Pahrump disputes no-hitter recorded by Faith Lutheran

Senior Faith Lutheran pitcher Mosie Foley was on her game against the Trojans as she no-hit the Trojans (12-0). Foley had no walks and had 10 strikeouts. Foley also hit a game-ending 3-run home run. But was it really a no-hitter?

The Review Journal reported that Foley had a “5-inning no-hitter”, but Trojans coach Ely Armendariz disagreed.

When asked about the no-hitter, coach Armendariz replied, “Our outfielder, Kathy Niles, got two bunt hits off of Foley,” he said. “Her first hit went into the outfield. She ran to first and reached the bag way before the throw. The first baseman missed the throw and so the error should be after the play. The second hit was a bunt-like hit that hit the pitcher. The pitcher could not have fielded the ball so it should not have been an error.”

Niles also was asked about it the following day and said one hit, hit the pitcher in the leg or on the ankle.

“I got two hits, there was no no-hitter,” she said shaking her head.

Trojans Athletic Director Ed Kirkwood said the game is probably down as a no-hitter due to the scoring.

“It all depends who is doing the scoring and the home team is required to call in the score and in this case the home team was Faith Lutheran,” Kirkwood said. “The coach probably told the stat person that was an error don’t give them a hit on that, who knows?”

And if you look at the stats, there are two recorded errors for Faith Lutheran, which are the two hits from Niles.

Regardless of that detail, Faith Lutheran did pound the Trojans and nothing will change that, but Armendariz felt his team should have gotten credit for the hits.

“I am all for giving a team credit for a no-hitter, but a team should be given credit for hits that were made too,” he said.

In the end though he did say his team will be working hard. The coach said his girls should have hit Foley.

“We were slow that game in getting our bats around,” he said.

Third baseman Leanne Kaiwi said the team could hit her if they had another chance.

“I think our timing was off and that pitcher was hitting her spots really well,” Kaiwi said.

As far as defense was concerned, the Trojans did well, no recorded errors.

Junior Krista Toomer agrees.

“Faith Lutheran was hitting really good,” she said. “We were playing good defense and really there was nothing major.”

The bottom line is the Trojans feel they can take Faith Lutheran.

The Trojans (10-5, 5-2) now find themselves tied with the Crusaders for third instead of sole possession for second place.

The team hosted Western (8-10, 2-5) on Thursday, which was past deadline and will play Sunrise Mountain in a non- league game (8-5, 5-2 Sunrise League) on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

This will be the Trojans senior day. The Miners are firmly in third place in their league.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com