By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School baseball team traveled to Las Vegas last week for a matchup with Western High School.
Early in the game, things didn’t look so great for the Pirates. After two innings, the Warriors led the Pirates by a score of 2-1.
But in the third inning, the Pirates got the scores they needed. They regained the lead by a 4-2 margin.
With the lead still too close for comfort, the Pirates needed a burst, and they certainly received one. After holding their opponent scoreless in the bottom of the third, Moapa ran 10 runs across the plate and bumped their lead to a much more assuring 14-2.
“We started using our short game and they started turning it over and we just expanded from that,” said MVHS head coach Ed McCann about the switch the team made.
McCann also praised the pitching of sophomore, Chase Hadley. “Chase was really pretty good and it was good to see him pitch that well,” McCann said.
Dayton Wolfley went 2 for 4 with a double and 3 RBIs for the Pirates. Meanwhile, Daxton Longman also had a triple and Anthony Cornwall hit a two run double that McCann said “really broke the game open for us”.
Following their up and down win against Western, the Pirates returned home for a matchup against the Cheyenne Desert Shields. Base hits from Wolfley, Cornwall, and Daxton Longman set up some scoring opportunities for the Pirates in the bottom of the first.
Colby Longman, younger brother of Daxton, hit a home run to bring the score to 4-0 at the end of the first inning.
Each side added a run in the second. Then in the third, the Desert Shields scored two more to narrow the deficit. But the Pirates took control with an offensive surge in the bottom of the same inning, pushing their lead to 11-3.
The visiting Cheyenne responded well, as they fought to bring the lead back to a manageable one, at 11-8. This was influenced by the five walks and two hit batters from the Moapa side that gave the Desert Shields life.
“We got really comfortable in the bottom of the third, and in the fourth,” McCann said. “Our pitching just broke down.”
With a 14-8 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Moapa Valley scored enough to ‘ten-run rule’ the other side and claim an 18-8 victory.
Following what might be described as an “ugly win” by some, McCann praised his team’s ability to turn any situation into an advantageous one. “Our guys play the game the right way,” McCann said, “They weren’t happy with our overall performance, but at the end of the day, they found a way to win.”
McCann said the scariest detail about this team is that they have yet to have their best game. In any sport that has such a long season like baseball season, it is important to not peak early, McCann said.
“The season is a marathon, not a sprint,” McCann said. “Some people just limp to the finish line, but we won’t, we’re going to finish strong.”
This week, Moapa Valley takes on two more out-of-league opponents in Desert Pines and Sunrise Mountain, before starting off their league season with a home game against Chaparral on Friday.
The Pirates hope to continue learning from their mistakes thus far and peak at just the right moment.
