The Nevada Little League District Four 8-10-year-old 10-team tournament started in Pahrump on Monday and ends June 27.
On Monday, some Las Vegas teams beat each other up. Peccole beat Spring Valley 11-1, Summerlin South beat Summerlin North 49-0 and Cheyenne beat Red Rock 20-0.
P-Town Little League President Lou Banuelos said the Las Vegas people packed the field on the first day, despite the intense heat of the day with temperatures soaring around 110 degrees.
“We didn’t have any problems with the heat, but we are providing lots of water and taking precautions,” Banuelos said. “The people were hanging under every tree. Many of them didn’t know Pahrump and thought we were just a hole in the ground, so they didn’t think we had a concession stand. They were surprised that we had everything. I think now that they have come out here they will not have any problem returning.”
He said our kids are making noise in Las Vegas.
Pahrump’s first game
The P-Town Little League team played their first game on Tuesday against a powerhouse Mountain Ridge team.
According to Banuelos, the Mountain Ridge Division out of Henderson has grown to 700 strong, since their Majors went to the Little League World Series in 2014.
The Mountain Ridge team exploded for six runs in the first. The P-Town team made some mental errors at the plate and some small ones in the field, which allowed several runs to score. In that first inning, the team seemed nervous. Mountain Ridge had just two hits in that first inning that scored the six runs.
P-Town seemed to settle down defensively but couldn’t get their offense going. Mountain Ridge won, 13-0.
The last game on Tuesday was between Spring Valley and Western. Spring Valley won, 15-7.
Wednesday
Pahrump played again on Wednesday night, playing Red Rock, who lost to Cheyenne on Monday 20-0. The boys bounced back, exploding for 22 runs. The final score was 22-1. The team has beaten the “two-and-done” curse.
“We used to be the ones that were two and done,” Banuelos said. “The goal is to show these kids what it takes to be at this level. I think they are learning that. We are rapidly becoming a baseball community. There was some exciting ball out here. A Summerlin South 10-year-old hit a grand slam over the fence on Wednesday night.”
Who has been eliminated (as of Thursday)
Three teams were eliminated on Wednesday, Red Rock, Western and Summerlin North. The P-Town team faced Peccole, which lost to Summerlin South on Wednesday, 21-8. Cheyenne played Spring Valley.
Summerlin South and Mountain Ridge go at it today on Field 2 at 7:30 p.m. and the winners of Thursday’s games play today at 5:15 p.m. on Field 2.
In their last two games, Summerlin South scored 71 runs, giving up only eight. In three games, Mountain Ridge scored 42 runs, giving up just two runs.
After the end of the tourney, Little League will break for the summer and return for fall ball.
Signups for that are being held in August, see the P-Town Facebook page or call 775-777-6265.
Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com