VVHS, Mesquite, NV-

Virgin Valley’s softball team has been riding high! The team faced Boulder City High School on March 23, 2022, on their home field at Virgin Valley High School, located at 820 Valley View Dr., Mesquite, Nevada. The girls then made a trip down to Pahrump High School on March 25th at 3:30 p.m. Both games ended with a Bulldog victory!

The showdown between the Bulldogs and the Boulder City Eagles was a nail-biter. The final score was 4-3 for the Dawgs. The Dawgs were hanging on to the Eagles in a neck and neck game. They went into the bottom of the 7th inning down 3-2, Eagles leading. Bulldogs were up to bat! 

With bases loaded, right-fielder #29 Marli Wakefield stepped up to the plate. Wakefield had a 0-2 count (2 strikes), with loaded bases, and 2 outs: The next pitch could determine the outcome of the game. The crowd was anxiously awaiting. Wakefield was not to be denied and smashed the next pitch, which appeared to be going over the left-field fence. Boulder City was unable to catch the ball and Wakefield earned a double, walk-off hit, scoring 2.

The Wakefield family, along with the intense Bulldog fans, exploded in hoots and hollers as Marli Wakefield drove in the winning runs. The 2 RBIs had won the game for the Dawgs! Marli Wakefield had the best game of her season with a .750 Batting average, hitting 3 out of 4 times at the plate and knocking in 3 RBIs total for the game.

The Dawgs continued their winning streak and hit the road later that week to beat the Pahrump Trojans on March 25th. #30 Riley Price dominated pitching, allowing the Dawgs to cruise to a 12-0 victory in only 6 innings. Riley Price pitched an excellent game, only allowing 2 hits, and added 12 strikeouts (K) to her total amount of 137 for the season. She has a 0.76 ERA with the Bishop Manogue game being the only one with more than a 2.33 ERA. For the game, she didn’t allow a single run to have a perfect 0.00 ERA. Along with Price’s top-notch pitching, the girls managed an impressive 0 errors in the field.

 First baseman, #35 Ana Tausinga stated, “I’m super proud of the whole team for making the trip down there and keeping our heads in the game and taking the dub. It was a business trip and we took care of business.”

In addition to perfection on the field, the Lady Dawgs came to bat with 12 hits in the game. Brooklin Montoya, Reggi Frei, and Evia Toone racked up multiple hits throughout the 6 innings. Natalie Plancarte, Riley Price, Ana Tausinga, Destiny “Tiny” Moeai, and Ari Easton added to the hitting spree. Left-Fielder Evia Toone and catcher Brooklin Montoya lead the team in RBIs with 3 for each player.

Brookline Montoya added two doubles for the game and drove home 2 runs. She has a total of 24 RBIs this season off of 30 hits. She is currently batting .577 for the season. Reggi Frei had two hits and knocked in 1 RBI to add to the total score of 12 runs scored by the Lady Dawgs. Evia Toone knocked in the most RBIs with 4 out of her 2 hits.

The Dawgs definitely took care of business with the Trojans as they have been doing throughout the whole season. The nearly undefeated girls softball team has a current record of 19-1–the only loss being to 5A school Bishop Gorman. Under the advisement of head coach Travis Griffiths, with assistance from Stephanie Montoya, Steve Hansen, Charles Hurley, Robert Nelson, and Artie Shaner, the girls are on track to a 3A state title. The Dawgs’ next endeavor will be a rivalry game as they face the Moapa Valley Pirates on March 31st away at 3:30 p.m.