For periods of time last weekend, the Lowry High School baseball team showed that it could play with the best teams in the Division I-A North.
The Buckaroos', who were making their home debut, knocked off rival Elko 5-2 on Friday, March 20, for their first league win of the season. On Saturday, Lowry trailed the Indians 4-3 in game one of a doubleheader, but it went all wrong from there as Elko won 20-3. The Indians went on to win the nightcap 12-7 to win the series.
"You go from a 5-2 game that is played pretty quickly and clean by both teams and you are cruising along in a similar game and all of a sudden the wheels fall off," said LHS coach Ron Espinola. "We just didn't make plays and the biggest part was that they were putting the ball there and they were hitting it everywhere. Sometimes that happens and I have been on both sides. You see it happen in Major League games."
In the series opener, Lowry jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a double by Sterling Dennis that plated Anthony Silva. Elko bounced back for a pair of runs in the top of third inning on base hits by Brenden Yocum and Weston Warrick.
However, that proved to be all the offense for Elko, as Colin Doyle shut down the Indians from there. The senior threw a complete game, where he allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out one and walked one.
"It was by far our best game of the year," Espinola said. "The guys saw what they are capable of doing when they put everything together. Colin threw a great game and had Elko off balance."
Lowry tied the game in the fourth inning, as Kyle Schultz led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. The Buckaroos went in front in the bottom of the fifth inning on the strength of a two-RBI single by Jared Taylor. Taylor also plated a run, when Donovan Brumm knocked him in.
Taylor and Schultz each had two hits and Jake Barnes, Brumm and Dennis each had one.
In Saturday's first game, Elko scored once in the first inning and added to the margin in the second, as Kyle Whitted hit a two-run home run to give the Indians a 3-0 lead.
"He was a guy we could not get out," Espinola said. "Everything we threw at him, he hit."
Elko added a run in the third to lead 4-0, when Lowry cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth. Jayson Smith had two RBI in the frame, while Dennis also drove in a run with a single.
That was as close as Lowry got, as Elko went off for seven runs in the fifth inning and nine more in the sixth.
"Everything imploded at the same time over a two inning span," added the coach. "Crooked numbers kill you. However they come it doesn't matter. If you allow them to put them up, it is hard to come back from.
Barnes started for Lowry and went 4.2 innings on the mound. He allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits. It took four other Lowry pitchers to get the final four outs.
"We were trying anyway to stop the momentum," Espinola said. "We put just about everyone on the mound to get those outs."
Six different Lowry players had one hit.
In the finale, Elko raced out to a 6-0 lead scoring three runs apiece in the first two innings. Lowry rallied for two runs in the bottom of the third, which included a RBI-triple by Schultz.
The Indians got one of the runs back in the top of the fourth, but the Buckaroos answered back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to trim the margin to 7-5. Dennis, Doyle and Marriott all had hits in the inning.
That was as close as Lowry got, with Elko scoring once in the fifth inning and four times in the sixth to pull away for the win.
"You look at the score and its not what we wanted, but we played better," Espinola said. "We shook off that first game and came back and played well. We had one inning that cost us again. We need to get better across the board and we know that. You can't sit there and say you have to get better at everything right now. We are focusing on certain areas that we know that we can address. You have to work on things that are going to have the biggest payoff."
Brian Shettler started for Lowry and went five innings, but suffered the loss. He gave up eight runs (none earned) on six hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Lowry actually out hit Elko 12-7, with Doyle, Mickey Donovan and Dennis collecting two each.
The Buckaroos are on the road this weekend to play Dayton, starting today at 3 p.m. The two teams play a doubleheader at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
"We have already talked about what we have to do," Espinola said. "We did the same thing last year. We have to win the game in front of us and figure the rest out as we go. We need that sense of urgency. We have dug ourselves a pretty good hole."
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