Valley Pirates eyeing 2A state play-in game
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Valley Pirate midfielder Mason Littleman gets ready to bat against the Piñon Eagles during the Hopi Invite on Saturday.
POLACCA, Ariz. – The Sanders Valley baseball team came into the Hopi Invite shorthanded.
The Pirates (7-6) suited up nine players at Saturday’s all-day tournament and, after going 2-0 in the morning, Valley had to cut short its game with Piñon in the finale.
Valley trailed 3-1 against the Eagles before the contest was called off due to a shortage of pitchers. The Pirates started senior Nevaeh Joe on the mound but after he reached his pitch count limit in the third inning, Valley had no one else to replace him.
The Pirates were looking to use backup pitcher Laurent Roan, but he sustained a gash on his head while trying to field a pop in center field in the second inning.
“Laurent was our second pitcher and the coach from Piñon knows that we don’t have a (replacement) so they called it,” Valley coach Tom Bizardi said.
Nevertheless, the second-year coach was pleased to get his players some innings as Valley will be on a one-week hiatus before resuming 2A North play on Monday with the Hopi Bruins.
“With it being a round-robin tournament we used this to try to figure out who our five through nine lineup is and who we can pitch,” Bizardi said. “That is what we were able to do, so for us it was more about getting reps for our guys that really need it.
“We also put guys in different positions so that they can get familiar with that position just in case we’re missing a player,” he added.
Bizardi expects Roan to be back when they travel to Hopi on Monday for a doubleheader. The Pirates will close out the season hosting Piñon on Apr. 19 and Greyhills Academy on Apr. 22 in a pair of doubleheaders.
The Valley coach believes his team has to “win out” to make the 2A state playoffs as the Pirates were ranked No. 17 in Tuesday’s Arizona Interscholastic Association power ranking polls. Teams ranked No. 9 through No. 24 will earn a play-in game while the top eight seeds will receive a bye into the 16-team bracket.
“They want to experience the state playoffs,” Bizardi said. “We won five consecutive games before coming here and that put us in a good spot with the state rankings.
“I’m jumping on board with what they want to do,” he added. “I feel like we’re rolling, and the guys are playing with confidence even though we only have nine boys. Those boys are doing the best they can and it’s showing on the field.”
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