Lady Panthers blank Mineral County

Mariah Zander was near perfect as she threw her second no-hitter of the season March 29 in Hawthorne.

In the first softball action between Pahranagat Valley High School (PVHS) and Mineral County in at least 15 years, Zander’s pitching sparked the Lady Panthers to a 16-0 shutout of the Serpents.

Zander’s first no-hitter was March 15 against Beaver Dam in the Panther Invitational tournament.

In the game with Mineral County, limited to three innings by the 15-run mercy rule, Zander struck out seven and walked two.

PVHS jumped all over Mineral County from the start, putting up six runs in the first inning and seven more in the third.

The first inning explosion came on only three hits from Rebecca Taylor, Kaitlyn Higbee and Kami Stirling, but also five walks and two hit-by-pitch.

In the third inning, the Panthers notched seven runs. The rally was led by singles from Taylor, Higbee, Jessica Brede, walks to Morgan Harris and Kate Hatch and a two-run double by Higbee.

T. Moeoy-Isom was the losing pitcher for Mineral County. She allowed all 16 runs on eight hits, no strikeouts and issued 13 walks.

Pahranagat Valley (7-1) had a non-league game with Virgin Valley on Wednesday and will get into league action with a doubleheader at Beaver Dam (4-4, 2-0) on Friday.

As April begins, Coleville is the leader in the 1A ranks with a record of 9-0. PVHS is No. 2 at 7-1 and Pyramid Lake is No. 3 at 6-1.

Coleville also leads the Southern Division, while the Northern Division leaders haven’t had much playing time. Virginia City has the most games played and are 1-7-1. Eureka is the only other team reporting. The Vandals are 1-2.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s regional playoff schedule has the Northern teams meeting in Virginia City May 10-11 and the four-team Southern Division at Indian Springs May 9-11.

The 1A state tournament will be May 16-18 at Moapa Valley High School in Overton.