It is to the point in the season where the Lowry High School baseball team is throwing their arms up in the air trying to figure out what will happen next.
The struggles for the Buckaroos continued last weekend, as they were swept by Churchill County in a three-game series in Fallon. The Greenwave won the series-opener on April 17, 11-3, and won both games on Saturday 6-3 and 6-1 to drop the Buckaroos to 6-9 in league play and 6-14 overall.
"I hate to sound like a broken record, but it is either one thing or another," said LHS coach Ron Espinola. "Fallon did most of its damage in just a couple of innings. When we are pitching well, we aren't hitting the ball well and vice versa. We are having trouble putting a complete game together when
we are out on the field. We have the kids and talent, but it's just not happening for us right now."
In the series opener, Lowry grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a two-RBI single by Colin Doyle that scored Troy Hardy and Tytin Johnson. However, the offense dried up after the third inning after a single by Mickey Donovan scored Brandon Okuma. Lowry left nine runners on base on the day.
Churchill County took the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning with four runs and added five more in the fourth, including a two-run home run by Tyler Bagby. Bagby finished with four RBI in the game.
"Bagby flat out hit everything we threw at the plate all weekend," said Espinola. "We made some good pitches to him and he did a great job against us. We did our job, he did his job better."
Aaron Nelson started for the Buckaroos and took the loss in four innings of work. The senior allowed nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits. He walked three and struck out two. Colton Lacy threw the final two innings and gave up two runs (none earned) and two hits. He struck out one and walked none.
Christian Dawson, Donovan, Hardy, Miller and Doyle each had one hit.
After giving up an unearned run in the first inning in Saturday's opener, Lowry jumped in front in the top of the third inning on a two-RBI single by Dawson that scored Calvin Connors and Okuma. Dawson eventually scored on a wild pitch to make the score 3-1.
That was all the scoring for the Buckaroos, who managed just three hits in the final four innings. Churchill County closed the gap to 3-2 in the fourth inning and scored four times in the fourth, two of those off a double by Bagby.
"It was another lead that we could not hold," Espinola said. "We got outplayed quite a bit in reality, especially on defense. We really compounded some problems that we had. We make one mistake and follow it with another and that bleeds over to our offense. Still, we played hard and the focus and intensity is there. Tanner (Lecumberry) threw a great game for us."
Okuma and Nelson each had two hits for the Buckaroos and Connors, Lecumberry, Dawson and Donovan Brumm had one hit each.
In the series finale, Lowry found it tough going against Churchill County freshman Alex Mendes. The freshman did not give up a hit until the fourth inning and the Buckaroos had just five hits in the game.
"The kid was good, not that good but we couldn't hit," Espinola said. "That is how our season has gone. We pitched and played defense well, but could not hit. We just need to be consistent. We have not seen, expect for brief moments the team that it is. We are trying different things and whatever we are doing, it's not working. Obviously, we don't have a lot of time left."
Churchill County scored all the runs it needed in the third inning, plating three runs. The Greenwave added a single run in the third and two more in the fifth.
Johnson suffered the loss in his 1.2 innings of work. The senior allowed three runs on two hits. He struck out one and walked one. Lacy and Connors combined for the final 4.1 innings.
With nine games left in the regular season Lowry sits in sixth-place in the Division I-A North at 6-9. Elko leads the league at 13-4 and South Tahoe is second at 12-4. Churchill County and Fernley are tied for third at 9-5 and Spring Creek is fifth at 8-6.
Lowry hosted Truckee on Thursday and results were not available at press time. The Buckaroos and Wolverines play a doubleheader on Friday at 11 a.m. The series was moved up due to Truckee having its prom on Saturday.
"We need to get some wins this weekend and thankfully we have the opportunity to play Fernley and Spring Creek," Espinola said. I just don't know right now. I have had teams that weren't good. But, that is not this team. They are good athletes, great kids, good students, good baseball players and for whatever reason we can't get out of our own way."
Winnemucca Publishing sports editor Tony Erquiaga can be reached at t.erquiaga@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
