1A STATE: Wolverines open tourney debut with rout of Carlin
RENO — If Henderson International’s baseball players brought any jitters to their Class 1A state tournament debut Thursday, they made it hard to notice.
The Wolverines pounded three pitchers for 20 hits on the way to an 18-5 victory over Carlin at Damonte Ranch in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament.
“I think the jitters were exorcised when they walked on the field and heard the national anthem,” Henderson International coach Mike Ostrowski said. “That was probably about as nervous as they were. These guys are resilient; they just go out and play.”
Seeded second from the South, the Wolverines (20-12) advanced to meet South No. 1 seed Pahranagat Valley (22-2) in the winners’ bracket final at 1 p.m. on Friday at Damonte Ranch.
The winner will clinch a spot in Saturday’s final round at Aces Park, while the loser will turn around to play either Carlin (13-12-1) or Mineral County (20-8) in an elimination game at 4 p.m.
Henderson International started eight sophomores and one freshman Thursday. Each player had at least one hit.
“It gives us confidence because we know we can play with everybody else,” said sophomore first baseman Boomer Sherrill, who was 4-for-5 with two RBIs. “We’ve got defense and we’re hitting the ball. We’ve got a good game going.”
Carlin, which won last week’s 1A Northern League tournament, hurt itself by committing eight errors, including three in the Wolverines’ seven-run seventh inning.
Collin Johnson, Charles Pachas and Jay Sutorius each had three hits for the Wolverines, who led 8-3 after three innings. Johnson totaled three runs and two RBIs, and teammate Cal Rivera added two hits and three runs scored.
“These kids came out and attacked the baseball, were aggressive early in the count, and got some good pitches to hit,” Ostrowski said. “But they also sat back late in the count and got some hits.”
The Wolverines hope to end their program with a state title after learning in late February that the school would close at the end of the academic year for financial reasons.
Though an effort is underway to keep the school open, Ostrowski said his team is operating under the assumption the closure will go as planned, adding a sense of urgency to this postseason.
“With all the stuff going on around them, for these kids to come back and still go out and be able to play like this, I can’t say enough about their character,” he said.
Pahranagat Valley 9, Mineral County 7 — The Panthers answered the Serpents’ four runs in the top of the third inning with four in the bottom half to take a 7-5 lead and hold on for the win.
Mineral County put the potential tying run at the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Kade Wadsworth struck out Zack Stotts to end the game.
“They’re not rattled; they have it in their mind that they’re going to come back and win,” Panthers coach Brad Loveday said of the third-inning rally. “These are the same group of kids who won it in basketball and are state champion wrestlers.”
Tyler Higbee went 3-for-4 for Pahranagat Valley, and teammates Chase Hansen and Dustin Poulsen had two hits and three RBIs apiece.
“This is big,” Poulsen said. “(Mineral County) is a really good team. We knew to expect this out of them, so to come out and win like this is big for us.”
