Virgin Valley downs Dayton

RENO -- Zach Horlacher was anything but the obvious choice to start Virgin Valley's first game of the Class 3A state baseball tournament.

Bothered by a sore shoulder much of the season, the senior right-hander had tossed only 8 1/3 innings all season.

He nearly matched that Thursday.

Horlacher fired a four-hitter and struck out eight to lead the Bulldogs past Dayton 8-4 in the opener at Wooster High School.

Virgin Valley (23-8) will meet Truckee (Calif.) in the winners' bracket final at 1 p.m. today. The Wolverines advanced by defeating Spring Creek, 6-5.

"He's been one of our best pitchers the past two years, and we just decided coming into this that if he could get us the first game, it would be big for us," Virgin Valley coach Boyd Wittwer said. "It was a great effort on his part."

Horlacher allowed hits to two of the game's first three batters but didn't surrender another hit until the seventh inning.

He hadn't pitched in a game in three weeks, and that was a 1 1/3-inning effort.

"It's been awhile since I've pitched, but once you get the rhythm, it just comes naturally," said Horlacher, who threw 71 of his 124 pitches for strikes. "I didn't think I'd be able to go the whole game, though."

Virgin Valley broke the game open with five unearned runs -- all with two outs -- in the fourth inning.

All eight of the Bulldogs' runs were unearned, thanks to five errors by the Dust Devils (15-14).

"When they made a mistake, we made them pay," Wittwer said. "We did a good job of that."

Dayton pitcher Conner Oliver easily retired the first two Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth before three singles, two walks, a hit batter and two costly errors allowed Virgin Valley to take a 6-1 lead.

The Dust Devils responded with two unearned runs on a misplayed fly ball in the top of the fifth, but the Bulldogs cashed in on two more Dayton errors in the sixth to add two insurance runs.

"It started getting in their heads, and we had to take advantage of it," said Horlacher, who also scored two runs.

Tanner Tichenor went 2-for-4 with a pair of two-out RBI singles for Virgin Valley, which had only six hits but benefited from six walks and the generous Dayton defense.

"You're always looking for perfection," Wittwer said. "This is close enough."

CLASS 1A

If Henderson International's baseball players brought any jitters to their Class 1A state tournament debut, they made it awfully hard to notice.

The Wolverines pounded three Carlin pitchers for 20 hits on the way to an 18-5 victory in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament at Damonte Ranch.

"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. today at Damonte Ranch.

The winner will clinch a spot in Saturday's final round at Aces Park, with the loser playing either Carlin (13-12-1) or Mineral County (20-8) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today.

Henderson International started eight sophomores and one freshman. 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 with eight errors, including three in the Wolverines' seven-run seventh.

Collin Johnson (three runs, two RBIs), Charles Pachas and Jay Sutorius had three hits each for the Wolverines, who led 8-3 after three innings. Teammate Cal Rivera added two hits and scored three runs.

"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."

■ 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 held on for the win.

Mineral County had the potential tying run at the plate with two outs in the seventh, but Kade Wadsworth struck out Zack Stotts to end the game.

Tyler Higbee went 3-for-4 for Pahranagat Valley, and teammates Chase Hansen and Dustin Poulsen had two hits and three RBIs apiece.