HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Pahrump Valley pitcher Becca Gamble, left, and the Trojan infield discuss defensive strategy during a Southwest Class 4-A Division game against Las Vegas Bonanza, Wednesday at Floyd Field. HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Mike Gonzalez pitched a six-hitter, but Bonanza pulled off a 3-0 Southwest baseball victory Wednesday. Advertisement

Seven out of eight Bonanza batters in the sixth inning did not hit the ball out of the infield. But Bengal hustle and Trojan hesitation defensively helped Bonanza score nine runs in the inning.

Which was why the Las Vegas-based Bengals triumphed 17-7 against Pahrump Valley in a Sunset Region Southwest Class 4-A fast-pitch softball game Wednesday, at Floyd Field.

Five times with the bases loaded, Trojan righthander Becca Gamble induced the Bengals to hit ground balls. On four, Bonanza runners beat the throw home and a fifth run scored when the throw went to first base.

So, the PV girls, who led 5-0 after two innings and 7-3 going into the sixth, lost to fall to 2-4 in the league and 6-11 in all games. Their next start is today at Spring Valley.

Winning today -- and most of the remaining 12 games -- is now an imperative for the Trojans, if they want to qualify for the Sunset regional playoffs in May.

Taylor Raymer and T.R. Rankin hit homers for the Trojans to help produce a 5-0 lead. The Trojans added two runs in the fifth and were six outs away from pulling off an upset win against Bonanza, now 6-1 in the division and 21-3 in all games.

Brittany Spencer hit a home run and had two other hits for the Bengals, who are 1 1/2 games behind Durango (8-0, 17-6) in the Southwest.

In other Southwest games:

Durango 17, Sierra Vista 4 -- At Sierra Vista, Nicole Schultz went 3-for-3 with a triple, three runs and two RBI to help the Trailblazers down the Mountain Lions (2-4, 3-12). Samantha Juarez added a triple and a double and Jaexie Balilea went 2-for-3 with a triple for Durango, which scored 13 runs in the second inning.Taylor Aleman was 3-for-3 with two triples for Sierra Vista.

Desert Oasis 13, Western 2 -- At Western, Nicole Liakos was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs as the Diamondbacks (5-2, 7-16) beat the Warriors (0-7, 0-11) . Cheree Austin added a three-run triple.

Spring Valley 10, Clark 3 -- At Spring Valley, Jasmine Wilson was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to power the Grizzlies (4-3, 7-10) past the Chargers (3-4, 10-10). Spring Valley's Nicole Matyskiel and Wilson each hit a home run. Clark's Anna Jaehn was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.