Pitching dazzles in Trojans 11-1 mercy of Class 4A Western Skyhawks — PHOTOS
Was the final score box reflective of an 11-1 blowout?
Yes.
But was it the cleanest of games?
Simply put, not really.
Pahrump Valley High School varsity head coach Drew Middleton will be the first one to take accountability on behalf of the program and keep it real with you post game.
“Honestly, it wasn’t a very good game. We weren’t really in it — there was no energy in our dugout, and the offense was lethargic,” Middleton expressed. “Yes, Kayne did have two triples, and we had guys hitting the ball hard, but a few swings in the fourth and fifth innings could have ended the game earlier, and we had defensive swings in three-one counts.”
As the only game of the week against Western High School, Middleton’s approach to his bullpen game began with starting one of the program’s most consistent starters in recent, junior Samuel Mendoza.
The three-point assassin on the basketball court also brings to the diamond a 3.00 earned run average through a team-high 7 innings pitched this year.
Mendoza leads the Trojans (4-1) in strikeouts recorded with eight, picking up two on Wednesday evening allowing only two hits in his limited two innings of work.
Going down 1,2,3 in the bottom of the 1st, Pahrump Valley led off the bottom frame of the second with junior Cody Fried being hit by a pitch. Senior Kayne Horibe got his first triple of the game on a line-drive to right field that scored Fried standing up.
Left fielder and senior Vinny Whitney was able to get the ball on the ground to force a play at shortstop, reaching base safely on an error that would also score Horibe to give the Trojans an early 2-0 lead.
Entering the third inning, Middleton turned the ball over to senior Dominic Wilson, who utilizes a good mixture of a curve-fastball combination.
With his off-speed stuff working finely, Wilson cruised through two great innings without allowing a hit. Working hard this off-season to bulk up, Wilson now has a bit more velocity on his fastball than last year.
Western was almost swinging a bat weight that wasn’t taken off on-deck.
Just late to everything, including fly balls.
Flashes of leather by junior shortstop Tony Whitney and sophomore CJ Nelson were on show as the two continuously made multiple clean plays.
With Nelson doubling with two outs and no runners on in bottom of the third, senior catcher Ben Cimperman was able to put a swing on a ball to center that was dropped, allowing Nelson to score, 3-0.
Horibe led off the fourth inning with his second double of the day, one we all thought was gone off the bat.
Doing his job at the plate, V. Whitney was able to fly the ball to left field with one out for a sacrifice fly scoring Horibe to extend the Trojans lead to 4-0.
Entering the top half of the fifth, Western caught a lucky break after a lead off bunt by right fielder Christian Romo, who later came around to score on an overthrow to third baseman Anthony Montanez by Fried after fielding a bunt.
Fried redeemed himself almost immediately with a quick pick-off to Nelson at first that froze the runner like a deer in a headlight.
Posting two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, Nelson picked up his second double, this time to left field. Cimperman would come in clutch with a single up the middle, scoring Nelson to make it 5-1.
Fried was unfortunately plunked again, earning his second free 90-foot walk to first base, moving Cimperman to second. Horibe pieced up another ball but was caught this time, allowing Cimperman to tag up to third.
After Wilson popped up to shortstop, junior Jacob Salbach was able to put the ball in play which resulted on an error by first baseman Eddie Reveles, scoring Cimperman to extend the Trojans lead 6-1.
With the last call to the bullpen, Middleton brought out Horibe to close down the top of the sixth.
The senior worked through hitting back-to-back batters but redeemed himself by blowing it by the remaining last two outs to end the inning.
“The pitching was fine—they threw strikes even when there were runners on,” Middleton said. “Kayne and Cody had some traffic, a few bunts, and hit batsmen, but overall, the pitchers did their jobs.”
Wanting to wrap up the game, the Trojan offense roared for five runs as Fried doubled to left field, scoring T. Whitney and Cimperman.
A single on a fly ball to left field by Vinny would push the Trojans lead to 9-1 after Fried crossed the plate safely.
Ending the game Westerns own way, Pahrump got the final two runs needed to call mercy across on a fielders choice and a final error in right field, the Warriors fourth of the game.
“You can never discredit a win, though—good for them winning 11-1—but that’s not the type of baseball we want to play. We can be much better than that,” Middleton said. “The lesson is simple: no matter who’s on the other side, you have to step up from the first pitch. Especially with a tough stretch coming up, they need to be ready. Today, we weren’t.”
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
