WINNEMUCCA - It seemed to be just another non-conference weekday matchup for two teams looking to prep for a run at the postseason.
What it turned out to be was a 12-inning marathon in Winnemucca on Tuesday night. Pershing County beat Lowry 11-8 in 12 innings - just as the skies opened up with rain to go with a bout of thunder and lightning. Lightning was prevalent in skies around the field throughout the 12th inning.
"Baseball is fun and I like seven (innings) better than 12," said LHS head coach Ron Espinola. "You can go back to the first four innings and we gave them too much early. It should not have come down to us having the bases loaded in the 11th inning and not scoring. We made mistakes and pitchers were behind in counts. Late in the game I thought we threw well but our approaches at the plate just went out the door. We are hitting positive counts and fouling the ball out of play. We were trying to do too much. At that point you do not want to change anything. You stay who you are. It is a game you can not force anything. When you do force, nine out of 10 times you will not succeed."
It was a bout of déjà vu for Lowry dating back to Saturday against Spring Creek, as it lost a one-run lead in the sixth inning on Tuesday when Pershing County used four consecutive singles to take a 8-7 advantage. The Buckaroos fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, rallying with two outs. Brumm began the two-out rally after getting hit by a pitch. He eventually scored following a walk by Jace Billingsley.
Aaron Nelson, who entered the game in the fifth inning for the Buckaroos in relief of Tyler Brumm, went six innings on the mound, allowing just the two runs in the sixth inning. He gave up no hits in the seventh, eighth, 10th and 11th innings, getting help through a double play in the ninth.
"Our bullpen got a lot of work in today and it was nice to see that we can go to them," Espinola said. "We overworked Jace and Bryan last weekend and there was no chance we would throw them today."
Lowry left two runners on base in the 10th inning and had a golden opportunity to win the game in the 11th, as Bryan Noble, Gus Duncan and Brumm reached base with no outs. Billingsley ran the count to 3-0 but the next batter struck out swinging. Jesse Studebaker also struck out and Brumm popped out to second base, ending the rally.
The Mustangs took advantage of the break and strung four consecutive hits together to score three runs off new pitcher Brandon Okuma. The Buckaroos fell short in the bottom of the 12th, as Pershing County's Dillon Wanner retired Lowry in order.
"It is disappointing yes but it shows things that we need to clean up and get focused for what is ahead," said the coach. "We are beyond this game like we are beyond Spring Creek. Our focus is Ely on Friday. Having a game like this is going to refocus everything for the next couple of days before we play Friday."
The two schools traded off the lead in the first two innings of play, as Pershing County scored twice in the first inning, only to see Lowry score three times in the bottom of the first on a two-RBI triple by Johnny Hernandez. The Mustangs added three runs in the second and a single run in the fourth to lead 6-3 before the Buckaroos scored five runs in the fifth to reclaim the advantage.
Lowry closes out the regular season this weekend at home against White Pine starting today at 3 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 11 a.m. If the Buckaroos sweep the Bobcats and Spring Creek beats Elko twice, Lowry will win the Ruby Mountain League.
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