just putting on another jersey.

“I basically grew up out here, so it feels almost like a ‘hometown hero’ type of feel,” Cratty said. “It’s really cool to be able to wear that and especially with a couple of the big names we’ve had who I’ve looked up to in years past.”

According to Cratty, this season’s squad may be one of the most resilient that he’s ever been a part of.

“Honestly, when we’re down, we don’t really give up,” Cratty said. “We kind of have a good competitiveness to our team. We’ve been really trying to get quick innings and just try and get the top three guys out.”

When he isn’t scoring runs for the Trojans, Cratty can be found hard at work doing contracted landscape jobs and playing pickleball/wiffleball with his teammates.

“I’ve had Aidyn since he was freshman and all the older kids used to pick on him, but he was a better freshman. He pushed himself to be good in the last four years,” head coach Roy Uyeno said. “Every year he’s gotten stronger and better and has been a blessing to the program.”

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.