Sports Roundup: Pahrump Valley baseball honors seniors
It was Senior Day for the Pahrump Valley High School baseball team, but it was sophomores who did most of the damage Wednesday at Rod Poteete Memorial Field.
Kyle McDaniel drove in 5 runs and Scott Hirschi went 3 for 3 with 4 RBIs as the Trojans rolled to a 3-inning 15-0 win over SLAM Nevada.
Junior Zach Cuellar had 2 hits for Pahrump Valley, while Cuellar, James Metscher, Ryan Braithwaite, Coby Tillery and McDaniel each scored twice. Jalen Denton needed 45 pitches to earn the win, allowing 2 hits and getting 4 strikeouts without walking a batter.
Seniors Braithwaite, Denton, Jake Riding and Sterling Oshiro were honored with banners hanging on the fence outside the field, as were last year’s seniors, Cyle Havel and Chase McDaniel, who did not get a senior day because the season was canceled after a few games because of the pandemic.
“I’m excited to see what these boys are going to be after school,” coach Brian Hayes said. “We feel like we had a part in trying to raise them and teach them how to be young men and teach them some of our values that they can carry when they leave our program.”
Pahrump Valley 16, Valley 8: Denton went 3 for 4 with a triple, a home run and 6 RBIs on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Junior Coby Tillery went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs, while senior Jake Riding had 3 hits and drove in 2 runs.
Four Pahrump Valley errors led to 6 unearned runs for the Vikings, who fell behind 12-3 after 3 innings.
The victories this week leave the Trojans as the likely No. 2 seed in the Class 3A Southern Region Tournament, which begins Monday. Boulder City was undefeated in region games with a Thursday home game against Valley remaining.
Softball
Pahrump Valley 15, SLAM Nevada 0: Makayla Cadwell singled, homered, walked and drove in 5 runs as the Trojans posted a 3-inning victory over the Bulls on Tuesday in Henderson.
Dee Dee Egan and Ava Charles each had 3 hits for the Trojans, while Egan recorded 3 RBIs. Ciara Stragand and Ally Rily shared the pitching duties, allowing 3 hits with 3 strikeouts and no walks.
Best in the Desert
The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Hare and Hound Championship Presented by GPR is a traditional hare and hound competition open to all motorcycle classes in Tonopah. For the May 21-23 event, Best In The Desert is going back to the origins of a “hare and hound” race and will have a rider dubbed as the “hare” starting before the rest of the competitors to set the pace for the race.
Racing legend and three-time AMA National Hare and Hound Champion Russell Pearson will be the “hare” this year. If a competitor catches Pearson before Pit 1 he will be awarded $1,000 on top of normal race winnings and $500 if he catches him before Pit 2. The event will be a 110-plus-mile point-to-point race.
This year’s hare and hound event, three years in the planning, will feature a youth minicycle race, men’s and women’s classes vying for podium spots and overall championship points.
Registration for the race is open until May 16. Interested racers can sign up at https://zone4.ca/register.asp?id=25701&lan=1&cartlevel=1
Baseball Senior Day
Pahrump Valley baseball coach Brian Hayes took a few moments Tuesday to discuss his four graduating seniors.
Ryan Braithwaite: Ryan is one of those guys who makes your program work. He's not the biggest, he's not the most talented, he's not a guy who's going to wow you with anything, but he does everything well. He does everything you ask him to do. He's just one of those guys who patiently waited his turn and now it's his time to shine, and he's running with it. It shows a lot for his character.
Jalen Denton: Jalen's just one of those kids. Jalen's our best player because he works the hardest. What was great about Jalen is that when he went down, he was in the dugout with us every game. He traveled on the bus. We actually tried to talk him into not traveling on the bus because it wasn't great for him. He showed up at the JV game on Saturday and handed me his clearance certificate. If you have a kid like him, your program's in good shape.
Sterling Oshiro: Sterling is one of those kids that has worked his tail off for us. I think a lot of the circumstances for him not playing are out of his control. He's been having health issues, and he said he just got cleared. He's one of those kids that has been dealt a tough hand. Ever since he came into our program you could see that he loves the game, and for him to lose the opportunity to play as a senior because of things he can't control …
Jake Riding: Jake's been our premier pitcher since he was a sophomore. He's pitched some big games for us, some big innings. He's really stepped up this year. He keeps us in every game. He's come around offensively, defensively, just one of those kids your program gets built around. He didn't come in as one of our studs, but he worked and worked and worked and we could see the potential in him, and he just kept working and now he's the top dog out there.
