The Lady Bulldogs played two non-league contests last week to close out regular season play, dropping a 6-4 decision to Hurricane (Utah), at home last Monday, April 27, and then getting roughed up 13-3 by Green Valley in Henderson on Tuesday.

In the Hurricane contest, the Lady Bulldogs fell behind early when the visiting Tigers scored four runs in the top of the first inning. Virgin Valley got two of those runs back in the bottom of the frame. Davie Slack doubled and came home on Julia Leavitt’s single. After Leavitt stole second base and moved to third on a wild pitch, Raylynn Woods was hit by a pitch. When Woods stole second, Leavitt stole home on the back end of the double steal.

Trailing 6-2, the Lady Bulldogs scored a run in the bottom of the third when Slack walked, stole second and eventually scored on a wild pitch to cut the margin to 6-3. Virgin Valley got within 6-4 by scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth, when Leavitt tripled and came in to score on a wild pitch.

The Lady Bulldogs threatened in the bottom of the seventh. Kamzlee Dalton and Ava Noel drew walks, and Slack singled to load the bases with one out. But two pop-ups ended the threat and the game. Dalton came on in relief, pitching four shutout innings inside the circle for Virgin Valley. The freshman gave up just two hits while walking one and striking out three.

Against 4A Green Valley on Tuesday, April 28, the Lady Bulldogs scored two runs in the top of the second inning to pull even at 2-2. Raylynn Woods was hit by a pitch and Hayden Owsley reached on a bunt single. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch, and Woods would score on a passed ball. Mira Vallejo’s single scored Owsley.

The Gators scored two runs in the bottom of the frame and added four more in the third to increase their advantage to 8-2. Virgin Valley scored a run in the top of the fifth when Mady Wright singled, stole second and scored on Slack’s single. The Gators came right back in the bottom half of the inning to score five runs and go up 13-3, forcing the game to be called because of the NIAA mercy rule.

Virgin Valley will open against host school Boulder City on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the opening round of the 3A South Regional softball tournament at Bravo Field.

The Lady Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed heading into the double-elimination regional playoff tournament after finishing 7-3 in 3A Desert League play. They are 17-11 overall. The Lady Eagles are the three seed after going 6-4 in league play and are 12-16 overall. The two teams split their two-game league series last month, with each side winning on their home field.

The other first-round match-up will have top-seed Pahrump Valley (10-0 league, 28-6 overall) squaring off against fourth-seed Moapa Valley (5-5 league, 12-10 overall). The winners of Thursday’s first-round games will play at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The two losers will play first at 10 a.m., with the winner of that game moving on to play the loser of the 12:30 game at 2:30 p.m. The championship game is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The top two teams from the regional tournament will advance to the 3A State tournament, which will be held May 14-16 at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks.