The 2017 season came to end last weekend for the Lowry High School baseball team as the Buckaroos said goodbye to 10 seniors and their coach on Saturday.
Lowry took on Fernley in a three-game series, with the Vaqueros claiming three victories. Fernley won a doubleheader on Friday, May 5, 12-1 and 8-7 and a single game on Saturday, May 6, 7-2. The Buckaroos finished the year 3-21 in the Northern 3A and 3-25 overall.
“When we talked Thursday (day before the series) the results this season were not for lack of effort,” said LHS Ron Espinola, who retired after the finale on Saturday. “I know how hard we worked everyday in practice. I know how long we worked in practice. Sometimes it just does not work. That’s life. It was not like we were wishing for things to happen, we put time in to make them happen. Sometimes it does not go your way. These kids worked their butts off. They were practicing three hours a day.”
Fernley wins opener
Fernley jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning in the series opener and never trailed. Lowry was held to three hits, with two of them coming in the fourth inning.
The Buckaroos scored their lone run in the fourth, with Jayson Smith and Kyle Young reaching base on a walk and hit by pitch. Jake Marriott and Riley Sakurada followed with singles to drive home Smith. The only other Lowry hit was a single by Young in the sixth inning.
The Vaqueros added a single run in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule.
Marriott started for Lowry and suffered the loss in 5.2 innings of work. He allowed 12 runs (three earned) on 14 hits. He struck out two and walked two. Lowry had five errors in the contest.
Vaqueros rally in nightcap
Both teams scored a single run in the first inning of the nightcap in the doubleheader. Lowry tied the game in the bottom of the first on a single by Brendan Domire. The sophomore eventually scored after an error, wild pitch and passed ball.
Fernley jumped back in front at 3-1 in the top of the second inning, when Lowry struck for four runs in the bottom of the frame. Anthony Good and Roberto Rodriguez walked to start the inning and Tazmin Milton reached on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases.
Nico Espinola walked, bringing home Good to cut the gap in half at 4-2. In between outs, Domire and Young drove home runs with singles to give the Buckaroos a 5-3 advantage.
Fernley took the lead for good in the third inning with three runs and added insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings to go in front 8-5. Lowry did its best to rally in the seventh inning off of back-to-back singles by Domire and Smith. Young followed with a double to the fence that drove in two runs, but Young was thrown out at third base, trying to extend the play to a triple.
“It was a bang-bang play,” Espinola said. “I am not going to fault him for a hustle play. He was trying to make something happen.”
The next two Lowry batters grounded out to end the game.
Domire paced Lowry with three hits and Young had two hits and three RBI. Smith and Milton each had one hit. Ren Mattson started for Lowry on the mound and was tagged with the loss. He allowed seven runs (five earned) in 3.2 innings of work. He walked four and struck out one. Milton threw the final 3.1 innings and gave up one run on five hits. He struck out three and walked two.
“Tazmin came in and gave us some good innings,” added the coach. “We just waited too long to get going again after a good start.”
Fernley completes sweep
Fernley scored runs in each of the first innings in the series finale and led 3-0 in the second inning. Lowry got two of the runs back in the bottom of the third inning on a two-RBI double by Young that plated Milton and Smith, who both singled. The Buckaroos did not score again and had just three hits in the final four innings.
The Vaqueros added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and two more in the sixth to pull away late for the win.
Young had a team-high three hits to go with his two RBI, while Milton and Rodriguez had two hits apiece.
Jake Barnes, who injured his knee early last month in Dayton started and threw one pitch on senior day. Young went the distance from there, but took the loss. He allowed six runs (three earned) on 14 hits. He struck out three and walked none.
“My heart goes out to them, because to have that frustration is hard to deal with,” Espinola said. "It is not what it is about. The best thing about this is the life lessons that are taught. I have had the same philosophy for a long time. You are a baseball player, but the whole point is to get you through baseball and make them better men. This is just high school baseball. They are going to go on and to much better things with their lives.”
