Jonathan Oglesby
Moapa Valley Progress
Submitted April 30, 2008
With time passing them by, along with their playoff hopes, the Pirate baseball team had a painful week last week, losing three out of four division games.
On Tuesday, April 22, the Pirates faced off against Virgin Valley in Mesquite. Moapa Valley was looking to avenge their tough losses at home. The Pirates rode the Bulldogs hard and close in Game One. Even so, Moapa Valley still trailed 6-4 in the top of the seventh inning.
It was at this point that Moapa Valley dug deep and scored four runs in the inning to take a 8-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. With the pitches across the plate and the defense solid, Moapa Valley won the first game 8-6 in what appeared to be a solid start.
Game Two was a defensive struggle from the beginning as both teams held defensively. Moapa Valley opened in the first inning with a Bobby Vallet run to give Moapa Valley an early 1-0 start. The Bulldogs would immediately counter with a run however and the game was off from there.
Besides a solid first inning offensively, the Pirates were held quiet for the remainder of the game as Virgin Valley played solid defense with some offensive assistance that helped considerably.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the show stopped though as Virgin Valley was able to score two runs off of a Brent Horlacher 2-RBI double which gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. They would hold this lead as Virgin Valley would split with the Pirates and win game two 3-1.
On Thursday, April 24, the Pirates faced division-leading Faith Lutheran. The Crusaders quickly showed why they are the division leaders. Moapa Valley could get little to nothing going offensively in the first game.
This proved not to be a problem for the league-leading Crusaders, who are now 9-1 in division play. The Crusaders were led by star Tyler Iodence in the first game as Iodence would hit a home run, go 2-for-3, and muster four RBIs. The Crusaders would score a cool 17 runs in the first game. The Pirates could only muster five runs to lose the first game 17-5.
Game Two could be categorized as more of the same. Moapa Valley struggled defensively while the Crusaders beat the ball all day to score twenty runs in the second game. Faith Lutheran’s Tyler Iodence murdered the ball with two home runs, including a grand slam.
But it was the high number of Pirates errors throughout the series that destroyed Moapa Valley. The Pirates averaged over five errors a game in the series and couldn’t escape the pressure that poor defense puts on the offense. Moapa Valley was able to score seven runs but it wasn’t enough Faith Lutheran won Game Two and swept the doubleheader 20-7.
Now the Pirates find themselves in desperation mode and only have one option to make it to the playoffs. That option is to win at least three of their last four division games. If Moapa Valley can do that, the Pirates have a decent shot at making the playoffs. They will play Pahrump Valley and Boulder City this week, the league’s three and four seeds currently. Right now, Moapa Valley has a record of 3-9 in the division with Boulder City having a record of 4-8. If the Pirates can sweep Boulder City this week, they will have a betting chance on making the playoff. If not, it will be time to dust off the fishing gear.
