The Pirates were shut down offensively in the last 3 innings by the Bulldogs. (Photo: Damon Jackson)

Mesquite, NV-

The VVHS Bulldogs Baseball Team went into last Thursday, April 21st, with a “chip” on their shoulder. They were sitting in 2nd place in the league with an undefeated league record of 4-0 behind their rival Moapa Valley Pirates who they had beaten earlier in the season. The Pirates seated first in the 3A Southern Mountain League were also undefeated with a 4-0 record and were first in the league due to a point system, even though the Bulldogs had beaten them earlier in the season on March 12, 2022.

The loss for the Pirates was by a score of 7-0 in favor of the Bulldogs at the campus of Virgin Valley High School, but did not give points or “officially” count due to it being a non-conference, non-state tournament, The Cactus Classic.

That “chip” turned into wood cracking as the Bulldogs were able to get the bats going in the 5th and 6th innings to come from behind to win a closely contested game by a score of 6-4. This big win moves them into a 5 game winning streak and sitting all alone in the top spot for the 3A Southern Mountain League.

The Bulldogs immediately came out and scored one run in the bottom of the 1st to get the momentum going, but the Pirates came back with full sails and flew the Jolly Roger flag in the top of the 3rd, scoring 4 runs. The Dawgs needed to get that offensive momentum going again after a rough inning in the field. They dug their spikes in and growled forward with another offensive bite, leading to two runs beings scored in the bottom of the 3rd.

Down 3-4, the Dawgs held their ground and guarded their field as they held the Pirates to no more scores to give themselves the chance to take the lead and never look back in the 5th inning.

On the cracking wood, the Dawgs found offensive help from Bryce Intagliata and Jared Jensen who both batter a .667 average. They both were 2 out of 3 at the plate with 2 hits. Jensen also drove in 2 RBIs. Kyler Sudweeks was close on their paws with a .500 batting average and 2 hits as well. Kurt Felix and Mason Montoya added 1 RBI each.

The key to the Dawgs getting the win was their defensive shutdown of the Pirates in the 2nd half of the game. They had a .933 Fielding Percentage as a team with only one player with fielding opportunities to not get a perfect fielding percentage.

On pitching, Intagliata pitched the first half of the game with 8 strikeouts, but off of 2 errors by the Bulldogs in the 3rd allowed the 4 runs. Kurt Felix replaced Bryce Intagliata and was able to get 2 K’s with only one BB. Intagliata was a “running madman” as he stole 4 bases during the game.

Now in first place in the league and on a 5-game winning streak, the rest of the schedule for the season appears to be favorable to the Bulldogs (14-5) with the Pirates being the only team left as a challenge for the Bulldogs. However, the dogs must take one game at a time as they have a chance of running the table for the rest of the season before playoffs begin.

Here is the rest of the regular season schedule:

April 25th, away @ Sunrise Mountain (1-10): 3:30 pm

April 27th, home vs. Eldorado (11-7-1): 3:30 pm

April 29th, home vs. Cheyenne (4-8): 3:30 pm

April 30th, home vs. Lincoln County (4-12): 12:00 pm

May 3rd, home vs. Western (5-9): 3:30 pm

May 5th, away @ Moapa Valley (12-7): 3:30 pm

Go support our Dawgs and help them keep the winning streak alive!