Moapa Valley Progress Newspaper

Home

News

Sports

Opinion

Upcoming Events

	Pirate Baseball Goes 1-3 On The Road

	By Jonathan Ogelsby Moapa Valley Progress Submitted April 23, 2008 With their one major road trip on the horizon, the Moapa Valley Pirate Baseball team had planned on playing their best in order to get back in the playoff hunt that has become the Southern 3A league. With time wasting and the playoffs looming ever closer, Moapa Valley found themselves 2-3 in division play last week going into doubleheaders against Boulder City and Faith Lutheran. One week could possibly be the piece that makes or breaks the Pirate season. In Boulder City on Tuesday, april 15, Moapa Valley hoped to pick up a couple against the Eagles. The Pirates were forced into submission in the first game as an injury to pitcher Bobby Vallet’s shoulder caused an agitation that hurt the team and their performance. The Eagles promptly scored seven runs in the first three innings and got fifteen hits off of the Pirate pitching staff throughout the game. Moapa Valley’s lone run came in the fifth inning which meant they trailed 8-1 after the fifth inning. When Boulder City scored three more in the sixth, the ten-run rule was enacted with Boulder City winning 11-1 in the first game. Game Two was very different.It began with star and uninjured pitcher Dallin Seely taking the mound. The Pirates were able to get on the board early in the game, scoring one run in the first inning and another run in the third inning. With the Pirate offense improving, Seely was able to pitch six shutout innings to lead Moapa Valley into the seventh inning, nursing a 4-0 lead. While reliever Matt Vallet gave up two runs in the seventh inning, the Pirates closed it out to win 4-2 and to split the double header with the Eagles. Moapa Valley was offensively led by Brad Weiss who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Pirates. On Friday, April 18, the Pirates traveled into Las Vegas to play the Faith Lutheran Crusaders. Any warm feelings that Moapa Valley carried with them from Boulder City were quickly cut down as the Crusaders showed why they are the defending Nevada State Champions. In the first game, Kevin Cardinal started for Moapa Valley as the Pirates struggled to once again find any sense of consistency. Moapa gave up three runs in the first inning and had a hard competing after that. Moapa Valley got only one hit to Faith Lutheran’s nine hits. The Crusaders would win game one 6-0. In game two, Moapa Valley’s offensive output improved. The defensive performance would not be a highlight though as Moapa Valley would again give up eighteen hits and fifteen runs to Faith Lutheran. While the game started out well with a 1-1 tie after the first inning, the Crusaders would score six in the third inning and six in the sixth and final inning of the game. The Pirates would lose 15-5. Moapa Valley has division games this week against Virgin Valley in Mesquite and against Faith Lutheran at Pirate Field with the 2008 Southern 3A Division Tournament looming in the distance in the second week of May.