The Pahrump Valley softball team’s season ended on Thursday afternoon with an 11-9 loss against the Boulder City Eagles in the semi-final game of the southern regional tournament.
The Lady Trojans ended the tournament with an overall record of 3-2. After winning their opening-round game against the SLAM Bulls, Pahrump was sent to the loser’s bracket after dropping their game against the Virgin Valley Bulldogs in the second round.
Following that loss, the Lady Trojans won their next two games against the Clark Chargers and the Moapa Valley Pirates to advance to within one game of the regional championship.
That brings us to their matchup with the Eagles.
Boulder City defeated Pahrump in both of the regular season games this year, so the Lady Trojans were looking to get some revenge. Unfortunately, that revenge didn’t come.
Senior Ciara Stragand got the start on the mound for Pahrump Valley. She lasted just one-third of an inning after allowing four runs on four hits.
Despite not having a good start at pitching, Stragand redeemed herself with a 2-run hit in the third inning that was part of a 5-run inning for the Trojans. She finished the game going 1-for-5 with a single and four runs batted in.
When Stragand was relieved of her pitching duties, Ava Charles came in and pitched the remainder of the game. She pitched 5 ⅔ innings while allowing seven runs on 12 hits.
Toni Cross-Smith had a big game for the Trojans at the plate. She ended the day going 3-for-4 with three singles and drove in three runs. She played a big part in Pahrump Valley’s comeback attempt against the Eagles.
After the Lady Trojans took a 9-6 lead in the top half of the fifth inning, they struggled on both sides of the ball to keep the lead. The team combined for just two hits in the final two innings of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with Pahrump leading Boulder City 9-8, the Eagles put together a 3-run inning to take the lead for good.
With the bases loaded, Boulder City scored the game-winning run on a single to the outfit. On the very next pitch, the Eagles added to their lead on a wild pitch to give them their 11-9 victory.
The overall season didn’t go quite how they wanted it to go. The Lady Trojans finished the season with just an 11-19 overall record and a 7-6 league record. It was the first losing season for Pahrump Valley since they finished with a 7-14 record in the 2012-13 season.
Things had begun to turn around for the team once the month of May started, but by then it was just a little too late.
The Trojans will be losing four seniors following this season. Three of the four – DeAnna Egan, Ciara Stragand and Toni Cross-Smith – were starters every game for Pahrump.
Head coach Sam Charles will be looking to fill those spots by next season and improve the team to make a run at the state title in 2023.