Patagonia third baseman Noah Gallardo throws to first base to retire a Valley Union batter. Photo by Dave Lumia 
Patagonia catcher Patrick Rohde backs away from an inside pitch. Photo by Dave Lumia 
Patagonia first baseman Troy Hawkins receives a pickoff throw from pitcher Kannon Shore prior to throwing out Valley Union baserunner Myles Richardson. Photo by Dave Lumia 
Shortstop Diego Padilla readies a throw to first after fielding a groundball. Photo by Dave Lumia 
Catcher Patrick Rohde greets pitcher Kannon Shore after Shore struck out a Valley Union batter to get out of a jam in the top of the fifth inning. Photo by Dave Lumia 
Coach Ryan Shore addresses the Lobos after Wednesday’s victory. Photo by Dave Lumia
The Patagonia Lobos played nearly flawless baseball for five innings and held on for the final two to defeat Valley Union 8-4 on Wednesday and improve their season record to 5-3.
“That’s a team that’s definitely had our number the last few years, and it’s fun to finally beat them,” Patagonia coach Ryan Shore said. “They’re always a solid team.”
Valley Union was a semifinalist in the 1A state tournament a year ago. The Lobos hadn’t beaten the Blue Devils since 2021, with five of their six consecutive losses ending early by virtue of the mercy rule. Wednesday’s victory represented a nice bounceback after a couple of blowout losses to two of the strongest 1A teams in the state: 16-3 to San Manuel and 11-1 to Hayden.
“I would like to get to that level some day, but those are two elite teams,” Shore said, “and I’m proud of our team for continuing to see what we can be and not giving in to ‘OK, two blowouts’ and we give up. These kids aren’t like that. They work hard every day.”
The Lobos never trailed. They took a 1-0 lead in the second when Troy Hawkins’s two-out single scored Matt Young. They added two more in the third when Miguel Albarran doubled home Patrick Rohde and came around to score on a Valley Union throwing error.
Kannon Shore held the Blue Devils hitless for three innings, but they broke through with three hits and a run in the fourth. Patagonia answered right back, getting run-scoring hits from Shore and Albarran to score three times. Shore pitched around two baserunners in the top of the fifth, and another two-out single by Hawkins made it 7-1 going into the sixth.
A bases-loaded single by Valley Union’s Alejandro Parra-mireles made it 7-3 in the sixth, but Shore pitched out of another jam and the Lobos added an insurance run on another two-out single, this one by Josh Woods.
The Blue Devils threatened again in the seventh, scoring once and putting two more runners on, but Shore retired the final three batters to secure a complete-game victory.
“He started cramping up in the fifth and gutted through it,” Ryan Shore said. “A lot of credit to him for staying in there and fighting through all that.”
The Lobos are back in action on Friday with a road game at Duncan (6-1), then host Ray (7-6) on Monday at 3:45 p.m.