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3A BASEBALL: Mojave earns walk-off win in first home playoff game

The Mojave baseball team made history Tuesday afternoon.

On a two-strike count, senior Elijah Glaze lined a double into left field to score batterymate Scott Wilson with no outs in the seventh inning and lift the Rattlers to a 5-4 victory over visiting Chaparral, for the school’s first home playoff win.

“When I took this program over seven years ago I was told I would never have any success here,” Mojave coach Dan LaSalle said. “We started this year and said no one believes in us but us.”

The Rattlers (14-13-1) already achieved a major accomplishment before a pitch was even thrown. With the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A Sunset Legion, the Rattlers hosted their first playoff baseball game.

“I told them they already accomplished so much,” LaSalle said. “No matter what happens the rest of the tournament, we’ve already accomplished more than anybody thought we would accomplish.”

Glaze drove in the first and final runs in the Rattlers’ victory. In the first inning the senior lined an RBI triple to left field before scoring on a wild pitch during the next at-bat.

And during his game-winning at-bat, Glaze was ready for the Cowboys to come after him.

“I knew they were going to throw me a lot of off-speed,” Glaze said. “I was just trying to throw my hands at the ball and move the runners around and hopefully give my teammates a better chance of winning the game. Obviously it ended up working.”

Mojave got a runner into scoring position after two disciplined at-bats from seniors Wilson and Andrew Foley resulted in back-to-back walks to set up the game-winning hit.

“That’s the senior leadership right there. They led by example and we’re hoping that carries over,” LaSalle said. “But it’s been like that all year, we go as they go.”

Glaze finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a triple. Foley was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI for Mojave.

Wilson threw a solid game for the Rattlers and held a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning when he threw his worst and most costly pitch of the night.

Chaparral junior Robert O’Connor got hold of a fastball that carried in the wind over the fence with the bases loaded to give Chaparral a 4-3 lead.

“I had to try and stay within myself and make sure I just pitched my game,” Wilson said of recovering from the grand slam.

Wilson held the Cowboys (19-10-1) to just one hit after the home run. He threw a complete game with four strikeouts, no walks and allowed five hits.

“He never lost his composure,” LaSalle said. “He settled down. Any other kid may have lost his composure but he just took it as another at-bat and it’s a brand new game and we’re able to do the things we’re able to do.”

The Rattlers move on to face the top seed from the Sunrise League, Moapa Valley (19-7), at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Overton.

“We go out every game thinking we can win it,” LaSalle said. “We want to hang a banner like everybody else. And until we lose we’re still on track for that. We’re a small team but we get the most out of what we have here.”

Chaparral will host the Sunrise Mountain (5-18) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in an elimination game.

Virgin Valley 3, Pahrump Valley 2 — At Pahrump, Cade Anderson went 3-for-3, including an RBI double in a three-run fourth inning, and the Bulldogs upended the Trojans.

Dillan Fuqua went the distance for Virgin Valley (14-13), striking out five and scattering six hits to get the win.

Layton Woods was 3-for-4 with a double for the Bulldogs, who held on despite allowing two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Garrett Lucas pitched a complete game and struck out five for Pahrump (19-12-1).

The Bulldogs will play at Boulder City (16-14) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the Trojans will host Desert Pines (9-18-1) at the same time.

Moapa Valley 7, Sunrise Mountain 0 — At Overton, Colby Longman went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and struck out three in two innings of relief as the Pirates blanked the Miners.

Longman combined with winning pitcher Chase Hadley on a one-hitter. Chase Guesman tripled, and Dayton Wolfley hit a double for Moapa Valley.

Boulder City 12, Desert Pines 0 — At Boulder City, Kodey Rahr went 2-for-3 with four RBIs as the Eagles took down Desert Pines in five innings.

Jake Hubel went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI, and D.J. Reese was 2-for-3 with a doublem two runs and two RBIs for Boulder City.

Rhett Armstrong added two hits and two runs and pitched three scoreless innings to get the win.

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