Not many teams can be down 11-1 in a game and still believe that they can come back from that kind of deficit. But that is what faced the Lowry High School baseball team on a cold and wet late Friday afternoon in Winnemucca.
After beating Truckee by 10 runs in each of the first two games of the series 11-1 and 14-4, the Buckaroos saw the tables turned on them in the series finale. Lowry pitchers had trouble finding the plate in the first two innings, walking 10 batters, while hitting another. However, the Buckaroos shook off the 10-run deficit to come back and score 18 of the final 19 runs to win 19-12 and come away with a much-needed sweep to keep any playoff hopes alive.
"That is the definition of night and day," said LHS coach Ron Espinola. "We probably played our best game of the year to start the series. We had timely hitting, great pitching and a clean game. We were there and just needed that breakthrough moment and we did that in the last two innings. We have been a little unlucky and some of that is our own doing. It kind of flipped around for us. To do what we did in the first two innings and still come back is a testament to these guys Maybe this is what we need for them to realize that we can play."
Lowry (9-9 Division I-A North, 9-14 overall) went through five pitchers in the first 1.2 innings, until Colin Doyle finally settled things down for the Buckaroos. Doyle walked the first batter he faced, but got the final out of the frame and completed the game from there and got the victory.
"Colin walked the first batter and we were probably a couple of batters away from replacing him," Espinola. "We had four or five other guys we were going to use. But, he settled down and threw a great game for us."
Trailing 11-2, Lowry began its comeback with three runs in the bottom of the third inning after a lead off double by Tanner Lecumberry. Christian Dawson followed by getting hit by a pitch and Tytin Johnson reached on a fielder's choice. Calvin Connors capped off the frame with a single.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Lowry closed the gap to 13-12 in the bottom of the fifth inning with seven runs. Damon Miller started the rally with a lead off single. Connors and Donovan Brumm then walked, setting up a bases-clearing triple by Aaron Nelson. Brandon Okuma and Sterling Dennis added base hits to bring the Buckaroos within a run.
A seemingly easy pop fly by Doyle to the Truckee shortstop turned into another seven-run inning when the ball was dropped in the infield. That began a barrage of base hits by Nelson, Okuma, Lecumberry, Dawson, Johnson and Connors, giving Lowry the 19-12 advantage.
Nelson and Lecumberry paced the Buckaroos with three hits apiece, Doyle and Okuma had two hits each and Dawson, Johnson, Miller and Connors had one hit apiece.
"I don't think I have been a part of a team that was down by 10 and came back to win," Espinola said. Normally, you can write the game off, you are not going to get back in the game like that."
Lowry picked up a dominating performance from Nelson in the series opener on Thursday as the senior threw a complete-game four hitter. He allowed just one run in the fifth inning, where the Wolverines picked up two of their four hits. He struck out four and walked three.
"That is exactly what we needed to get the weekend started," Espinola said. "When Aaron is on, he is tough to beat."
The Buckaroos grabbed a 3-0 lead in the third inning after a two-RBI double by Johnson that scored Nelson and Lecumberry. Lowry broke the game open with eight runs in the fifth inning. Okuma started the rally with a triple and was quickly knocked in by a single by Lecumberry. Johnson reached on a fielder's choice and Dawson followed with a double that drove in two runs. With one out, Connors and Sterling Dennis walked, leading to three consecutive hits by Doyle, Nelson and Okuma to end the contest on the 10-run rule. Okuma led Lowry with three hits.
A steady rain greeted the two schools for their first game on Friday afternoon, but Lowry didn't let the poor weather bother them, scoring the first 11 runs of the game.
Leading 1-0 in the second inning, Connors and Dennis strung together base hits to put the Buckaroos up 5-0. Lowry added six runs in the third inning, behind a single from Connors, a sacrifice fly by Dennis and a two-RBI single by Lecumberry.
Lowry closed out the game in an unusual fashion in the fifth; with the bases loaded, Miller singled to left field scoring Doyle. Espinola held up Dawson at third base as the throw came back to the infield. It didn't matter as two pitches later with Dennis at the plate, the Truckee pitcher was called for a balk, bringing home Dawson to end the game on the 10-run rule at 14-4.
Lecumberry earned the victory with his complete-game performance. The senior allowed four runs (none earned) on one hit. He struck out six and walked five. Connors and Dawson combined for five of Lowry's 10 hits.
Lowry is still on the outside looking in for the playoffs. The Buckaroos are sixth in the league. Spring Creek is fourth at 11-6 and Fernley is fifth at 10-7. The top four teams advance to the regional championships. Elko is first at 14-5, South Tahoe is second at 12-5 and Churchill County (12-6) is third.
"We did what we needed to do to keep our season going and it is all on us," Espinola said. "It doesn't matter what the other teams did. Sure, it would be nice to get some help. If we take care of business we will be OK. We have six games left and they are against two teams ahead of us in the standings. We will see how it works out. All I can ask of the kids is if they give it their best. They did that this weekend."
Lowry travels to Fernley this weekend, starting with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Friday. The two schools will play a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m.[[In-content Ad]]
