Bulldogs’ Shaner shuts down Pirates with no hitter

Virgin Valley High School’s Degan Shaner had a great week for the Bulldog baseball team. Shaner threw a 15-0 no hitter on Monday, March 30, and followed up on Friday, April 3, with an 8-0 shutout of the Pirates. In Monday’s game, the Bulldogs staked Shiner to a 5-0 lead after one inning of play. Tray Hughes got the rally started with a leadoff double, followed by a Shaner single, two straight walks, a Krew Perry single and two errors that led to five runs. The Dawgs blew the game wide open in the bottom of the third inning, scoring nine more runs on three walks, an error and six hits. The big blows were doubles by Hughes, Shaner and Perry, followed by a triple by Uriah Perieda. The Dawgs added one more score in the fourth inning, making the score 15-0 for the win. Shaner finished his stint on the mound with a no hitter, facing only 16 Pirates and striking out six in the mercy rule-shortened game. Shaner and Hughes led the Dawgs with two hits each.

The Dawgs followed up Monday’s win with a 2-0 shutout of visiting Nuview Bridge (California) on Wednesday, April 1. Brooks Perkins pitched five shutout innings for the win, with reliever Parker Litzenberger going two innings in relief. The Dawgs, as has been customary this year, scored first with two runs in the first inning. Three straight singles off the bats of Hughes, Brooks Perkins and an RBI single from Justin Goodsell accounted for the first run of the game. The Dawgs added their second run of the game on a Malachi Jordan single, bringing in pinch runner K. Overman. The game became a pitcher’s duel as neither team scored after the first inning. Perkins led the Dawgs with three hits, followed by Jordan with two hits.

The Dawgs traveled to Western High School (Las Vegas) on Thursday, coming away with a 22-5 crushing victory over the Warriors. The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the top of the third inning. Three walks and a single by Perkins led to the Dawgs’ first run. Perieda singled, scoring Hughes for the second run of the game, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Dawgs. The Bulldogs blew the game wide open in the top of the fourth inning, scoring 11 runs on singles by Jordan, Hughes, Koby Perry and Litzenberger; doubles by Krew Perry and Perkins; and a homer by Goodsell. Perkins and Jordan had two hits each in the inning. The Dawgs were not finished as they added nine more runs in the top of the sixth inning on only two hits as the Warriors’ pitchers melted down. The Bulldog used four pitchers in the win. Perkins led the Dawgs with three hits and four RBIs.

The Bulldogs finished the week with an 8-0 shutout at Moapa Valley as Shaner and Hughes pitched another great game against the archrival Pirates. The Dawgs put up four runs on the scoreboard in the first inning. Hughes got the ball rolling with a single followed by a double from the bat of Shaner, scoring Hughes. Goodsell followed with a double, scoring courtesy runner Ty Felix. Litzenberger singled, followed by a Krew Perry single for the fourth run of the inning. A single by Shaner and a double from Goodsell added one more run in the second inning, making the score 5-0.

The Dawgs would end the scoring with three more runs in the seventh and final inning. Singles by Koby Perry and Perieda led the Dawgs, making the final score Bulldogs 8-0 over the Pirates. Bulldogs Hughes, Shaner, Goodsell and Koby Perry led the Dawgs with two hits each.

The Bulldogs host Boulder City on Tuesday, April 7, and travel to the Eagles on Thursday in a home and away series.