With unfinished business from a season ago, Lowry went out and finished 12-3 in the Ruby Mountain League and followed that with a regional sweep of South Tahoe in Winnemucca.
As the NIAA 3A State Championships got under way last Thursday at Damonte Ranch, the Lady Bucks pulled off an upset in terms of the seeding but not to the team themselves. The Lady Bucks knocked off Boulder City 5-4, ending a 27-game win streak by the Eagles. The victory put Lowry into the winner's bracket game against Churchill County on Friday morning. In what turned out to be a pitchers' duel, the Greenwave escaped with a walk-off 1-0 win in the bottom of the seventh.
Just minutes after the loss, Lowry was back on the field for an elimination game with Fernley. After leading 13-6, the Lady Bucks held on for a 13-12 win after the Vaqueros scored six times in the seventh inning.
The victory put Lowry in the state championship game for the first time since 2007. But the Lady Bucks ran out of momentum, as Churchill County built a 4-0 lead after three innings and went on to win 10-1.
"It is still a great season," said LHS head coach Ty Lucas. "These girls set a goal of being here in the state championship and winning it. They fell a little short of winning it, but to be second is not a bad feat at all. They are disappointed right now but they have no reason to hang their head."
The Greenwave used a single and triple by Kaysee Archer and Rileigh Ricken to score twice in the first inning for a 2-0 advantage. Churchill County extended the lead to 4-0 in the third on a two-run home run by Danielle Rothery.
Lowry cut into the gap in the top of the fourth, as Madi Gonzalez led off with a single and then stole second base. Hana Etcheverry followed with a shot off the Hixson Field fence to score Gonzalez. Ere Higbee then reached base on a fielder's choice. But the rally ended with a double play, as Carli Evatz flew out to right fielder Ali Tedford, who threw out Etcheverry at third base, as she attempted to advance to third base.
The Lady Bucks had just two runners reach base in the final three innings, as the Greenwave tacked on five runs in the sixth inning for the final outcome.
"You can't look at one play," Lucas said. "At this point it is what it is with the two best teams in the state. Something has to give and when it does it tips the scale one way or the other. My girls played tough and pushed hard for all seven innings. We had our opportunities but it just did not go our way. We went as far as we possibly could."
Lowry used all three of its pitchers in the game, as Jordan Mecham started. The junior pitched all 21 innings in the previous three games of the tournament and suffered the loss.
Shannon McClellan entered in the third inning and was replaced by Kayla Doyle in the sixth. Mecham did come back in the sixth to finish the game.
Gonzalez led Lowry with two hits and Heather McElvain and Etcheverry each had one. McElvain also had to leave the game after injuring her leg while trying to beat out a base hit.
In what seemed to be a surprise to just about everybody else except for the Lady Bucks, Lowry snapped Boulder City's 27-game win streak to open the tournament. The Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, only to see Lowry tie the game on a RBI double by Gonzalez to score Shelby McKinnon in the third.
The Lady Bucks took control in the fourth, starting with a solo home run that bounced off the top of the fence by Etcheverry that was hit into the strong wind at Damonte Ranch. That was the start of five consecutive hits, as Ere Higbee followed with a triple and three consecutive singles by McElvain, Evatz and Taylor Johnson, giving Lowry a 5-1 lead.
Boulder City did not go away and scored once in the fourth on a single by Shayla Bennett that scored Karlee Koopman. The Eagles continued to rally in the fifth, as three straight singles led to two runs to make the score 5-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Mecham got the first two Boulder City batters to pop up to Higbee, and Ashley Lombardi recorded the final out as she grabbed a line drive by Taylor McKeever.
"Not very many people thought we could come in and win this game and we had nothing to lose," Lucas said. "We were considered the underdog and figured we would come in with some swagger and stand toe to toe with them. Our plan was to go right after their pitcher. We made some good contact and it was a matter of time before we got going."
Mecham went the distance and allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits. She struck out six and walked none. Seven different players had one hit for the Lady Bucks.
The tournament moved to Hixson Field on the campus of the University of Nevada on Friday. Prior to the start of the Lowry/ Churchill County match up, fans and players were evacuated from the facility, as gun shots were reported beyond the outfield fence.
Once the teams got on the field, they did not disappoint the fans.
The Lady Bucks had their opportunities, leaving six runners on base. Lowry attempted to score in the third inning but Evatz was thrown out at home by first baseman Cady Cordes. Lowry left the bases loaded in the fifth but could not get a run across the plate.
Meanwhile, Mecham scattered just three hits through the first six innings. Churchill County finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh, as Cordes doubled with one out and Jill Pinder followed with a single up the middle for the walk-off victory.
"We had our chances to win that game and that was one that we gave away," added the coach. "It was still a great game. We set the tone the entire game. Fallon got away with one there."
With little time to look back to the loss, Lowry was right back on the field for an elimination game with Fernley. The Vaqueros scored first to lead 1-0, but the Lady Bucks bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the first on the strength of four singles by Gonzalez, Etcheverry, Higbee and Evatz. Lowry added two runs in the second on a two-RBI double by Herrera for a 6-1 lead.
Fernley battled back for three runs in the third to cut the deficit to 6-4. The Lady Bucks answered back with a run in the bottom of the fourth, as Higbee led off with a double and scored on an error.
Lowry combined for five runs in the fourth and fifth innings for a 13-5 lead heading into the sixth inning.
Fernley scored once in the sixth and just about completed a miracle comeback with six runs in the seventh. The Vaqueros scored the first three runs on a home run by Kelsie Callahan. With the go ahead runs on second and third base and one out, Jordan King lined out to Johnson at first base, who turned and tossed the ball to Higbee, who was covering first base.
Mecham earned the win, pitching into the seventh inning, where she was replaced with Shannon McClellan. Higbee led Lowry with three hits, while McKinnon, Herrera, Etcheverry and Mecham each had two hits.
"All in all it has been an amazing run for these girls, it really has been," Lucas said. "They worked hard all year and I am very proud of them. They started and finished as a unified team. This was an experienced group and we wanted to get the seniors a state championship.
"The Lowry softball program has a great future. We are not looking to miss a beat with the young and aggressive group we have coming up. We have several girls coming back that got experience with this run. We are not going to miss a beat and be back as strong as ever."
[[In-content Ad]]
