Doug Marion Golf, track prepping for 2008 openers The Pahrump Valley High School track and boys' golf teams open their 2008 campaigns next week. The track team is home Tuesday to Class 4-A Las Vegas Chaparral and Durango, while the golf team travels to Boulder City March 12 for its first Southern Nevada Class 3-A League match. The Trojans and Sierra Vista golf teams will co-host an invitational tournament March 17-18 at Mountain Falls. Advertisement

Pahrump Valley, the Nevada Class 3-A state runnerup in 2007, will open its season Thursday in the Route 66 Baseball Classic.

Doing well at River Valley is a prime objective for his team, said Doug Marion, in his second season as the Trojans' coach. His first-year record was 19-21-2, with 10 wins coming in the Trojans' last 16 starts.

All six losses were to defending Nevada Class 3-A champion Las Vegas Faith Lutheran -- two in the league, two in the regionals and two at state, where PVHS fell 6-1 in the championship game, played on the Crusaders' field.

"We'll have 16 varsity players, after we have a couple of ineligible players return," said Marion.

Projecting the team's depth chart at the moment, Marion listed at least two players at every position.

The players are:

Garrett Darr, a sophomore, and Sam Morrow, a freshman, first base;

John McHugh, a senior, and Jaret Holley, a sophomore, second base;

Cody Nielsen, a senior, and Mike Franco, a sophomore transfer from Chino, Calif., shortstop;

Daniel Miller, a senior, and Danny Cazier, a junior, third base;

Ethan Wald, a senior, and Ed Martinez, a freshman, catcher;

Tyler Raymer, a senior, and Justin Kelly, a junior, left field;

Iggy Wagner, a senior, and Joe McCaw, a freshman, centerfield.

Tyler Lepley, a sophomore, rightfield.

The pitching staff for the River Valley tournament includes Cazier, Corey Veloz, Miller, Morrow, Nielsen and Wagner, according to Marion.

"We will be better defensively and I think we will be able to score a lot of runs," said Marion. "We have lots of speed, which means we plan to steal more bases. And ... we have a lot of athletes playing baseball."

Faith Lutheran ... again ... figures to be the team to beat in the Southern League, said Marion. Overton Moapa Valley, Mesquite Virgin Valley and Boulder City always play tough baseball, with pitching depth and quality to determine how successful they will be in pursuing Faith Lutheran.

Marion upgraded the 2008 schedule, not only to give the Trojans quality opponents to compete against, but to prepare them for the move to the Class 4-A Sunset Region Southwest Division in 2009.

"We play some non-league games against 4-A teams in Las Vegas, and we will go to Hurricane to play a good Utah team," said Marion.

The Trojans will face Bullhead City, Ariz., Mohave at 9 a.m. (MST) Thursday at River Valley High School, located south of Bullhead City.

At 2 p.m., Pahrump Valley and Tuba City (Ariz.) Greyhills will clash at River Valley; this game was originally scheduled to be played at Needles, Calif.

On Friday, Pahrump Valley will play Monument Valley, Ariz., at 11:30 a.m. at River Valley. At 4:30 p.m., the Trojans will take on Chino at River Valley.

Saturday's games are at 2 p.m. (vs. Ely White Pine) and 4:30 (vs. River Valley).

Pahrump Valley will then be idle until March 15, when the Trojans go to Las Vegas Canyon Springs for a doubleheader starting at noon.

The Trojans travel to Hurricane March 18, before they compete in the Del Sol Invitational in Las Vegas March 20-21-22.

Eldorado hosts the Trojans for a night game March 28. On April 1, Pahrump Valley plays its home opener against Southern Nevada Class 3-A League rival Overton Moapa Valley, with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

The Trojans will play four other days at home:

April 8, vs. Boulder City, 1 and 3 p.m.;

April 25, vs. Virgin Valley, 1 and 3 p.m.;

April 26, vs. defending state Class A champion Las Vegas Calvary Chapel;

May 2, vs. Faith Lutheran, 1 and 3 p.m.

The double-elimination Southern regionals are May 8-9-10 at Boulder City, with the state tournament May 15-16-17 in Reno.

"The most important things for us will be to stay healthy and stay eligible," said Marion. Two front-line pitchers are currently inactive because of academic deficiencies; they are scheduled to return by mid-March.

NOTES -- Rich Lauver, who guided Pahrump Valley to three straight state fast-pitch softball championships, is the baseball varsity assistant coach ... Lauver is working with the hitters ... Former Beatty High School standout Urbano Sanchez is another assistant coach ... Directing the 20-player junior varsity squad will be Greg Leseberg and Courtney Lewis ... Pahrump Valley will play in the American Legion Silver Division for the third straight summer ... The Pahrump Little League will also try to organize a Big League Division team, once the high school season ends.