The 2023 baseball season is now underway for Pahrump Valley as the Trojans kicked off their season this week with back-to-back midweek games.
Pahrump started the season with a road trip to Moapa Valley, to face the Pirates on Tuesday afternoon. This was Moapa’s first game of the season as well.
Senior Kyle McDaniel got the start on the mound for the Trojans.
He threw 91 pitches in four innings of work. McDaniel allowed three runs on five hits while striking out four batters.
At the plate, McDaniel had a rough day. He went 0-for-3, but did have a walk and drove in a run.
The Trojans got the scoring start with a run in their top half of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, however, the lead wouldn’t last long.
Pahrump gave back the run, along with two others, in the bottom half of the third inning.
Moapa took a 3-1 lead and would hang on to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Senior Dustin Lopez and freshman Kayne Horibe both had good games for the Trojans at the plate.
Lopez finished the day going 2-for-3 with a walk and scored once. Meanwhile, Horibe went 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs batted in.
The Trojans would add a run in the top of the fourth inning and two more in the top of the seventh inning, however, they would drop the game 5-4.
Pahrump wouldn’t have much time to get ready for their next game. They hosted the Sunrise Mountain Miners Wednesday afternoon for their home opener.
This game would be a complete 180 from the Trojans’ first game on Tuesday.
Senior Scott Hirschi got the start at pitcher for Pahrump. Hirschi pitched a complete 3-inning no-hit game while striking out eight batters.
At the plate, Hirschi went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and scored once. Hirschi also accounted for two of the nine Trojan batters who were hit by pitches.
Despite getting just six hits in the game, all of which came from six different batters, the Trojans were able to score 15 runs with nine of those coming in the second inning.
Lopez went 1-for-2 with a double and three RBIs against the Pirates.
Pahrump went on to win the game by the mercy rule 15-0.
The Trojans will be back in action Monday, March 13, when the team participates in the Blazer Bash baseball tournament being held at Durango High School. The Trojans will play multiple games over the course of the 2-day tournament.
Pahrump’s first game of the tournament will be at 11 a.m. on Monday against the Bonanza Bengals.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @the_dannysmyth on Twitter.