Small schools: Boulder City, Pahrump Valley have long roads to title

Southern Nevada’s two representatives in the Class 3A state baseball tournament will have to fight their way back from the losers’ bracket in order to claim a championship.

After Boulder City dropped the opening game to Truckee (California), Elko completed a Northern Region sweep with an 8-3 win over Pahrump Valley in Thursday’s second game at McQueen High in Reno.

Cooper Jones went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a triple and two runs, and Kaleb Martinez was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs for Elko (23-9), which will face Truckee (24-11) at 1 p.m. Friday at Galena High for the right to advance to the title game.

Kamren Backherms was 2-for-3 and scored three times for the Indians, who led 4-1 after three innings. The Trojans closed to within 4-3 in the fourth, but Elko scored twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth to put the game away.

Garrett Lucas was 3-for-3 with a run scored, and Anthony Charles went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Pahrump (19-16-1). The Trojans face Boulder City (21-12-1) in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Friday at Galena. The winner will play again at 4 p.m. Friday for the right to advance to Saturday’s title game.

Truckee 7, Boulder City 4 — At McQueen, the Wolverines scored three times in the top of the first inning and never relinquished the lead in an opening-round win over the Eagles.

Marcus Bellon was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Colin Cust and Derek Laferriere each had two hits and an RBI for the Wolverines.

Boulder City had a runner on with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Truckee’s Jakob Streit came on in relief and induced a double-play grounder to end the game.

Chafton Temple was 2-for-4 with a double, and Nolan Herr went 2-for-3 for Boulder City (21-12-1). Anthony Pacifico added a solo home run for the Eagles.

Class 2A

Kamdon Lewis’ sacrifice fly with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning plated Kobe Walker with the go-ahead run as Lincoln County moved into the winners’ bracket final of the Class 2A state tournament with a 6-4 win over North Tahoe at Reed High in Sparks.

North Tahoe scored a run in the top of the sixth to the game at 4 before Walker doubled to left field to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

Dean Ottley singled to left to move Walker to third, and Lewis followed with a fly ball to center that brought home Walker.

After a passed ball allowed Ottley to move to second, McKinley O’Connor’s RBI single scored Ottley and gave the Lynx some insurance.

Lincoln County (24-6) will meet Lake Mead (19-7) at 4 p.m. Friday with that winner advancing to the championship game.

O’Connor finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Ottley was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Lynx. Lewis was 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, and Walker and Mason Thornock each went 2-for-4 with a double for Lincoln County.

Koby Mattson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Graham Payne went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for the Lakers (21-11), who will face Yerington (27-6-1) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Friday.

Lake Mead 6, Yerington 2 — At Reed, Joey Johnson worked around nine hits, a walk and five errors by the Eagles to toss a complete-game victory over the Lions.

Johnson threw 110 pitches and struck out six. He worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth, a two-on, no-out situation in the fifth and stranded two more runners in the seventh.

Ryan Kennedy was 2-for-2 with a double, three runs and an RBI for Lake Mead, which scored in each of the first four innings.

Johnson went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Bryan White was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Eagles. Alan Underwood was 2-for-3 for Lake Mead.

Nate Landa was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Matthew Ortiz went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Yerington.

Class 1A

Stockton Maxwell’s infield single with one out in the top of the sixth inning scored Preston Higbee with the go-ahead run as Pahranagat Valley used a six-run sixth inning to down Wells, 10-4 in the opening round of the Class 1A tournament at North Valleys High in Reno.

The Panthers trailed 4-3 entering the sixth, but got the first two runners on base to start the inning. Garett Higbee’s single to left scored John Hansen to tie the game and set the stage for Maxwell to drive in the go-ahead run one out later. Tayt Leavitt’s RBI single made it 6-4, and with two outs Brodey Maxwell delivered a three-run triple to left field.

Pahranagat Valley (19-6) advances to the winners’ bracket final where it will meet Indian Springs (16-4) at 10 a.m. Friday.

Garett Higbee was 3-for-5 with a triple and an RBI, and Preston Higbee and Stockton Maxwell each had two hits for the Panthers.

Corbin Madison was 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI for the Leopards (15-9), who will face Virginia City (16-6) in an elmination game at 1 p.m. Friday.

Indian Springs 15, Virginia City 0 — At North Valleys, Elyas Jones and Zackary Williams each had three hits, including two doubles, as the Thunderbirds beat the Muckers in three innings.

Jordan Flamm added two hits, including a three-run triple, for Indian Springs.

Dylan Pollock went the distance, striking out seven, to get the win.