HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Rachel Hartwick, 2, collides with two Las Vegas Bishop Gorman defenders, in Pahrump Valley's 15-5 victory against the visiting Gaels in a Sunset Region Southwest Class 4-A Division fast-pitch softball game Monday. Advertisement

Rich Lauver has seen five of the nine Sunset Region Southwest Division fast-pitch softball teams Pahrump Valley will play in its inaugural Class 4-A season.

"Durango has the type of team that will chip away at you," Lauver said of the TrailBlazers, who defeated the youthful Lady Trojans 12-2 last Thursday. Since that loss, Pahrump Valley has battled Sierra Vista to a 14-14, 11-inning tie and earned its first Class 4-A division win by run-ruling Bishop Gorman 15-5.

Pahrump Valley is 1-2-1 in the division and 4-5-1 in all games.

The Trojans and Lauver saw the fifth team Tuesday, when they traveled to Las Vegas to take on the Western Warriors. Thursday, they go to Desert Oasis for a division contest before hitting the road to Kingman, Ariz.

The PV girls will play in the Kingman Pepsi Classic Friday and Saturday. On Friday, they will face Flagstaff (Ariz.) Coconino at 4 p.m. At 5:30, LaJoya Community High School of Avondale will battle Pahrump Valley.

There are at least two more games Saturday. Henderson Foothill, from the Sunrise Southeast Division, and Trojans collide at 9 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., Lake Havasu will take on the Trojans. Bracket games begin at 2 p.m.

"Right now, I think we have a pretty good hitting team," said Lauver, whose team has scored 29 runs in its last two starts. But the major point now is, the Trojans are playing with no seniors in the lineup.

Rankin is a freshman, while Petra Beighley, Morrow, Brianna Wilson and Casey Scheller are sophomores. Gamble, Hartwick and Codera are juniors. Taylor Ball, a primary pitcher for the JVs, will probably rotate up to the varsity if that reserve team is not playing.

Pahrump Valley will be idle next week, returning to division competition April 15 at home against Bonanza (3-0 division, 13-0 in all games).

Against Bishop Gorman, Becca Gamble went 2-for-3 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead the Trojans past the Gaels.

Leanne Morrow was 2-for-4 with an inside-the-par home run and two runs for Pahrump. Tranyce Rankin went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs for the Trojans.

Righthander Destini Codera was the winning pitcher, allowing just five hits. Gorman hurt itself by committing seven errors in the game, stopped in the fifth inning by the 10-run mercy rule.

The Sierra Vista-PVHS game was suspended because of darkness in the bottom of the 11th inning just after Rachel Hartwick scored from second on a sacrifice bunt.

Hartwick had walked, gone to second on a wild pitch, and didn't stop after Codera laid down a sacrifice bunt.

Sierra Vista had led 7-0, but fell behind 11-8 after six innings. The Mountain Lions scored five runs in the top of the seventh for a 13-11 lead, but the Trojans tied it in the bottom half to force extra innings.

Gamble had hit two homers and Rankin one for Pahrump Valley in the game that required 3 hours, 42 minutes to complete. It will be made up April 23, when PV plays at Sierra Vista, play resumes with Pahrump Valley batting, one out and no one on in the bottom of the 11th

Maria Capparelli's RBI single in the top of the 11th had given the Mountain Lions a short-lived lead.

Other Southwest action (from Friday and Monday):

Durango 11, Desert Oasis 1 -- At Durango, Nicole Shultz was 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, three runs and two RBIs to power the Trailblazers past the Diamondbacks. Taylor Short tossed a two-hitter to earn the win. Katie Moore was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Jaexie Balilea had a home run for Durango.

Spring Valley 7, Sierra Vista 2 -- At Sierra Vista, Ryann Schleiker tossed a three-hitter and struck out 15 to lead the Grizzlies past the Mountain Lions.

Jasmine Wilson and Nicole Matyskiel each went 2-for-4 with a double and a run for Spring Valley. Katie Garcia tripled and scored two runs for the Grizzlies.

Taylor Aleman had a triple and scored both runs for Sierra Vista.

Bonanza 6, Clark 1 -- At Clark, Bonanza put on another near-perfect display, downing the Chargers 6-1 and improving to 13-0 overall and 3-0 in the Southwest League.

The Bengals scored twice on Brittany Spencer's single just inside the right-field line in the top of the first and were never threatened.

All six of Bonanza's hits went to the opposite field as the Bengals had good approaches at the plate against Clark's Elisa Dawson.

Monday's game was the start of an important stretch for the Bengals, who hosted Desert Oasis Tuesday and visit Durango Thursday.

Friday:

Desert Oasis 3, Clark 2 -- At Clark, the Diamondbacks carried a 3-0 lead into the seventh before a walk, hit and two errors allowed Clark to score twice and put runners at second and third with no outs.

Durango 1, Spring Valley 0 -- At Spring Valley, Samantha Juarez's singled home Nicole Schultz in the fifth inning, lifting the Trailblazers over the Grizzlies.

Bishop Gorman 14, Western 4 -- At Gorman, the Gaels scored 10 runs in the first inning and coasted past the Warriors in five innings.