By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Softball team started last week on the road. They travelled to Las Vegas to take on the Miners of Sunrise Mountain on Tuesday, March 13.
In this one, Moapa had hits coming from all directions. Everything seemed to be going their way. Six runs in the fifth inning alone helped put the Pirates over the top in this one.
The final score was 17-5, and Moapa Valley was off to a good start in their long week.
But the biggest game of the week was up next. On Wednesday, the Pirates took on the Pahrump Crusaders in a revisit of last season’s thrilling regional final. This game could also turn out to be a playoff preview, with the two team in position as favorites in their respective divisions.
But things didn’t start out like the Pirates wanted in this one. After two innings, Pahrump Valley led 4-0 and would make it 6-0 midway through the third.
It was then that the Pirates went on a roll to defend their home diamond. Seven – count them –seven runs in the bottom of the third inning brought Moapa Valley roaring back to take the lead!
One inning later, the Crusaders tied it and a defensive battle began.
By the seventh inning, neither side could claim a lead and the game had to go into extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs on the board for the Pirates, senior Aria Messer stepped up and hit a pop fly into the outfield. The Pahrump Valley outfielder lost it in the wind and the Pirates pulled off the victory. The final score was 8-7.
Messer finished with a pair of RBIs and her fellow senior Kessa Evans finished with three. Sierra Staheli added two RBIs on two hits as well.
“It’s a good indication that we’re never going to roll over,” said Pirate head coach Matt Messer. “It was just two good teams that were battling back and forth and I think it’ll be like that come time for the division tournament.”
On Friday, the Pirates headed to St. George, Utah, for a tournament. The first game came against Logan (UT) and the Pirates struggled against talented pitching on the other side. They would fall 6-4 to start the weekend 0-1.
“They had the best pitcher we’ve seen all year,” Messer said. “She had a nice change-up that kept us off balance.”
Later that day, the Pirates took on Millard (UT) and it was an entirely different story. Moapa was firing on all cylinders on offense and defense and would pull off a 9-1 win.
“We played good defense and it was an all-around good game for us,” Messer said.
The Pirates finished their Friday tripleheader in the evening with a shootout against Summit Academy (UT).
The two sides battled back and forth with run after run crossing the plate. Kessa Evans led the show for the Pirates with a home run. Finally, in the bottom of the seventh, a winning run by the Pirates was the difference and Moapa left with a 15-14 victory.
Freshman Madi Fairchild led Moapa Valley on the mound.
Unfortunately, shortstop Kaitlyn Anderson landed on the injury report with a sprained ankle and was not ready to go for the next day.
On Saturday, with Anderson out of play, the Pirates scrambled to get players into new positions. In addition, Sierra Staheli pitched her first ever game in an effort to improve the team’s pitching depth behind starter Emilie Barraza.
Staheli impressed against the Pirate opponent, this time Pine View. The final score would be 16-13 in favor of the Panthers, dropping the Pirates to 2-2 for the tournament. But Messer gave his new relief pitcher praise.
“Sierra really cemented her spot,” Messer said. “We’re happy with the pitching depth after that game even though we lost. She muscled through it and stayed upbeat. If our defense was more solid, we would’ve won it. She pitched well enough to win it. There were a couple walks here and there but she came in and pitched really well.”
On the offensive side, Aria Messer hit a home run to lead the Pirates and keep the game competitive.
The final game came Saturday afternoon against South Sevier (UT). The Pirates, determined to end their tournament weekend on a high note, racked up 16 runs in this one and scored a 16-6 victory.
Messer explained that no matter who was at the plate, the hits were expected. “We just hit, hit, hit,” he said. “Hanna Mortensen and Averee Widdison at the bottom of the lineup were on base almost every time. It’s hard to defend a team when all nine batters are hitting it hard.”
The season is just beginning but after a long weekend of experience for new pitchers and infielders, as well as the Pirates learning to adapt to injuries, it’s a good start. Considering the Pirates have been able to defeat one of last season’s top contenders in Pahrump Valley already this year, it casts confidence on the outlook for the rest of the year.
