By Breven Honda
Anytime a season can conclude with a dogpile or in celebration with a trophy, it is certainly a success. 
That held true for the Virgin Valley High School baseball team as they defeated The Meadows School, 12-2, to win their second 3A State title in three years on May 18.
“The team, the parents, the community, just been a ton of support and it’s a great thing for our school, so everyone’s pretty excited,” Bulldogs head coach Dan Wright said on May 20.
In the state championship game, the Mustangs scored a first inning run before the Bulldogs put up eight runs in the fourth inning and another four in the sixth to bring another state title back to Virgin Valley.
“I think we were maybe a touch nervous or a little tight at first because it’s the state championship game and you’ve been working towards it for so long,” Wright said. “After we got through the order once and they had a chance to get back there for the second time, I think nerves kind of settled, we got a few hits. They say in baseball ‘Hitting is contagious,’ so once things started rolling, I think it loosened everyone up and we kept it going.
“It’s a very good example of how our team has been all year. We have an excellent team and we put up a lot of runs. We’ve always prided ourselves in that. We get better and tougher. We don’t start off strong and finish weak; we like to start off strong but even finish stronger.”
Bulldogs senior Kurt Felix and junior Mason Montoya each recorded three hits, including a double each, to pace the offense. Felix, who also had a triple, had two runs scored and two RBIs and Montoya scored twice and had a game-high four RBIs.
On the pitching side, senior Chandon Jenson got the start, going the first four innings. He scattered seven hits and a run before handing the ball off to Felix, who threw the final two innings.
“They both did exactly what we wanted them to do,” Wright said of Felix and Jensen. “Kurt throws hard. He’s one of our top-end pitchers. Chandon keeps the ball in the zone and throws strikes. We knew that Meadows would hit the ball, make contact and we needed to make some plays defensively.
“We wanted to get three or four innings out of Chandon, three or four innings out of Kurt and have Kurt close the game for us. It when pretty much as planned. So, it’s always nice when a plan comes together.”
In the state tournament, Virgin Valley defeated Churchill County and Spring Creek, the top two teams from the 3A Northern division, 11-0 and 10-1, respectively, before the third matchup of the season against The Meadows School.
The state title win marked their third 10-run victory of the season against the Mustangs after a 14-4 win to secure the 3A South Regional title on May 10 and a 10-0 win during the regular season on April 15.
Although Virgin Valley ran away with the score in all three games of the state tournament, Wright said it was not a piece of cake.
“Every single one of those games, the first three or four innings were close, and then we were challenged,” Wright said. “Churchill County had a really good pitcher, throwing close to 90 miles per hour. Every one of those games was competitive and was a battle, especially the first three, four or five innings.”
Not only did Virgin Valley get to cap off the season by claiming the trophy, but they got to end the season by winning 31 straight games as their only loss came in the season opener at Durango, who would go on to win the 4A State Championship.
Playing against higher competition is always the goal when it comes to scheduling to prepare not only for league play, but also the playoffs.
“After that game, it wasn’t like the emergency bells ringing and we’re all worried about it,” Wright said after playing Durango. “We thought, ‘Okay, we lost to a good team. We’ll get better and let’s just keep going.’ It was all part of the plan to play tough competition, win or lose, and get better from it either way.
“It is kind of neat to see how from there on, we got better and grew and kept going. It’s really special to put together that kind of winning streak for sure.”
This was a Bulldogs offense in 2024 that scored 396 runs, while the pitching and defense only allowed 50 runs.
Wright was more focused on the 50 runs allowed than scoring nearly 400 runs.
“One of our priorities was to pitch and play defense and I think it’d be safe to say that our defense was probably the most improved over the year,” he said. “We focused on that a lot and really got to the point where that came to pride for us where we were committed to play good defense. The boys really rallied around it and put a lot of effort into playing good defense.”
As the season draws to a close, Wright understands how much of a group effort it is to win a state championship both on and off the field.
Whether it is through the commitment the players put in all year long, both on the diamond and in the weight room, to the support the program receives, hoisting the trophy on the final day of the season puts a smile on everyone’s face that had even the smallest of effects to the Bulldogs.
“The outpouring of community support and the family support, it’s probably been my favorite part is knowing how positively it impacts our school and our community,” Wright said. “People are really excited about what we accomplished and to see the happiness and joy in the players eyes, too, it’s awesome. These kids will forever be state champions, and no one can take that away from them.”
Also…
The Virgin Valley High School boys volleyball team was the runner-up in their 3A state tournament. The volleyball team, which secured the 3A Desert regular season and regional titles, came up just short in the championship match, losing in three sets to Boulder City, the top team from the Mountain Division, 19-25, 18-25, 20-25. The Bulldogs defeated Western and Coral Las Vegas in three and four sets, respectively, to reach the finals.
The Virgin Valley High school boys and girls swim team earned the 3A Nevada Academic State Championship honor for the success in the classroom and the pool.
