The Pahrump Valley Little League Junior All Stars — the Coco Locos — showed the kind of fight and determination that has become a hallmark of their postseason run Saturday, June 20, battling back from an early deficit and making Summerlin North work for every out before ultimately falling 14-9 in their third game of the Division 4 All Star Tournament at Mountain Ridge Park.
Despite the final score, Pahrump never stopped competing and put together multiple momentum swings that kept the game within reach well into the later innings.
Summerlin North came out aggressive in the top of the first and quickly built an early lead. Everett Abelar got the start on the mound for Pahrump and worked through a difficult opening frame as Summerlin North strung together extra-base hits and capitalized on opportunities to move runners. The Coco Locos collected two strikeouts to help limit additional damage before the inning ended with North holding a 7-0 advantage.
Pahrump wasted no time responding.
Leading off the bottom of the first, Justin Forsythe reached on a walk and immediately applied pressure on the bases, stealing second. Bentley Shannon followed with a run-scoring double to center to put the Coco Locos on the board.
After Abelar moved Shannon to third with a groundout, Stetson Brown worked a walk and Kasen Smith brought home another run on a ground ball. Zayne Tuck then added a hard-hit RBI single to center to score Brown and cut the deficit to 7-3 heading into the second.
Brown took over pitching duties in the top of the second and quickly settled the game down for Pahrump.
After allowing two baserunners, the Coco Locos flashed some defensive execution. Tuck delivered one of the defensive highlights of the afternoon when he caught a runner stealing and fired to Abelar at third for the out. Brown then induced a ground ball to close the inning and strand runners.
Pahrump threatened again in the second when Chris Mize reached on a walk, but Summerlin North escaped without allowing a run.
Brown continued to find rhythm in the third. Although Summerlin North opened with a double, Brown answered with back-to-back strikeouts and Tuck recorded another strong defensive play behind the plate by securing a foul pop-up to end the inning.
Forsythe opened the bottom half with a single and continued to pressure defensively, but Pahrump was unable to bring him around.
The game shifted dramatically in the fourth.
Brown reached with a walk to begin the inning and Smith followed with a single. Tuck then hit a sharp ground ball that resulted in an error, loading the bases and setting the stage.
Trustin Wagnon delivered one of the biggest swings of the day.
Wagnon launched a bases-clearing triple to center field, bringing home Brown, Smith and Tuck to suddenly make it a one-run game. Moments later, Antony Aguilar added a sacrifice fly to score Wagnon and tie the contest at 7-7.
Sawyer Tillery kept the inning alive with a single and Mize added a walk as Pahrump forced Summerlin North into pitching changes before the rally finally ended.
Brown and the defense continued to compete in the fifth. Tillery handled two ground balls at first and Smith made a clean defensive play from short to help Pahrump record quick outs early in the inning.
Summerlin North eventually reclaimed momentum with a late rally to move ahead 10-7.
Pahrump answered again in the bottom half.
Abelar singled and Brown was hit by a pitch before Smith worked a walk to load the bases. Tuck showed patience at the plate and earned an RBI walk to bring home Abelar and make it 10-8.
Brown continued his strong relief outing in the sixth, striking out a batter and getting three consecutive outs with help from Tillery at first and the defense behind him to keep the Coco Locos within striking distance.
Pahrump made one more push in the bottom of the sixth.
Shannon singled and Abelar followed with another hit, putting runners in scoring position and bringing the tying run to the plate. Summerlin North was able to escape with a strikeout to end the threat.
Bentley Shannon moved to the mound in the seventh and worked through the inning as Summerlin North added insurance runs, but Pahrump still refused to go quietly.
In the bottom of the seventh, Smith and Tuck both worked walks before Wagnon added another free pass to load the bases. Aguilar was then hit by a pitch to force home a run and cut the deficit to 14-9.
Even with the game entering its final moments, the Coco Locos continued competing and putting pressure on the defense before Summerlin North recorded the final outs.
Offensively, Wagnon’s three-RBI triple highlighted the comeback effort while Shannon finished with two hits including a double and an RBI. Abelar collected multiple hits, Tuck drove in two runs and scored once, and Forsythe reached base twice and scored.
On the mound, Abelar started before Brown delivered a strong middle stretch, throwing five innings and helping Pahrump erase the early deficit while recording five strikeouts. Shannon closed out the final inning.
Although the tournament run ended in defeat, the Coco Locos once again showed why they earned their spot on the Division 4 stage — responding to adversity, creating momentum and continuing to battle until the final out.
