Pahranagat Valley’s Christian Higbee leads the Panthers into the Southern Division IV regional tournament in Alamo today through Saturday. He had seven RBIs and three runs in the Panthers second game win over Sandy Valley. Photo by Dave Maxwell.
Pahranagat Valley’s Christian Higbee went 2-for-4 with a home run, seven RBIs and three runs in the nightcap as the Panthers swept the Sandy Valley Sidewinders last week 14-4 and 24-4 to end the regular season and earn the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs.
Higbee also threw a complete game to get the win, and Wade Leavitt was 4-for-4 with four runs and three RBIs in the second game for Pahranagat Valley.
Tabor Maxwell handcuffed the Sidewinders with just one run on one hit in four innings with 10 strikeouts to win the opener for the Panthers.
Paden Higbee was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and four RBIs in the first game for Pahranagat Valley.
PVHS scored seven runs in the third inning on an RBI single by Brandon Burris, a two-run single by P. Higbee, an RBI single by Maxwell, a steal of home by Higbee, an RBI single by Ike Taylor and a passed ball.
PVHS piled on five more runs in the top of the fourth. Higbee kicked things off with a double, bringing home Burris and Leavitt.
They increased their lead with two runs in the fifth. An error scored Cody Stirling for the inning’s first run. That was followed up by Haigen Huntsman’s single, scoring Dustin Stewart.
In the second game, the Panthers jumped out to an early 13-0 lead in the first inning and won handily 24-4.
An error, a walk by P. Higbee, a two-run single by C. Higbee, a two-run double by Maxwell, a sacrifice fly by Jordan Cryts, an RBI double by Caleb Hansen, an RBI single by Leavitt, an RBI triple by Burris, and a three-run home run by C. Higbee during the first inning and an RBI double by Cryts, an RBI single by Leavitt fueled the Panthers’ offense early.
The Southern Division IV league double-elimination tournament began in Alamo yesterday with Indian Springs (12-8) playing Round Mountain (15-1) at 4 p.m. and Pahranagat (17-2) playing Tonopah at 7 p.m.
Action continues through Saturday with the championship at 10 a.m. and a second game, if necessary at noon. NIAA tournament prices will apply. The top two advance to the state tournament May 14-16 in Las Vegas.
The Northern Division IV tournament at Wells May 8-9 has Virginia City, the defending state champion, facing either Wells or Eureka, and Mineral County playing Whittell.
