WINNEMUCCA - It has been a rare sight this season for the Lowry High School junior varsity softball team to fight for a victory, but that is where it found itself Tuesday on its home field.
Coming off a 26-1 and 33-0 sweep of Spring Creek on the road, the Lady Bucks played host to Pershing County of the Northern 2A, a team they beat 7-3 earlier in the year in Lovelock.
The second matchup proved to be much closer. Lowry overcame a three-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game and eventually scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, as storm clouds loomed over the field, for a 9-8 win, extending its winning streak to 23 games.
Dating back to last year, Lowry is 33-0-1 after suffering a loss to Wells in March of 2011.
"That was a lot of fun and nerve racking," said LHS head coach Katy Schwartz. "That is the kind of game we have been waiting for and the girls pulled it off. I think the girls wanted it more and they stuck it out and got it done when they needed to. I don't know what other team survives with the errors we had, which is unusual for us, but we hit when we needed to."
It was all hands on deck for Lowry, who used all three of its pitchers in the 10-inning marathon. Kylee McClellan and Taylor Schwartz combined to throw the first six innings, while Alyssa Dendary entered in the seventh and closed out the final four innings to get the win.
"I didn't expect to use all three of them," Schwartz said. "They all three did great. One came in for another and we didn't expect Dendary to throw four innings. She shut them down after the start of the seventh and her defense stood behind her."
The Lady Bucks held a 5-4 lead going into the top of the sixth inning. But the Mustangs broke through in that frame with four runs on four hits, which included a two-RBI single by Grace Moreira.
Trailing for one of the few times all year, Lowry rallied in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game after opening doubles by Schwartz and Jaecee Munger. Munger's double drove in Schwartz to cut the margin to two runs. Pershing County helped out as well by dropping a fly ball in the outfield off the bat off Dendary. Following the error, Lexie Coleman and Allison Barron tied the game at 8-8 with their consecutive base hits. Pershing County looked primed to take the advantage in the top of the seventh, as Dendary walked the first two batters and a third reached on a fielder's choice. However the freshman worked out of the jam, recording the next three outs.
Dendary gave up just one hit in her four innings of work, with the Mustangs doing very little after loading the bases in the seventh.
Lowry left two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh but could not push the winning run ahead until the 10th. Munger started the frame by getting hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a single by Coleman. Barron then provided the heroics with a single to score Munger with the winning run.
Schwartz led Lowry at the plate, going 5-for-6 with four runs scored and two RBIs. Coleman and Barron each had three hits and Alyssa Jones and McClellan two apiece.
"We got production from everyone in the lineup," Schwartz said. "We showed a lot of character today and they showed excitement which they needed to be instead of being tense. Lovelock is a good team and they were not going to give it to us. Whoever made the fewest mistakes and hit the ball better was going to get the win, and we hit a little better. If our season ended right now you could not ask for much more than the way this game ended."
It was not nearly as competitive as Lowry traveled to Spring Creek last Saturday and outscored the Spartans 59-1 in the doubleheader.
In the opening game, the Lady Bucks scored all 26 of their runs in the first three innings, including 19 in the first two. Seven of the nine batters in the lineup each had a hit, with Lowry finishing with 14. Spring Creek walked nine batters a well. Schwartz picked up the win for Lowry.
It was not much prettier in the nightcap, as the Lady Bucks sent 22 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring 19 runs. Lowry had nine hits and took advantage of six walks. Lowry ended most of the innings by having their girls leave base early to record outs.
The Lady Bucks combined for 13 runs in the second and third innings and tacked on a single run in the fourth. Dendary picked up the win in the circle, allowing just two first inning hits and a walk in the fifth.
Lowry has now outscored its opponents 385-46 in 23 games this season.
The Lady Bucks will look to keep their unbeaten streak going as they host White Pine today at 5 p.m. and Saturday at noon. Lowry closes out its season Tuesday with a home doubleheader against Elko at 2 p.m.
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