Trojans softball plays charity game with VFW

Softball is back and the Trojans are ready to play. The girls played in an exhibition game against VFW post 10054 on Sunday.

The game was for charity and purely for fun and was organized by an organization called the “Bridge.” The Bridge was started by Tyann James, Stacie Nicosia and Gege Murphy to create a connection between community and schools. Proceeds from the event will go to the VFW, and a small amount will also be donated to the PVHS softball team as a thank you.

The girls lost 13-11 in a slow pitch game, but despite the score, the girls had a lot of fun during the game.

The Lady Trojans are coming off a terrific season where they went to state and finished 24-15 overall and 6-4 in Division I-A, Sunset League.

The team was the third place team but managed to beat out Faith Lutheran, who was the number one seed from the Sunset League and then Boulder City, who was the number one seed from the Sunrise League for the Southern Regional title last year.

The team then advanced to state where they got to the semifinal against Fernley, where they lost a close 9-8 game. Fernley was beat out by Churchill for the state title.

Last spring the Trojans lost five seniors to graduation and their shortstop who moved away, was Darian Collin. The team also lost their ace pitcher, Whitney Roderick, who was one of the girls that graduated. Trojans Coach Elias Armendariz believes his team is still a strong one, despite the losses.

The veteran coach said his team has been practicing hard and just had a scrimmage at Faith Lutheran where the team played four teams.

He is happy with the direction the team is heading this early in the season.

The coach said the infield is slowly taking shape. He has junior Lauren Koenig at first base. Senior Amanda Pryor is at second and she will also be pitching. Sophomore Remington Nicosia is battling for the catcher spot with sophomore Jill Smith. He said shortstop is wide open. At third is Leanne Kaiwi, a sophomore. Left field will probably be junior Andi Bishop and center field will be Senior Maddison Hurley. In right field is Sydney Kies.

The team played at Faith Lutheran last week and hit a lot of doubles and singles.

“Our hitting was pretty good and should be OK if we can stay consistent,” the coach said. “We did pretty well. I was really pleased with the hitting.”

In the past, hitting has always been an issue early on in the season, but this year is different.

Instead, since the the team lost its ace pitcher, he is now more worried about the defense.

On offense the Trojans pack some power. They will have the bat of Amanda Pryor who is capable of hitting it over the fence. Jordan Eagan and Leanne Kaiwi can also hit the ball over the fence. Eagan will be out with an injury for an unknown time.

In addition to the power, the ladies will get consistent hitting from Maddison Hurley. She should play a significant role in the offense this year. Jill Smith is another bat that should give the Trojans a lift.

“Smith will be hitting some line drives and she should add to an already strong hitting team,” the coach said.

The team will play Virgin Valley in a doubleheader on March 9 and then they have a tournament to go to on March 12, which is in Needles, Calif.