Tuesday this week, at Mountain View, Christian Higbee pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief to earn the win and was 1-for-2 with two runs as Pahranagat Valley defeated the Saints 7-3.
Higbee, who took over in the fourth inning from starter Paden Higbee, his cousin, struck out six, gave up just one hit and no walks for the Panthers (5-1).
Mountain View’s Josh Stanton went 3-for-3 with a double and a RBI, and teammate Ian Locke added a triple
Jordan Cryts had a triple for Pahranagat in the early innings.
Coach Brad Loveday said he likes the Tuesday games. “You’re looking for competitive games on Tuesday, and this was a real good game.”
He said the team did not hit the ball the first inning, and gave up two runs to the Saints in their half of the inning. “In the next couple of innings we started hitting their starting pitcher (Chase Ottofy) and scored five runs in three innings. Then they brought in their No.1 pitcher (Josh Stanton) to relieve. He threw really hard with a good curveball. He shut us down pretty good, but we got a couple of hits in the end. It was good to face good pitching.” Pahranagat scored two runs in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
“With their top two pitchers going,” Loveday, “it was good competitive Tuesday game.”
Pahranagat next game is a varsity/JV double-header at Virgin Valley this Friday, then a Tuesday doubleheader at Beatty March 31.
PVHS has an 11-game win streak going against Beatty since 2010, and is 2-2 with Virgin Valley since 2008.
