By Kylea McMurray
Moapa Valley Progress<
Submitted April 30, 2008
Last week the Lady Pirates continued their league season, and took on the rival Virgin Valley Bulldogs. The Lady Pirates have had a rough season, and the Bulldogs were feeling successful after beating Boulder City the week before. However, undaunted, the Pirates played two of the best games of their season.
The Pirates immediately took control of the game. During the first inning the Pirates stole two bases and hit enough doubles and singles to get two players home, bringing the score to 2-0 for Moapa Valley.
While at first the Bulldogs seemed a little shell-shocked by the Pirate’s performance, they started to come back in the second inning. Both teams played hard throughout the inning, and after Virgin Valley scored, the Pirates knew they had to answer back in order to keep control of the game. Shelby Thompson hit a double to score for the Pirates.
During the third inning the Pirates lost some of their edge. The Bulldogs took control early in the inning, and scored twice, tying the score at 3-3, despite the Pirate’s early lead.
But during the fourth and fifth innings it seemed the Pirates could do no wrong. For the first time this season their hitting became one of their greatest strengths. Both Cynthia Taylor and Megan Stringham hit triple plays, and managed to bring runners in to score. During each of these two innings the Pirates scored 5 points.
One of the high points during the game was the result of a huge Virgin Valley blunder. Junior Sadie Helm hit a high ball, which the Bulldogs caught. After the catch, the Bulldogs thought that the inning was over, and that the catch was the last out, however it was only the second out. Pirate runners Kasi Delgadillo and Kayla Riggins both tagged up before running home, just in case there really were only two outs as they thought. While the Bulldogs were running for the dugout, the Pirates scored two points, much to the dismay of the Dogs.
By the fifth inning the Pirates were ahead 13-3 and, because they were ahead by ten, the game officially ended after they held the Bulldogs scoreless in the final home team inning.
In the second game the Lady Pirates once again took control early in the game. They scored a run in the first inning. Each inning after that the Pirates were able to continue scoring while holding the Bulldogs scoreless throughout the first four innings.
During the fifth inning, the Pirates could not be stopped. Sadie Helm started the inning off with a double, and each player after her hit doubles, or stole several bases. While there were no grand slams, the Pirates advanced the good old-fashioned way, just one base at a time. The Pirates scored four points during the fifth inning, bring the score to 9-0.
The Pirates needed one more point to end the game on a ten point lead. But they weren’t able to score again for the rest of the game. They did however hold the Bulldogs scoreless, and the rest of the game moved quickly. In the end, Shelby Thompson caught a line drive to end the game.
After a tough league season, this game could turn the Pirate’s luck around. “This was a sweet victory,” said Coach Kim Delgadillo. “It’s always sweet when we beat the Dogs, but during this game the girls played like we’ve always known they could play. We didn’t just win, we blew them away, and I hope that it proves to our girls that they can do it.”
