Regional Champions!

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Virgin Valley High School softball team dominated the NIAA Southern Region playoffs last week, going undefeated in the tournament and coming out as the South’s region champions.

It was never even a struggle for the Virgin Valley team. Every game was a shut-out. The Bulldogs scored a total of 59 runs against its opponents throughout the four games they played in the tournament. More significantly, the Dawgs didn’t give away a single run to an opponent all week. And every game ended in a double digit lead for the Bulldogs.

It was the Lady Bulldogs’ third straight 3A southern regional championship; having now won in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

The Bulldogs have sustained a remarkable winning streak in the 2023 season. Friday afternoon’s victory against Boulder City in the final round of the tournament was the Bulldogs’ 36th consecutive win: a new school record.

The Bulldogs destroyed Boulder City in Friday’s final game, 15-0, played in Mesquite. The Dawgs scored 5 runs in the first inning, 7 more in the third, and 3 in the fourth inning before the game was called on the mercy rule.

VVWD pitcher Riley Frei took commanding control of the Eagle offense. She pitched all four innings for the Dawgs, ending up with a no-hitter while striking out 4 Eagles’ batters.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog batting line-up peppered the Eagles’ defense with 12 hits in the game. Natalie Plancarte, Reggi Frei, Ana Tausinga and Price all put up multiple hits in the game. Brooklyn Montoya slammed a ball over the left field fence for a home run in the third inning, putting up 3 RBI on the play. Evia Toone also got 3 RBI in the game, as did Plancarte.
Bulldog runners stole nine bases during the game.

Virgin Valley started the tournament on Monday afternoon by mowing down Valley High School, 23-0, on the Bulldog field.
The team advanced to host Pahrump Valley on Tuesday afternoon in the second round. They easily checked off the Trojans, 10-0, in that game.

On Wednesday, the tournament moved to Boulder City. Virgin Valley went up against the Eagles that day in the semi-final round and blanked them, 11-0.

From there, the juggernaut Bulldogs team had the privilege of waiting through the rest of the tournament play on Thursday as the consolation bracket worked out who would face them in the final game.

That decision all came down to a game between Boulder City and Moapa Valley. The Eagles beat the Pirates on Thursday night, 16-5, setting up the final regional championship game for Friday.
VVHS Head Coach Travis Griffiths expressed gratitude to both parents and fans of the team for their support. He also thanked the girls for their hard work on the field.

“They are great young ladies who have worked extgremely hard th is year without any complaints!” Griffiths said. “We, as coaches, are prould of what they ahve accomplished throughout this year.”
Griffiths said that now the main focus of his team is to play for a state championship this week.

Both the Bulldogs and Eagles will be competing against the top two northern region schools in the state tournament this week. As fate would have it, that tournament will be played in Virgin Valley.

The Bulldogs will go up against Lowry, the #2 seed from the northern region, at 1 pm on Thursday afternoon. The Eagles will play North Valleys, the #1 northern seed, immediately after that at 3:30 pm.