The Pershing County softball team started league play last Monday. They opened on their home field with a final score of 15-0 against the visiting Incline Highlanders. Saturday the Mustangs traveled to the Pete Livermore Complex in Carson City for the last two games of the series. Lovelock came out on top in both games 17-2 and 21-5.
The Pershing County baseball team traveled to Virginia City on Friday. They faced the Virginia City Muckers. The Mustangs lost both games of the non-conference doubleheader by 16-1. “We saw a very good Virginia City team that should be pretty dominant in the 1A this year,” said Coach Jared Jensen. “We are a young and inexperienced team that lost a lot of playing time due to the pandemic.”
This past Friday was a hit-fest for the Pershing County High School softball team. They traveled to Virginia City and won a non-league doubleheader against the Muckers 19-6 and 19-2.
Throw together 11 high school track teams. Add some shot puts, discuses, hurdles and starting blocks. Don’t forget a cold and windy day. It adds up to the opening track and field meet of the year – the Spring Creek League Meet. Nine of Pershing County’s 11 athletes represented Lovelock on this past Saturday in Elko County. Spring Creek (3A) hosted two other 3A schools – Elko and Lowry. They also greeted busloads of athletes from Battle Mountain and Pershing (2A) and Carlin, Eureka, Jackpot, McDermitt, Owyhee and Wells (1A).
Matt Bradley had 24 points to help San Diego State fend off Nevada 79-78 on Saturday night. Bradley made 11 of 12 foul shots and added six rebounds for the Aztecs (21-7, 13-4 Mountain West Conference).
The chief executives of Bally’s Corp. and Gaming and Leisure Properties didn’t reject the idea of the Oakland A’s building a Major League Baseball stadium on the same site as the Tropicana Las Vegas during quarterly conference calls last week. But they never mentioned the team nor the facility while saying the 34-acre location at the corner of the Strip and Tropicana Boulevard could be improved with additional amenities, such as a baseball stadium, beyond the aging 1,500-room Rat Pack-era casino-hotel.
If you don’t like the weather in Lovelock just wait awhile. Lovelock hosted a preseason baseball and softball tournament last weekend. Thursday, the athletes played in springlike conditions. Saturday spectators huddled under blankets as a snowstorm nixed the closing games and sent Portola’s softball team home. “The cold weather definitely made it tough not only for our pitchers but for the whole team as well,” said Bela Rosas, the Lady Mustang’s shortstop. “Bela had a good weekend to start her senior year,” said coach Jordan McKinney.
“Students first and athletes second.” That’s how Principal Jonathan Reynolds described the awards night participants last Wednesday night in the high school auditorium. The NIAA will soon send certificates of academic achievement to several student-athletes. Reynolds also recognized those who achieved a high GPA based on their grade level. The rest of the night focused on sports.
Nevada Athletics celebrated the single-largest donor gift in department history. This $4 million gift from Eric ’82 (mechanical engineering) and Linda Lannes, alongside two $2 million gifts from anonymous donors, will be key to continuing the growth of the Wolf Pack basketball programs. Thanks to this generous support, the north end of campus will soon be home to another state-of-the-art facility. Currently in the design phase and set to open by early 2024, the new Men’s & Women’s Basketball Locker Room Building will continue to build on the growth of the Wolf Pack basketball programs — housing brand new team locker rooms and player lounges for both the men’s and women’s teams.
It’s been a long, cold lonely winter but it’s about to get better. Spring sports return to Lovelock this weekend. PCHS hosts its annual baseball and softball tournaments on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The weather report predicts partly cloudy skies with winds at five to 10 mph. You’ll need a jacket or your Mustang swag. The temperature should hover around 50 degrees at the highest.
In May, 2019, at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, Presley Burrows won a state track and field championship for PCHS. She placed first in the triple jump and second in the high jump and 200-meters. She was a freshman at the time. Now she’s a senior. The pandemic erased her chance to compete at state her sophomore and junior years. For now, she’s recovering from injuries and looking forward to the prom, graduation and life after high school.
Coach Jordan McKinney returns for her fourth year as head coach of the Lady Mustangs softball team. Actually, it’s her third since Covid shut down spring sports in March 2020. At last season’s awards night she said, “In baseball and softball you are challenged every pitch, every game. The real success is learning from your mistakes.”
The Nevada football program and the Mountain West announced the 2022 football schedule. Nevada opens the season at New Mexico State on Aug. 27.
The Pershing County boys basketball team realized its goal of making it to the playoffs last Thursday in Winnemucca. It was the first time in three years. They lost to the West Wendover Wolverines 67-30 in the quarterfinal round. Lovelock ended the year at 8-20 overall, and 3-11 in the 2A. Kaden Chambers played on a bad ankle. Diego Gonzalez was back despite injuring his nose in a previous game. The graduating senior played all but three minutes and wore a face guard throughout.
The Pershing County High School basketball team wrapped up its season this past weekend at the Northern 2A Regional Tournament in Winnemucca. The girls beat West Wendover 58-27 on Thursday but lost to Incline 59-24 in the semifinal round on Friday night at Lowry High School. Pershing County missed Presley Burrows, sidelined by an injury. JV players Anna Happy, Yasmine McKinney and Ayren Sam pitched in. They’re part of what coach Lee Houston refers to as a “young nucleus.”