The defending state champion Pahrump Valley baseball weren’t able to bring home another title this season, but three standouts for the Trojans ranked in the top 100 players in the 3A division for their batting averages.
Key players for the Trojans
The highest-ranked player on the team was Cody Fried who ended the season with the .372 batting average with 16 hits while he was at bat 43 times. Fried placed in 52nd place.
Aidyn Cratty came in 72nd place, where he finished the season off with a .348 batting average and 32 hits. Cratty had appeared at bat a total of 92 times with a home run under his belt and had the most runs on the team with 27 runs. In 82nd place, Andrew Zurn, had a .326 batting average with 30 hits this season.
At the top of the list in the batting average rankings for the Nevada 3A division was Kurt Felix from Virgin Valley. Felix had 54 hits this season where he was at bat 95 times with a batting average of .568. Virgin Valley had three players in the top 10 ranking with the highest batting average.
Cratty also ranked in the top 10 in the division with the best earned-run average as he had a 2.14 average and 34 strikeouts. This wasn’t the most outs a that a Trojan player pitched, as Micah Mendoza had 36 strikeouts. Three of the top five pitchers in the division were from Virgin Valley, but Churchill County’s Baylor Sandberg had the best earned-run average with .77.
The Trojans only have three seniors graduating this year, Austin Sandovoal, Ian Williams and Mendoza.
Post-season recap
This season the Trojans made it as far as the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s 3A Southern Regional championships playoffs, as they were bumped down from the top three places in the standings to fourth in the league. The team took a downward trajectory right before the end of the season. The Trojans lost six conference games in a row going into the playoffs.
In the first round of the region championship playoffs Pahrump Valley lost to Virgin Valley while they stayed in the playoffs for yet another game. The Trojans defeated the Mater Academy East Las Vegas Knights but when faced off against The Meadows School, the Trojans fell right off the bracket and they finished the game 12-3. The Mustangs were on a mission to make it to the championship game and they delivered but had to face off against Virgin Valley.
Virgin Valley quickly established themselves in the No. 1 spot in the league this season and were undefeated all season, including the regional championship playoffs. When it came time to face off in the championship game against The Meadows, they won 14-4 and a spot in the 3A State Championship playoffs.
The northern teams didn’t stand a chance against the southern as the championship game ended up being The Meadows School and Virgin Valley once again. The Meadows lost their redemption game once again and Virgin Valley took home the trophy as state victor.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.