Nevada high school softball: Palo Verde defeats Centennial

Sometimes it’s a pitcher’s wildness that leads to an abundance of walks, and sometimes a team earns those walks with quality at-bats.

It was definitely the latter on Thursday for Palo Verde’s softball team.

The Panthers, No. 1 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, worked four walks in the first inning, including two with the bases loaded, on the way to an 8-3 road win over No. 4 Centennial.

“We talked about having good pitch selection,” said Palo Verde coach Kelly Glass, whose team drew nine walks in the game. “We worked on that in the cages, and we talk about it often, and especially early. The first few hitters, I want them to see as many pitches as possible so everybody else can take a look, too.”

A perfect season remains in play for the Panthers (16-0, 7-0 Class 5A Mountain League).

“Being 16-0 means a lot, especially in my senior season,” center fielder Makayla Enriquez said. “None of this would have happened, but we all just came together. I think our chemistry is just really great on and off the field.”

Not only was Palo Verde not swinging at bad pitches early, the Panthers also were spoiling some good ones. Palo Verde fouled off six two-strike pitches in the first inning against Centennial (12-11, 3-4), and three of the four walks came on full counts.

Leadoff batter Enriquez set the tone by walking to start the game. She went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kayleen Enriquez. Haley Kearnes lined a single to right field, and Taylor Johns walked to load the bases.

Mya Bartlett fell behind 0-2, but fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches to earn a walk to force in the game’s first run. One out later, Halle Law also walked to force in another run to make it 2-0.

“When I go in the box, I always take a breath and just looking at one thing specifically and telling myself to go compete, go have fun,” said Makayla Enriquez, who was 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs. “I’m not looking for a certain pitch, I’m not thinking about anything else, just seeing the ball and just driving it and getting the pitch I want. My first at-bat, I like getting hyped whenever I get a walk or get a hit just to get the team going. And I enjoy that.”

Palo Verde was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh in a 1-0 victory the first time the teams met on April 10, so Glass said the early runs were a relief.

“It’s always nice to score in the first inning, and especially it’s nice to score in the first inning with last game (against Centennial),” Glass said. “The girls, they just wanted it, they wanted to make adjustments and have a better game today. Not necessarily redemption, they just wanted a redo.”

Palo Verde’s big inning came in the fourth when the Panthers used six hits, three walks and a pair of errors to plate six runs. Haley Kearnes and Alexis Kearnes each had two-run singles in the inning.

Haley Kearnes went 2-for-5, and Paige Brandes was 2-for-4 with an RBI to power the Panthers, who have clinched the Mountain League’s top playoff seed.

Hailey Smith was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs for Centennial.