Moapa Valley Progress Newspaper

Home

News

Sports

Opinion

Upcoming Events

Pirate Baseball Misses Playoffs

	By Jonathan Oglesby Moapa Valley Progress Submitted May 7, 2008 In the final week of the regular season, Moapa Valley Pirate Baseball was faced with an almost impossible task: win three out of four games with most of the roster being ineligible for academic violations. Unfortunately for Moapa Valley, the task proved impossible. The Pirates would split with Pahrump Valley and get swept by Boulder		Pirate player Kevin Cardinal pitches against Pahrump at home on Tuesday, April 29, 2008.
	City to miss out in the race for the Southern 3A Championship. The Pirates hosted the Trojans of Pahrump Valley High School on Tuesday, April 29 in a do-or-die situation for Moapa Valley. Game One was full of one thing that the Pirates were consistently well at this year; being inconsistent. Moapa Valley would go on to give up eleven runs to the Trojans after some defensive mistakes and a lack of pitching depth due to player ineligibility and injuries. The pressure placed on their offense batting was felt as the Pirates were only able to score four runs and would lose the first game 11- 4. In Game Two, Moapa Valley rallied from an early deficit and were able to close out the Trojans in the ninth inning, stranding the tying run on base. The Pirates were aided by freshman Kelan Weiss’ offensive power in the second game. Weiss, who was called up from JV to fill missing positions, hit a home run to put Moapa Valley ahead and give them a 4-3 win in a narrow victory. Then on Friday, with Moapa Valley needing to sweep Boulder City to go to the playoffs, the Pirates came out in game one with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long as the Pirates gave up nine runs to Boulder City; once again because of defensive and pitching issues. When the Pirates could only muster four runs, the game was over with a 9-4 victory which clinched the Eagles’ spot in the Southern 3A playoffs and destroyed Moapa Valley’s hopes for one. In a Game Two that was insignificant, the Pirates lost to the Eagles 21-1. Overall, the Pirates finished 16-15 on the season, going 4-12 in Division play.