Pahranagat Valley was leading 7-1 with one out over Mojave in the bottom of the sixth inning in a non-league game March 18.
Then the rains came.
A torrential downpour in terms of runs scored by Mojave in the rest of that inning.
Jessica Ortiz led a Mojave rally with two doubles and two RBI’s and the Rattlers pushed 15 runs across the plate before the Panthers could get the final out and trailing now 15-7.
Two runs in the top of the seventh were far from adequate and the Panther girls lost 16-9.
“We made a few changes and started making uncommon errors,” said PV coach Mike Sparrow, “and they took full advantage of it. Nothing in particular. They got hot offensively as a team, got momentum going, and we made a few mistakes and didn’t make those final two outs early on when we had a chance. Then eight of the next 10 batters got base hits with fortune hops and things just dropping in the gaps.”
Sparrow gave credit to the Mojave players who hit the ball really well, banging out 22 hits, most in the sixth inning rally, and PVHS had 11 hits.
“We got the first out of the inning,” Sparrow noted, “had a chance for two outs with two batters, but it just didn’t happen.”
As a team, Sparrow said the kids need to learn from this experience to focus hard all the time, don’t let up. “I take the position you can learn from just about anything if you chose to,” he said. “And that’s what I challenge the kids to do.”
A famous quote from baseball legend Satchel Paige applies to most any sport, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”
A young team with but two seniors, five juniors and seven sophomores, the Panthers (2-2) have the week off for spring break and host Moapa Valley Mar. 29 before heading off on their California trip April 1-2. They have a single game April 1 at Carpinteria High, then a double header at Channel Islands High in Ventura against Channel Island and Foothill Tech.
The next home game is April 5 with Virgin Valley and the first league game is a two-game set with Sandy Valley in Alamo April 14.
