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Bulldog Adri Wakefield throws a strike Friday afternoon against Elko High School during the Bulldog Desert Winds softball tournament. Photo by Lou Martin.

Despite four losses to begin the 2015 softball season, the Virgin Valley High School Lady Bulldog softball team, showed glimpses of improvement this past weekend at their annual Desert Winds Classic softball tournament. The Bulldogs lost to Lowery High School 19-0 Thursday night in a warm up game prior to bracket play on Friday. The Bulldogs did show improvement in their opening bracket game against Elko Friday afternoon losing by a score of 9-0. The Bulldogs trailed by a score of 4-0 going into the last inning as pitcher Adri Wakefield held her own against a strong Indian squad. The Indians scored five runs in the last inning to win 9-0. Wakefield allowed only three earned runs in the game as defensive lapses by the young Bulldogs accounted for most of the Indian runs. Bulldog Janella Fiso had the first hit of the year for the Dawgs, a long double down the left field line. Fiso was thrown out at third base attempting to stretch the hit into a triple. Wakefield followed with a hard single to center but that was as close as the Dawgs got to home plate. Wakefield added another single to lead the Dawgs. Cheyenne blew out the Dawgs 16-1 in their evening match.

Saturday’s game against Spring Creekof northern Nevada was a shootout as the Dawgs blew a 7-4 lead and fell 9-8. The Dawgs scored 7 runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 7-4 advantage going into the fifth and last inning. The Spring Creek squad added five runs in the top of the fifth to take a 9-7 lead. The Dawgs rally in their half of the inning fell one run short as a Bulldog runner was cut down at the plate on a controversial call. Taylor Barnum led the Dawgs with two hits. The Bulldog starting lineup for the game featured mainly freshman and sophomore players. “After eliminating mistakes, I told the girls we can play with any of the teams we face,” said Bulldog coach Travis Griffith. “Although we lost some games big, I’m impressed with our young pitchers.” The Bulldogs travel to Pahrump Monday to face the Trojans in a doubleheader before returning Tuesday to host Western High School.