Baeza, Virgin Valley earn titles at state tournament

In golf, one bad hole or a below-average day can mean the difference between first place and finishing outside the top 10.

Lucky for Virgin Valley senior Felisha Baeza, she's consistent.

Baeza fired an 85 on both days of the Class 3A girls golf tournament to finish at 170 and take individual honors Thursday at Boulder Creek Golf Club. The Bulldogs carded 791 as a team for a first-place finish over runner-up Spring Creek's 862.

"I just like to stay focused when it comes to tournament-time," Baeza said. "I don't worry about what everybody else says or thinks, or who's there."

Boulder City's Indiana Mead and Truckee's Annika Nousiainen finished tied for second, with Mead claiming the runner-up spot by virtue of a scorecard tiebreaker, when she shot a 48 to Nousiainen's 49 on the back nine at Boulder Creek.

Kayley Shupe improved seven strokes from the first round and finished with a fourth-place 193.

Virgin Valley's Hannah Bulloch, who edged Baeza in a playoff at the Southern League tournament, rounded out the top five with a 198.

"They played great all year," Virgin Valley coach Bubba Smith said. "We expected to play better this week, but we're fairly young and I think the pressure got to some of them. But we were able to do enough to win.

''I challenged them to play inside themselves and keep their cool. And to play safe, after taking a 30-stroke lead after the first day.''

Contact reporter Sean Walker at swalker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430.