Kyler Sudweeks nails a base hit to help get momentum going for the Bulldogs against Eldorado (Photo: YoshiYama)

Virgin Valley High School, Mesquite, NV-

After finding themselves in first place by beating Moapa Valley on April 21st, the strong offensive momentum the Bulldogs have had lately moved right into this last week on Monday, April 25th at Sunset Mountain as they bulldozed the Miners by an unbelievable score of 31-6 in Las Vegas. Then continued on to play Eldorado at home on Wednesday, April 27th with different results. The Bulldogs started out slow on the swing but were able to pull out a more competitive match by a score of 5-2.

Starting out with the matchup against Sunset Mountain was absolutely a slaughtering by the Bulldogs as they tore the Miners to pieces resulting in a rare and incomprehensible score of 31 runs by the Diamond Dawgs.

Sunset Mountain had no defense apparently as the Bulldogs had .750 Batting Average as a team resulting in 21 hits with 27 RBIs. The Bulldogs had 1 homerun with 5 triples and 5 doubles and all the other 10 hits were singles.

Bryce Intagliata was the head of the offensive charge as he went 4/4 from the plate with a home run and a triple, knocking in 8 runs. Perfect 1.00 Batting Average players included Drake Wakefield, Cameron Perkins, Stratton Waite, and Cameron Wright. RBI leaders besides Intagliata were Kurt Felix (5), Cameron Perkins (3), and Kyler Sudweeks (3).

Due to the Mercy Rule for NIAA, the game only lasted three innings. The Bulldogs had three of their players pitch. Jared Jensen who pitches on a regular basis pitched for an inning, resulting in 3 strikeouts (Ks). Because of the high offensive momentum, the Bulldogs were able to get some practicing done for pitching and gain experience. Cameron Wright pitched a little over an inning while Cameron Perkins pitched less than an inning. Wright had 3 Ks and Perkins had 2 Ks.

Head Coach Dan Wright was pleased with the hard play but was not happy with the six runs that Sunrise Mountain scored off of 4 errors.

“We can’t slack, gotta keep it up,” said Coach Wright. “Not happy about the errors.”

Head Coach Wright contained similar criticism after their next game that occurred against Eldorado Sundevils at home on Wednesday, April 27th, resulting in a slow start but a 5-2 win.

“I am happy to get the win,” said Coach Wright, “but not happy about the 1st inning and errors near the end of the game. We have to keep playing!”

The Bulldogs came out slow after a late start to the game due to the construction traffic problems on Mormon Mesa and the visiting Sundevils getting caught in it. The first inning was not good for the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball. Three up and three down on offense while they allowed Eldorado to come in and score a run to take the early lead.

In the second inning, the Bulldogs woke up and scored 1 followed up with 4 in the third inning. However, they let the momentum slip away as no other scores for the rest of the 7 inning game. The lack of offense resulted in the game having to be won by defensive play, especially in the top of the 7th inning.

Offensively, Drake Wakefield and Stratton Waite had good games with .667 BA. Both were 2 out of 3 at the plate with 2 hits. Kyler Sudweeks was .500 at the plate with 1 hit and 1 BB.

Defensively, the Fielding Perfectage of the team was .897 which helped win the game. Kyler Sudweeks pitched a good game with 6 strikeouts in 5 innings and only allowing 1 hit and 1 run. Bryce Intagliata came in at the end to pick up the save as he closed out the Sundevils.

The Bulldogs continue their win streak as it is now up to 7 in a row. However, in the last two games, they have had 8 errors. Coach Wright really highlighted this in his end-of-game statements after beating Eldorado.

“We have to keep going. We have to get the errors problem fixed,” said Coach Wright. “We are in a good position right now, but if we don’t keep up the hard work, then we will lose that position.”

The Bulldogs hope to extend their streak to 8 games in a row claiming victory against Cheyenne today at home, starting at 3:30 pm.

Here is the rest of the regular season schedule:

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

Let’s Go Dawgs!