FROM THE ROD POTEETE COLLECTION Pahrump Valley rallied past Boulder City 5-4 in a 1983 Southern Nevada Class 2-A League baseball game on the Trojans' field (left); it was the first time PVHS had beaten the Eagles in nine tries. (Right) Mike Kruse (14) slugged a two-run homer in the seventh inning to give the Trojans a 7-6 win against Reno Bishop Manogue in a state 2-A tournament game. Kruse was greeted at third base by coach Rod Poteete, then at the plate by a happy group of teammates. FROM THE ROD POTEETE COLLECTION Pahrump Valley's baseball teams, throughout the 1970s, played at community park before moving to its on-campus complex in 1981. Advertisement

EDITOR'S NOTE: This series on Nye County sports in general, Pahrump Valley High School in particular, began on July 4. Subsequent chapters were published July 9-11-16-18-23-25-30 and Aug. 1-6-8.

Football, basketball and track were Pahrump Valley High School boys sports before baseball was added to the extracurricular activities program in spring 1975.

Rod Poteete, who starred for the Stanford Cardinal in collegiate baseball and was in the Los Angeles Dodgers' chain, was the Trojans' coach. In spring 1975, with the help of school principal and athletics director Don Worden, Poteete had organized a team, but resources were limited. Not the least of the woes was the fact the Trojans did not have a field on their Calvada Boulevard-Mt. Charleston Drive campus.

The Trojans played at the community park, which is now Petrack Park and is the home of the Pahrump Valley Softball Association.

Construction started on the $1.2 million high school building in 1973, but the complex was not ready for occupancy until the 1974-75 school year.

The Trojans didn't take long to earn their first baseball victory, defeating Mesquite Virgin Valley 5-3, with Ron Allison, Pat Fielding and Rory Smith among that team's leading players. It was a modest start for the baseball program, which produced only nine wins in 29 starts the first two seasons.

But over the next 10 seasons, Pahrump Valley baseball team rolled to 146 wins, with 62 losses. The Trojans won Southern Nevada Class A League pennants in 1978, 1979 and 1981 and 2-A titles in 1983 and 1985. Four other teams (1977, 1982, 1984, 1986) finished second and two (1976, 1980) were third.

The 1979, 1981 and 1983 teams made the biggest noise in small-school baseball, placing second in state tournaments. The 1982 and 1985 teams lost in the semifinals.

The 1977 team was the first to break through to a plus-.500 record, winning 13 of 18 games and going 8-2 in the league. A 9-0 loss to Moapa Valley ended the Trojans' shot at the state playoffs. Pete Sevilla was 5-3 to lead Trojan pitchers, while James Long batted a sizzling .564 with a then school-record 31 runs batted in.

LeeRoy Turner hit .465, John Dodge .464 and Robin Ruud .417 for the Trojans. Long finished with nine career home runs and a lifetime batting average of .489. Turner was 6-0 on the mound, with an ERA of 3.05.

Pahrump Valley broke through in 1978, going 13-5 in all games, 9-1 and tying Moapa Valley for first place in the league. The Pirates claimed the title with a 5-4 win against the Trojans in the playoffs.

Mike Empey was the Trojans' ace, going 10-2 in all games, 8-1 in the league. He pitched six complete games and had a stingy earned run average of 0.74.

Carl Kaucky was the team's key offensive player, batting a remarkable .608 and collecting 28 RBI in 18 games. The Trojans were a running team, stealing 80 bases.

The 1979 team won the league title outright with a 9-1 record; the Trojans were 12-4 in all games. On April 10, 1979, veteran righthander Sevilla hurled the school's first no-hitter, striking out 10 and walking two in a 10-0 conquest of Indian Springs. Sevilla was 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA after that game; he had 40 strikeouts and walked 13 in 30 innings.

The Trojans won the second game of that league twin bill against the Thunderbirds, 9-8. Sevilla went 4-for-4 and the Trojans had 22 stolen bases in the two games.

Sevilla finished the season 10-2 in all games, 9-1 in the league, with the Trojans earning their first outright 1-A title by defeating Virgin Valley 11-5. The Trojans rolled up 113 stolen bases in 117 attempts. Lonnie Light led the Trojans with a .517 batting average.

In the state playoffs, the Trojans traveled by plane to Reno, then were bused to South Lake Tahoe. They lost in the cold and wind 15-7 and 17-6 to Zephyr Cove Whittell on the SLT diamond.

