Eagles head to playoffs atop league

The Southern Nevada Eagles 18U baseball team picked up three victories during recent play, continuing their dominance in the Southern Nevada Connie Mack league.

Routing a pair of 4A opponents, the Eagles defeated Faith Lutheran 9-0 on Friday, June 28, and Eldorado 10-0 on Monday. Playing rival Pahrump Valley on Saturday, June 29, the Eagles won 9-3.

“This was a very good week for our team,” head coach Jimmy Lee said. “The boys are absolutely locked in and playing great baseball. Everyone’s contributing, everyone’s pumped up for games and that leads to a winning effort.”

Finishing the regular season with a 12-2 record, the Eagles clinched the top seed in the 18U National League.

The Eagles start postseason play Friday, July 5, at Faith Lutheran against the winner of game one, after earning a first-round bye.

“I can’t express enough how proud I am of them for clinching the top seed,” Lee said. “Collectively, this was a total (team) effort. Hats off to our players for going out there and getting the job done. As a coaching staff we try to put the players in good situations, try to teach them everything we know about the game to help them be successful, but when you win at a high level like this, all the credit goes to them.”

Knocking off Faith Lutheran 9-0, which was the top seed in the 18U American League division, Deavin Lopez finished 3 for 4 with three runs batted in and Clark Newby finished 2 for 3 with a double and a triple. Blaze Trumble finished 2 for 3 with an RBI double and Matt Felsenfeld batted 2 for 3 with a triple.

Against Pahrump Valley, Newby batted 3 for 4 with an RBI; Brian Miller batted 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Miller added two more RBIs against Eldorado after a 2-for-3 performance and Trumble finished 1 for 2 with three RBIs and a triple. Brendan Thorpe finished 2 for 2 with two RBIs and Chafton Temple finished 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Newby finished 2 for 3 with an RBI.

On the mound for the Eagles, Ian Mills picked up the victory over Faith Lutheran after striking out eight batters, while Miller earned the victory against Pahrump Valley and Seth Hartgroves earned the victory against Eldorado.

The Eagles’ opening round playoff matchup will be played at 7 p.m. Friday, July 5. Faith Lutheran will host the state tournament Friday through Monday.

The Eagles are the defending champions, having won state last summer in the 16U age bracket.

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.