Top Seed Bulldogs Head To Regionals

By BOB SNELL

The Progress

It’s tournament time the next two weeks for high school spring sports in the state of Nevada as the 2021-22 school year draws to a close. For the Virgin Valley softball team that means defending their 3A South Regional championship as the 2022 tournament opened play on Monday.

The Lady Bulldogs went 29-1 during the regular season and ran the table in league play (13-0) to earn the overall No. 1 seed for the double-elimination tournament. They are also riding a 27-game winning streak after losing to Bishop Gorman in the third game of the season back in early March.
“Our girls are healthy and ready to go,” VVHS head coach Travis Griffiths said. “Hopefully, we’re peaking at the right time.”

Virgin Valley hosted eighth-seed Sunrise Mountain on Monday, May 2. A win would mean VVHS would host the winner of fourth-seeded SLAM and Pahrump Valley on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Bulldog Diamond.

The winner of that game will host again on Wednesday, also at 4 p.m.
“All these games are critical,” Griffiths said. “You don’t want to drop into the loser bracket. That makes it a lot tougher to come all the way back through.”

The other side of the bracket had No. 2 seed Boulder City hosting Desert Pines and third-seed Moapa Valley hosting Clark on Monday. Winners and losers will play each other on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s game – featuring the two unbeaten teams – will be crucial with the winner getting a bye into the championship game on Friday while the loser must play again on Thursday.

Virgin Valley, which defeated Pahrump Valley in last year’s championship game at Bulldog Diamond, is hoping for a repeat of its title success.
“If we can peak in hitting the ball, it will be huge for us,” Griffiths said. “We need to hit the ball consistently. If we can do that, along with good pitching and playing solid defense, we should be ok.”

The top two teams from the tournament will advance to the 3A State tournament May 19-21 in Fernley. No state tournament was held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 3A North Regional tournament will also be held this week with Fernley earning the top seed and North Valleys the No. 2 seed.

The Lady Bulldogs tuned up for the tournament by defeating 2A Lincoln County, 15-5, in a non-league contest last Wednesday at Bulldog Diamond.

Brooklin Montoya went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first inning to pace the offense for Virgin Valley.
Marli Wakefield homered and doubled to drive in three runs.
Riley Price belted a three-run homer in the fourth.
Evia Toone chipped in with two hits including a two-run double while Reggi Frei and Alex Covarrubias had two hits apiece.

Price pitched the first four innings inside the circle, surrendering just one hit while walking one and striking out 11 of the 15 batters she faced.

Covarrubias and Wakefield were both honored before the game on Senior Day. Covarrubias is the lone senior on the team while Wakefield, a junior, will be graduating a year early.