Not even the Lowry High School softball team knew what to expect as it opened its season last weekend at the Desert Winds Classic in Mesquite.
Nearly half of the players were on the Lady Bucks' state basketball tournament team that did not allow them to practice with the softball squad for a week. In addition, this year's team features three freshmen and two sophomores that had never played in a varsity contest.
Any early concerns were wiped away as the Lady Bucks went 3-1 over the three days in southern Nevada.
"It wasn't too bad of a start for us," said LHS coach Ty Lucas. "The girls knew it was going to be a quick learning curve. The girls coming out of basketball had one day of practice before getting going. It was pretty positive against some good competition. The girls were learning new spots and worked well together. It was nice to see them work through some growing pains."
Lowry opened up with host Virgin Valley on Thursday, March 5, and came away with a 20-0 victory. The Lady Bucks were held scoreless in the first inning, but dominated the action from there.
Lowry used a senior and freshman combination in the circle in Alyssa Dendary and Alyssa Kuskie. Dendary was one of the basketball players that saw limited time on the field before playing. However, she started and showed little rust in earning the victory. She allowed two hits and struck out four in three innings of work. Kuskie came in and pitched a perfect fourth inning, striking out one batter.
Kylee McClellan started a nine-run rally in the second inning with a walk and stolen base. Kyllie Sappington also walked and scored on a past ball, while Alana Miller and Alyssa Jones used back-to-back hits to put the Lady Bucks in front 4-0.
Stevie DeStout, a freshman transfer from Las Vegas, McKenna Jones and Shelby McKinnon all drew bases loaded walks that drove in runs and Ashlee Barron closed out the rally by reaching and scoring on an error.
Another freshman contributed to the advantage in the third inning, as Sappington doubled home two runs and Miller, a sophomore singled home a run and Lowry led 15-0. Lowry added five more runs in the fourth inning, picking up hits from Alyssa Jones and Kuskie. Alyssa Jones and Kuskie each had two hits in the contest.
Lowry began bracket play in the tournament on Friday, March 6, beginning with Foothill. The Falcons of the Division I South won the Sunrise League last year and played in the state tournament, losing to Reed.
The Lady Bucks could never get in a rhythm offensively and lost 11-0 to the Falcons.
"They are a good team, but not 11 runs better than us," Lucas said. "We just didn't come ready to play. Our mental approach wasn't there. We need to be ready to play every game."
The Lady Bucks picked up three hits and a runner on base in every inning, but couldn't produce a rally.
Foothill scored four times on the strength of three hits in the first inning and continued to build its lead. The Falcons scored twice in the second inning, three times in the third and closed out the scoring with a two-run home run in the fourth.
Dendary, McClellan and Miller each had one hit. Dendary suffered the loss, giving up nine runs (seven earned) on seven hits. She walked four and struck out none. Kuskie pitched the final inning, allowing two runs and two hits.
Lowry bounced back later that day to easily dispose of Moapa Valley 11-0. Kuskie was dominant the circle, allowing one hot in four innings of work. The Pirates picked up their lone hit in the fourth inning. Kuskie struck out four in the outing. McKenna Jones pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
Lowry began the contest with three straight hits from McKinnon, Barron and Kuskie. The big blow of the inning came from the bat of Alyssa Jones, which cleared the bases on an error in the outfield.
The Lady Bucks picked up home runs from Alyssa Jones and DeStout in the fourth inning as the duo combined for seven RBI.
Lowry had an early wake-up call on Saturday morning in the finale against Cheyenne of the Division I South. The 8 a.m. start didn't bother Lowry in the 12-1 victory.
Sappington provided a two-RBI single in the first inning and Lowry cruised from there. DeStout provided two doubles, a single, three runs scored and three RBI later in the game. Sappington also added a two-RBI double in the sixth inning as the freshmen duo combined for six hits and seven RBI.
Dendary went the distance in the circle, allowing one run and five hits. She struck out two and walked two.
"I was happy with the way we came out and closed out the tournament," Lucas said. "Cheyenne is not a bad team and we took it to them right away. It was a good way for us to end the weekend."
Lowry travels to Sparks this weekend to open Division I-A North play, starting today at 4 p.m. The two schools play a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m.
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