The championship game of the first annual Rod Poteete Memorial Tournament brought a packed crowd and a playoff-like atmosphere to Pahrump Valley High School on Saturday afternoon, as the Trojans squared off against the Douglas Tigers, a 5A program from Douglas County, with the tournament title on the line.
While the Trojans ultimately fell 10-5, their runner-up finish capped off a strong 3-1 weekend and demonstrated that Pahrump Valley can compete with programs at any level.
Behind Ben Cimperman on the mound, the Trojans opened the game with confidence. Cimperman set the tone in the top of the first, retiring the Tigers three up, three down.
In the bottom half, the offense wasted no time getting to work. Tony Whitney sparked the rally with a line drive single to center field. He quickly stole second during CJ Nelson’s at-bat, and Nelson followed with a ground ball single to center that moved T. Whitney to third. Cimperman then helped his own cause with a line drive single to right, bringing T. Whitney home. After a strikeout, Kayne Horibe drew a walk to load the bases. Vinny Whitney added another run with a ground ball single to short that scored Nelson. Though two strikeouts left the bases loaded, the Trojans carried a 2-0 lead out of the inning.
Douglas responded with a run in the top of the second after a walk and a double to center field, but the Trojans limited the damage and held the Tigers to just one run.
Pahrump Valley answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Selbach opened with a walk, and Tony Whitney reached on a fielder’s choice, with Selbach retired at second. T. Whitney stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Nelson delivered again with a ground ball single to the pitcher, scoring T. Whitney. Another wild pitch moved Nelson into scoring position before Cimperman singled to third. A shortstop error allowed Cimperman to advance to second and Nelson to third. Cody Fried lifted a sacrifice fly to right, allowing Nelson to tag and score, and Horibe followed with a ground ball single to right that plated Cimperman. When the inning ended, the Trojans held a commanding 5-1 lead.
“Those first three innings, we played very high level baseball — like very high level baseball,” Head Coach Drew Middleton said. “We’re hitting guys over, we’re scoring guys. That arm that they threw today is probably sitting at 84, 85 miles an hour. Tall length, he’s like 6’3”, 6’4” on the mound — very good pitcher. And we beat him up pretty good.”
From there, the momentum began to shift. Douglas found its rhythm in the middle innings, while a series of defensive miscues allowed the Tigers to claw back into the game.
“They get a couple guys on… and we have three straight errors on back-to-back-to-back plays,” Middleton said. “Instead of making simple plays and getting out of that 5-1 or 5-2 at the worst, we make those three errors and let things snowball a little bit and now it’s 5-4.”
The Tigers continued to apply pressure, scoring three runs in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take control.
Even as Douglas surged, the Trojans continued to create opportunities. Middleton pointed to a critical moment in the fifth inning when a bases-loaded, two-out situation slipped away.
“Ben throws a perfect curveball at strike three, and it gets called ball four,” Middleton said. “And things snowball a little bit… instead of being a 5-4 game now it’s 7-5 because of one pitch. Umpires are never an excuse — you’re never going to blame an umpire — but that call is a huge momentum swing in that game.”
Pahrump Valley had chances late, including opportunities in the sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t find the timely hit.
“We hit balls hard all day, but our luck kind of ran out,” Middleton said. “We had multiple guys that hit balls hard right to guys in the outfield. That’s just baseball. Just couldn’t find the gap.”
Despite the final score, the Trojans’ offensive production was impressive. Tony Whitney finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, while Cimperman delivered a standout performance, going 4-for-5 and driving in a run. The Trojans’ early execution against a hard-throwing 5A pitcher underscored the growth of the lineup.
Ultimately, the loss did little to overshadow what was an encouraging weekend.
“Having a winning weekend, going 3-1, being in the championship game on our own field against a 5A team — awesome environment,” Middleton said. “We had so many people here. The stands were full. It was an awesome, awesome experience for these boys.”
He added that the tournament proved something important about his team.
“We showed we belong on the field with just about anyone,” he said. “We got out of this weekend what we wanted to get out.”
Still, Middleton made it clear that playing for a title carries expectations.
“My main message to my guys after that game is anytime you’re able to play for a championship, you need to win that game,” he said. “It’s not very often you get to put yourself in that position, so when you put yourself in that position, you need to win.”
With a challenging schedule ahead, the Trojans will use the lessons learned from Saturday’s championship battle as fuel moving forward.
“Hopefully, if all goes well in two months,” Middleton said, “we’re having a different discussion about a championship game.”
For now, a second-place finish in the inaugural Rod Poteete Memorial Tournament stands as a strong early-season statement — one that suggests the Trojans are building toward something even bigger.
