WINNEMUCCA - What began as a year of redemption for the Lowry High School softball team continued this past weekend for the experienced group of girls, as it is making a return trip to the state tournament after missing out a season ago.
The Lady Bucks (18-11) took care of business in the Northern 3A regional pod that it hosted with a 7-1 win over South Tahoe on Friday and an 11-1 victory Saturday in six innings, over the No. 2 seed in the Mount Rose League.
"It starts a new season for us and we have three days to get ready for it and I am looking forward to it," said LHS head coach Ty Lucas. "Being one of the top four teams going to state is a big confidence booster for these girls. We are going there with the intent of not just being there, we are going there to make some waves. We set out to do this last year and we had unfinished business to take care of. That has been our motto all year and that is what we are going with. Our goal has been to make it to state and win. So far, so good."
South Tahoe struck first in Friday's opening game with a single run in the opening inning but would not score again until the sixth inning on Saturday. The Vikings' Brittany Sanchez and Bailey David walked and singled, respectively, to put runners on second base. Sid Loomis then reached on a throwing error by Jordan Mecham, to allow Sanchez to score.
That was all the damage that was done, as Mecham settled down and allowed three hits in the final six innings to earn the win. The junior struck out 11 and walked three.
The Lady Bucks did not trail long, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. Angie Herrera and Madi Gonzalez picked up walks, which was followed by a two-RBI single by Hana Etcheverry to left field. Etcheverry came around to score on a single by Carli Evatz.
"We got the job done and we were expecting them to be a scrappy team," Lucas said. "We were a little rusty with two weeks off and were nervous. Once we calmed down in the second inning we were fine and offensively we got it done when we needed to."
Heather McElvain and Taylor Johnson kicked off a three-run rally in the fourth with consecutive singles. With one out, Shelby McKinnon drove home both runs with a single and the freshman came around to score on a sacrifice bunt by Herrera.
Lowry tacked on an insurance run in the sixth, as McKinnon struck out, but the South Tahoe catcher dropped the third strike and then over threw the first baseman. A second error off the bat of Gonzalez allowed McKinnon to score for the final run of the game.
Etcheverry had two hits to lead the Lady Bucks.
Lowry quickly made sure that there was not going to be any thought of a third game, scoring five runs in the second inning on Saturday morning to build a 6-0 lead and never looked back.
The Lady Bucks picked up another strong performance from Mecham, who was perfect through three innings. South Tahoe picked up its first hit in the fourth inning on a bunt by Sanchez. Sanchez had half of the four hits for the Vikings and scored the only run, when she was driven in by Kaila Griffis. Mecham struck out seven and walked none.
"It was a great complete team effort," added the coach. "We got two dominating performances from Jordan in the circle. She did not give up much in two days."
Lowry used singles from Herrera and Higbee to plate the first run in the opening inning and broke the game open in the second with five runs, as the Vikings went to their second of five pitchers on the day. Evatz opened the frame with a triple down the right field line and came around to score on a throwing error by the pitcher off the bat of Taylor Johnson. Mecham and McKinnon then walked and a second error in the inning by South Tahoe allowed two more runs to score. The Lady Bucks made it 6-0 when Etcheverry was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which scored Herrera.
Following a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, Lowry rallied for three runs, all with two outs, as McKinnon, Herrera and Gonzalez all picked up consecutive hits to extend the lead to 9-0.
After South Tahoe scored its only run of the game in the sixth, Lowry closed out the series in the bottom of the inning. Higbee was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a single by McElvain. Evatz followed with a single of her own to drive home Higbee. Johnson followed with a third consecutive hit, moving Evatz over to third base. With Shannon McClellan at the plate, a second wild pitch by Emily Gardner squirted far enough away for Evatz to score and win the game by the 10-run rule.
Herrera, Gonzalez and Evatz each had two hits for Lowry.
"We made much better adjustments at the plate and our execution was good," Lucas said. Defensively I thought we did a nice job in both games. All in all we're excited to go and ready to get to work."
Lowry will face Southern 3A champion Boulder City in the opening round of the NIAA 3A State Championships presented by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Farmers Insurance on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno. Friday and Saturday action moves to Hixson Field on the campus of the University of Nevada. Churchill County, the defending 3A champion, plays Fernley in the other semifinal Thursday at 5 p.m.
"We are at this point now and it does not matter who we play," Lucas said. "We are going to the state tournament with the intentions of winning it."
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