Bulldog Baseball Falls Short

By LOU MARTIN

The Progress

VVHS sophomore Mason Montoya completes a defensive play during the opening round of the NIAA 3A State Tournament played in Mesquite on Thursday against South Tahoe. PHOTO BY DAMON JACKSON/The Progress

The Virgin Valley High School baseball team attempted to repeat a Nevada State 3A championship win last week. But they fell short as they could not get by the Trojans from Pahrump Valley.

The Bulldogs won their opener 5-3 over South Lake Tahoe, the #1 seed from the north. The Vikings scored first in the game with two runs in the bottom of the first inning.

The Bulldogs clawed back with runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to take a 3-2 lead into the seventh and last inning.

The Bulldogs added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run homer hit over the left field fence by Jared Jensen.

Bulldog ace Bryce Intagliata gave up a run in the bottom of the inning but finished with a complete game win.
The win moved the Dawgs into the second round against the Trojans on Friday afternoon.

Virgin Valley fell behind the Trojans early, trailing 8-1 after six innings of play. The Bulldogs mounted a furious rally scoring 5 runs in the top of the seventh inning. But it wasn’t enough. The Dawgs fell short losing the game 8-6. It was the fourth straight loss to the Pahrump Valley squad this year.

Right fielder Intagliata led the Dawgs with two hits and three runs batted in. Intagliata hit a home run in the seventh.

The loss moved the Bulldogs to the losers bracket on Friday evening: a rematch against the Vikings who had beat Churchill County, 8-2, in the consolation bracket.

The Dawgs were no match the second time around as the Vikings beat the home town Dawgs 9-2. The Dawgs trailed 9-1 going into the last inning but could not mount a rally against the Viking pitching staff. The Bulldogs finished the season with a respectable 25-13 record.

The win moved the South Tahoe team into the final round against Pahrump Valley on Saturday. The Vikings struck early in the game, beating the Trojans 8-2 and forcing an afternoon game in the double elimination tournament.

The Trojans came back and finished off the Vikings, 3-0, to become the 2023 3A State Champions.