By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
With two games last week, including one against Moapa Valley’s closest rival, things couldn’t have possibly gotten much better for the Pirates on the softball diamond.
Moapa started the week with their first meeting with their rivals to the East, the Virgin Valley Bulldogs. The first matchup of the season between the two teams would come at Moapa Valley and things got off to a fast start. After a quick finish to the top half, the Pirates came out in a hurry in the first inning. A Lainey Cornwall run started the game out to a 1-0 score, but what the Pirates’ kickstart came from a remarkable inside the park grand slam by Kaitlyn Anderson. Anderson’s bomb that stayed just barely fair down the first base line forced the right fielder to chase the ball but couldn’t out run Anderson and the other baserunners. It would be 5-0 in no time. Five runs after that, the first inning had finally come to a close, with the score 10-0.
In the second, the story was more of the same. Two strikeouts by pitcher Emilie Barraza helped guide the Pirates into the bottom half still up by ten. Back at bat, Moapa Valley went back to business. An Abbie Evans three run homer into center field would make it 13-0, but the Pirates had yet to let up. With their sights set on a 15-run ruling in the next inning, Aria Messer took the plate and popped a two-RBI double into right field to make it 15-0. For added insurance, the Pirates would score three more to go into what would be the final inning leading 18-0. While they couldn’t finish the shutout, Barraza ended the game with a strikeout on a full count to seal up an 18-1 victory.
MVHS head coach Matt Messer said, “They take that rivalry stuff pretty serious and for them to jump out and score ten runs in the first inning, I couldn’t be more excited for ‘em. It was really fun to have them come out with that kind of confidence.” He continued, “We got after them and kind of imposed our will from the beginning. It was an all-around game, one of our best. For it to come against the ‘Dawgs was pretty great.”
Two days later the Pirates traveled into Las Vegas to take on the SECTA Roadrunners. Despite a comparatively slow start to the game with the Bulldogs, the Pirates would finish strong. With the score 6-0 going into the third, a pair of great outings in the third and fourth inning would end the game with a 16-0 score.
However, the offense was not the story of the afternoon. Starting pitcher Emilie Barraza held on to hold the Roadrunners to no hits in her three innings pitched, and her reliever for the day, Sierra Staheli finished the job. The pair of juniors combined for an impressive no-hitter. Despite three walks, it was an impressive day on the mound for the Pirates as a whole and one to be excited about.
Messer said of the offense, “It took us a little while to get going. Their pitcher was a little slower than Virgin Valley’s and our girls were way out in front of her until the third inning.”
The Pirates have scored 16, 18, and 16 runs in their three most recent games. “We’re scoring a lot of runs and I’m crossing my fingers that we keep going because the girls are seeing the ball well,” Messer said.
The Pirates will take on Boulder City this Friday in Moapa Valley and hope to see a great turnout for the battle of the Sunrise divisions two top contenders. The Pirates have their sights set on a season sweep and taking the figurative crown from the Eagles’ as the class of the league, after doing so in the playoffs last season.
“I think they’re starting to get it into their brains that last year’s game going to state wasn’t a fluke. As they get confidence and start to have confidence they can play with any team, that’s a big mental adjustment.”
