Pedal Valves blanks Mississippi to stay alive in Mid-South Regional

METAIRIE – Zach Cook and two relievers combined on a six-hit shutout to lift the Pedal Valves Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over Mississippi Friday in the American Legion Mid-South Regional at John Ryan Stadium.

With the win, Pedal Valves will be one of the final four teams remaining in the tournament. The Cardinals will meet Oklahoma on Saturday at either 12:30 or 4:30 p.m.

Cook scattered five hits over 5 2/3 innings before handing it over to Brendan Taravella, who allowed one hit over the next 2 2/3 innings. Lyall Ball, who got the Cardinals on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, recorded the final two outs to earn the save.

Ball’s hit produced the game’s only run for the first 7 1/2 innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Justin Ory provided the Cardinals with an insurance run with a single to center field, scoring Cole Nalesnik.

Pedal Valves head coach Danny Riehm was very pleased with his team’s pitching effort.

“I thought Zach Cook gave us an outstanding starting performance,” Riehm said. “Taravella came on and he was on a pitch count. We had to get him out to keep him ready for Sunday, potentially. Ball came in and closed the deal for us. Offense was hard to come by. We found a way to win. It was a good bounce-back win after a hard fought loss to Arkansas with our season on the line. We have Mason Vicknair available for Saturday and he is a quality pitcher. We have a lot of guys available. We can still make a run at winning this.”

The game was the first of a tournament tripleheader on Friday. Missouri and Tennessee played another elimination game, while the Arkansas and Oklahoma state champions are scheduled to face off in the driver’s seat game.