The Battle Mountain High School baseball team did its part last weekend to set up a showdown for the Division III North regular season championship that will be decided on Saturday in Battle Mountain.
The Longhorns (11-1 Division III North, 17-4 overall) met little resistance in its road trip to Silver Springs in outscoring Silver Stage 49-2 in three games. The Nighthawks scored their lone runs on Friday in a 14-2 win for the Longhorns.
“The team played very well this weekend except for one inning,” said BMHS coach Worth Nelson. “We had four errors in one inning that allowed two runs. We need to stop doing that if at all possible, as it always costs us runs. In a contest like this last weekend it was not a concern but will be a concern against our next two opponents if we do that.”
The teams played a doubleheader on Friday, with Battle Mountain winning 22-0 in game that was shortened to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
In Saturday’s single game, the Longhorns were dominant once again, winning 13-0 to complete the series sweep.
“We threw five different pitchers in the games and they all did good,” Nelson said. They all threw strikes and for the most part worked ahead in the counts. Our hitting was good and the overall offense did well. Again, we were able to make something out of most innings any time we got runners on. Most of the offense was do to our aggressiveness and some was due to their inability to make plays with the pressure we put on.”
First place is up for grabs this week as Battle Mountain plays Pershing County. Both teams are 11-1 in league play.
The series starts Wednesday in Lovelock at 4 p.m. The series shifts to Battle Mountain on Saturday for a doubleheader at 11 a.m.
Battle Mountain closes out the regular season on May 1-2 in Incline. The Highlanders are fourth in the Division III North at 8-4.
The Division III North Regional Championships will take place May 8-9 at Pershing County High School in Lovelock. Battle Mountain, Pershing County, Yerington and Incline will fight for the two transfer spots to the state tournament in Las Vegas.
“We will be up against better opponents the next couple of weeks and then into zone with all good opponents so we will have to continue to do the good things we have done all year,” Nelson said. “We have a good group of kids who are all contributing this year.”