Calvary Chapel dominates

Calvary Chapel's baseball team can score runs in huge bunches. Yet, the Lions' pitching staff and defense sometimes go unnoticed.

Nick Kingham made sure that didn't happen Saturday.

Kingham tossed a five-inning one-hitter and struck out 10 as the Lions captured the Class 1A Southern Region title with a 10-0 win over Pahranagat Valley at Mountain View.

Both teams advance to the state tournament Thursday through Saturday in Wells. Calvary Chapel is the defending 1A state champion.

"We really feel the strength of our team is our pitching," Calvary Chapel coach Glen Evans said.

A 6-foot-5-inch sophomore, Kingham struck out five of the first six batters he faced, giving his team time to put up a 6-0 lead after two innings.

Kingham worked quickly and mixed an overpowering fastball with a sharp curveball. He struck out the side in the second and fourth innings.

The Lions (25-7), who beat Pahranagat Valley 23-3 on Friday, scored five runs on five hits in the first inning and tacked on at least one run in every inning.

The game ended on the 10-run mercy rule when Cory Welch and Gabe Douglas scored on a play that featured two Panthers errors.

Welch went 4-for-4 with a double and scored three runs as part of an 11-hit attack.

"Cory is a spark plug," Evans said. "He's our best hitter, and he gets things going for us."

Seven other Lions had one hit apiece.

Logan Slusher had a two-run double to cap Calvary Chapel's five-run first inning, and Kingham belted a solo home run in the fourth.

Nathan Whipple spoiled the no-hitter with a single down the right-field line to lead off the fifth inning for Pahranagat Valley (23-7).

• Virgin Valley 12, Boulder City 8 -- At Boulder City, Sean Shimzu went 4-for-5 with a double and two runs to help the Bulldogs beat the Eagles for the Class 3A Southern League title.

Brent Horlacher added a two-run homer for Virgin Valley, and teammate Ty Tait keyed a four-run first with a two-run double.

The Bulldogs led 9-2 in the sixth before things got interesting. Boulder City took advantage of three bases-loaded walks, a wild pitch and a bad-hop, two-run single by Zach Bartholomew to cut its deficit to 9-8.

Virgin Valley then scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Bulldogs advance to the 3A state tournament Thursday through Saturday in Reno and Carson City.