Pahrump Valley didn't make it to the playoffs in 1980, finishing 7-9 in all games and 5-5 in the league. The lack of pitching depth proved costly to the Trojans, who had a team ERA of 4.32, offsetting a team batting average of .348.

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In May 1980, the Nye County school board approved the construction of six additional classrooms at PVHS; the project called for 8,500 square feet of construction at a cost of $779,000, as well as a new elementary school costing $1.2 million.

In August 1980, the new PVHS baseball complex, constructed behind the home stands at the football stadium, was near completion; it would be ready for the 1981 campaign.

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In 1981, the Trojans batted .402 -- one of the best team averages in the nation -- as they went 10-0 in the league and 17-4 in all games.

The 1981 squad included Gary Nerger (who will be inducted into the PVHS Hall of Fame in September) and HOF charter member Mike Floyd; they batted .400 and .475, respectively. Scott Yardley batted .479, Mike Kruse .483, Bob Farthing .415, Dick Empey .492, Benny Woner .357, Jeff Phillips .333 and Dusty Gill .333.

Kruse was 7-2 with a 1.80 ERA, while Empey, a freshman, was 6-2 with 65 strikeouts in 50 innings.

Also on the 1981 team were Clint Perry, David Finkelstein, Mike Cook, Bob Cummins, Geoff Schumacher, Warren Steib, Paul Brady and Loren Steib

The Trojans had everything their way in spring 1981 -- until they traveled to Battle Mountain for the 1-A state tournament. Battle Mountain prevailed 7-6, 20-11 and 25-11.

Elevated to Class 2-A by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, the 1982 Trojans were 14-6 in all games and 7-3 in the league, before bowing in the state semifinals to homestanding Elko 7-2, 17-6, 14-6. Empey, who finished 4-3, hurled back-to-back no-hitters during the regular season. Kruse was 6-3.

The 1983 season elevated Pahrump Valley baseball into the elite class, as the Trojans won 22 of 26 games and won the 2-A regular-season title with a 7-1 record.

Trojan pitchers had 16 complete games and had a combined ERA of 2.10, with 220 strikeouts in 165 innings. The PVHS offense generated 253 runs (9.3 rpg) with 22 home runs, a school-record 29 triples and 29 doubles, to go with 116 stolen bases.

The season had one of its high moments in a 2-A league game, when the Trojans ended an 0-8 run against nemesis Boulder City with a 5-4 victory on the PVHS high school field.

Defensive plays in the late innings by outfielders Mike Floyd, Larry Lial and Bob Farthing protected the Trojans' lead. The game was witnessed by a big crowd which included Major League Baseball scouts Ben Wade of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Hughes of the New York Yankees and Jack McKeon of the San Diego Padres.

Said Poteete, "It was definitely the biggest win in Pahrump Valley baseball history." The win propelled the Trojans to a 20-3 overall record and a 7-1 league mark -- and a berth in the state tournament.

For the first time in PVHS baseball history, the Trojans hosted the state semifinals, a best-of-three set against Reno Bishop Manogue May 6-7, 1983.

The Trojans won two thrillers to earn a trip to the state tournament the following weekend at Elko.

Mike Kruse's two-run homer with two out in the seventh inning lifted the Trojans to a 7-6 win in the first game May 6. The next morning, three consecutive triples in the seventh inning rallied the Trojans past the Miners 5-3.

At the state tournament, however, Elko -- which had 850 students compared to PVHS's 275 -- prevailed 5-0, 11-2 to claim the 2-A championship.

The Trojans established 76 team records in the 1983 season. Lefthander Dick Empey pitched his career fourth no-hitter and Bob Farthing had 51 hits in 100 at bats for a .510 average. After 21 games, Farthing had 33 hits, 33 runs scored and 30 runs batted in.

Empey had a school-record five hits in one game. Kruse was 9-1 in the 1983 season and was 22-6 in his career prior to the state tournament.

The 1983 squad included Chris Venable, Schumacher, and Mario Arenas.

The 1984, 1985 and 1986 teams combined for 46 wins in 70 starts, including a 19-7 record in league games, but the Trojans made only one more state tournament appearance, losing in the semifinals in 1985.

Poteete resigned as coach after the 1986 season. His teams had won 153 and lost 82, including 80 of 114 league games. The Trojans were 26-8 in four years in Class 2-A, despite having the smallest school enrollment in Nevada.

Andy Anderson replaced Poteete in the 1987 season, with his first team finishing 5-18 in all games, 5-4 in the 1-A league. PVHS had returned to 1-A in the 1985-86 school year.