Despite losing three games at Fernley last weekend, the Lowry High School softball team is showing no signs of panic with the final week of the regular season upon them.
The Lady Bucks were tied for the league-lead with the Vaqueros going into their three-game series in the Division I-A North, but the defending state champions proved to be too much for Lowry.
Fernley swept a doubleheader 6-2 and 13-8 on May 2, and won a single game 6-3 on Saturday, dropping Lowry to 16-5 in the Division I-A North and 17-8 overall.
"It was an off-weekend all-around for us," said LHS coach Ty Lucas. "We just had a hard time stringing things together offensively, defensively and pitching. We just didn't get the timely hits. Fernley is a good team, but nothing better than we have seen this year. The losses were on us. We just didn't get the job done and that is on us. We had a hard time getting on the same page as a collective unit and we had our opportunities."
Fernley strung together three hits and scored three times in the first inning of the opening game of the series and never trailed. The Vaqueros took advantage of two Lady Bucks' errors in the second inning and added two more runs to lead 5-0.
Lowry's only offense came in the top of the third inning, when Caitlynn Cooper started a rally with a one-out walk. Shelby McKinnon followed with a triple and Lexie Coleman added a single to cut the deficit to 5-2. The Lady Bucks put runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, but could not plate another run. Fernley added a single run in the sixth to account for the final score.
Taylor Schwartz took the loss for Lowry in the circle, allowing six runs on six hits. She walked three and struck out one. McKinnon had half of the Lady Bucks' four hits and Ere Higbee and Coleman each had one.
Lowry got off to a much better start in the nightcap on May 2, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Coleman began the rally as she was hit by a pitch with one out in the frame. After the second out was recorded, Kylee McClellan, Alyssa Dendary and Schwartz all recorded base hits to make the score 3-0.
The Vaqueros closed the gap to a single run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Lady Bucks extended the gap back to two runs in the top of the second when Ashlee Barron scored on a single by Coleman.
The back-and-forth game continued as Fernley plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie game at 4-4. The Lady Bucks went back in front in the top of the third inning on the strength of back-to-back doubles by McClellan and Dendary. Dendary came around to score on a ground out by Alyssa Jones.
The advantage held up until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Fernley tied the game at 6-6 with two runs. The Vaqueros broke the game open with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on the strength of six hits.
The Lady Bucks rallied in the seventh inning for pair of runs, off consecutive doubles by Dendary and Schwartz, but Lowry left the bases loaded to end the contest.
"There were things that we didn't do that led to that big inning for them," Lucas said. "The good thing is that they are all fixable and can get better at what we are doing."
Dendary suffered the loss in her 4.2 innings of work, where she gave up 11 runs (nine earned) on 15 hits. The junior struck out one and walked two. Schwartz pitched the final 1.1 innings and allowed two runs and one hit.
The Lady Bucks' bats came alive with 11 hits, including a 3-for-4 performance by Dendary, which included three runs scored and two RBI. McClellan, Schwartz and Jones each had two hits and McKinnon and Coleman had one hits apiece.
Fernley used a five-run third inning to pull away in Saturday's single game. The game was score less until that point, when the Vaqueros sent nine batters to plate and collected three hits.
Lowry closed within 5-2 in the top of the fourth, as Schwartz doubled home McClellan and Dendary. Fernley got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth and held off a Lady Buckaroo rally in the seventh.
Schwartz took the loss in the start as she went three innings in the circle. She allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits. She walked one and struck out one. Dendary also pitched six inning and gave up one run on eight hits.
Lowry had just two hits in the finale, one each by Jaecee Munger and Schwartz.
Lowry can finish no worse than third in the Division I-A North and will play Churchill County at noon on Friday, May 16, in the opening round of the regional tournament at South Tahoe High School.
The Lady Bucks close out the regular season this weekend at home against Spring Creek. The series starts Friday at 3 p.m. and the two schools play twice on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.
"We have to come in this weekend with a purpose and ready to play," Lucas said. "We need to get back on the right track and get ready for the playoffs. We are going to see Fallon and Fernley again, so it really doesn't matter who we play. We need to show and play our best games from here on out."[[In-content Ad]]
