About the only thing that was going to stop the Lowry High School softball team from sweeping Truckee late last week was Mother Nature.
Despite a persistent rain - which forced a slight delay on Friday afternoon - the Lady Bucks easily handled the Wolverines and won the three games by a combined 45-3 in Winnemucca.
Lowry won the series opener 21-1 on Thursday and claimed 14-2 and 10-0 victories on Friday. After throwing a one-hitter on Thursday, senior Taylor Schwartz tossed a no hitter in the final game of the series.
"We did what we needed to do," said LHS coach Ty Lucas. "We played very well on Thursday. We hit the ball well, pitched good and defense was solid. We had some weather issues on Friday but were able to get through it. You just want to stay in a good rhythm. After the delay in game one, we finished strong. The goal was to win all three games in five innings and we did that."
Truckee took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Thursday with the aid of a Lowry error and a Truckee double. However, that double proved to be the only base hit for the Wolverines.
From there it was all Lowry as Shelby McKinnon began a five-run rally in the bottom of the first with a single. Following an out, Ere Higbee, Kylee McClellan and Alyssa Dendary all tripled. Jaecee Munger capped off the frame with a towering home run to right-center field.
Lowry tacked on three more runs in the second, starting with a one-out triple by McKinnon. Lexie Coleman drove her home with a single and Coleman eventually scored when Higbee reached on an error by the Truckee third baseman. Higbee came around to score after another error by Truckee.
The offense continued to produce in the third inning for the Lady Bucks, as the first seven batters reached base. Munger and Cooper started the rally with a single, however, Munger was erased from the bases when Alyssa Jones reached on a fielder's choice. The hit parade continued as McKinnon. Coleman, Higbee and McClellan all reached on base hits.
Leading 14-1, Lowry tacked on seven more runs in the fourth inning, picking up hits from Munger, McKinnon and Coleman.
Schwartz got the win for Lowry, allowing one run (none earned) on one hit. She struck out three and faced just three batters above the minimum.
McKinnon was a perfect 4-for-4, with four runs scored and two RBI. McClellan was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBI and Munger was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Caitlynn Cooper, Higbee and Coleman each had two hits and Dendary added a hit for the Lady Bucks.
With a steady rain falling on Friday afternoon, Lowry wasted little time getting on the scoreboard with eight runs in the first inning in the opener. The Lady Bucks loaded the bases as McKinnon, Higbee and McClellan walked. Dendary reached base and Schwartz walked, leading up to a two-RBI single by Munger, which was the only hit in the eight-run inning. Cooper and Jones came around to score in the inning ass well after reaching base on a walk and hit by pitch.
The Wolverines used two batters being hit by pitches, a walk and two hits to score twice the second inning, but that proved to be all the offense for the day.
The Lady Bucks strung together consecutive hits by Dendary, Schwartz, Munger and Cooper in the second inning to build a 12-2 advantage. Lowry added single runs in the third and fourth innings after the contest resumed after a short rain delay.
Schwartz picked up the win as she relieved Dendary with one out in the second inning. The senior was able to get out of the frame with the aid of a double play and dominated the Wolverines from there. Truckee had just one hit in the 3.2 innings. Schwartz struck out three and walked one.
Dendary and Munger each had two hits and the duo combined to score four runs and drive in three. McKinnon, Coleman, Higbee, McClellan, Schwartz, Cooper and Jones had one hit apiece.
In the series finale, Truckee had just three runners reach base, the first on an error in the first inning. However, Schwartz got the next two batters to ground out to shortstop and third base and the rout was on from there. Schwartz allowed just two walks the rest of the way in collecting the no-hitter. She also added three strikeouts.
"Taylor threw the ball well for us," Lucas said. "It was nice to see her get a no hitter. She came in the first game on Friday and got us out of jam and held Truckee down after that. The conditions were tough to throw in."
Lowry took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off singles by McClellan and Dendary. Munger added a two-RBI double in the third inning to give the Lady Bucks a 6-0 lead and Munger, Allison Barron and Jorden Raynor used consecutive singles in the fourth to put Lowry in front 10-0.
Coleman and Munger each had two hits for the Lady Bucks and six others had at one hit.
"Picking up three wins was important for us," Lucas said. "We didn't play down to their level and we will keep pressing on from here. We did what we expected to do and we are happy with where we are at."
With the three wins, Lowry remained atop the Division I-A North at 16-2 and 17-5 overall. The Lady Bucks have won 17 of their last 19 games. Fernley is second at 15-2 and Churchill County (13-5) dropped to third after suffering two losses to Dayton. Spring Creek and Dayton are tied for fourth at 9-8. The top four teams in the final regular season standings advance to the regional championships. Lowry needs only one win in its next six to clinch a playoff berth.
The top spot in the league is up for grabs as Lowry travels to Fernley this weekend. The two schools play a doubleheader Friday at 2 p.m. and as single game Saturday at 11 a.m.
"We have to get back to work and get ready for a tough series with Fernley," Lucas said. "We are going to go after them and see what happens. There are no secrets between us. We know what they do and they know what we do."[[In-content Ad]]
