Entering this past weekend’s series at home against Sparks, the Lowry High School baseball team was not going to overlook the Railroaders.
Sparks is in a rebuilding mode this season and lost its opening Northern 3A series to Sparks by a combined score of 77-1. The Buckaroos have had their struggles over the past few years and did not want to be the first win for the Railroaders.
Lowry foiled any upset ideas and outscored Sparks 40-5 in a three-game sweep to improve to 7-7 overall and 6-3 in the Northern 3A. The Buckaroos claimed the opener 10-0 on Friday and won both games on Saturday 15-5 and 15-0.
“It is hard to get up for a series like that,” said LHS coach Andy Harmon. “Sparks is in a rebuilding mode with a lot of new players. We have been in that same spot. Our defense and pitching did what it needed to do and we put the ball in play. I have no complaints. We had a couple guys banged up and rested them this weekend. They will be OK going into Elko this week.”
Lowry blanks Sparks
Lowry pitching scattered three hits through five innings in the opener on Friday afternoon. The Buckaroos used a lead-off double from Brendan Domire in the first inning to score two runs and never looked back.
The Buckaroos tacked on three more runs in the second inning, the first of those coming off an inside-the-park home run by Kyle Sappington. His fly ball got passed the diving attempt by the Sparks’ left fielder. Domire followed with a single and scored on Ride Ricketts triple.
Lowry strung together base hits from Domire, Ricketts, Josh Leveille and Riley Sakurada to add four runs in the fourth inning. The Buckaroos ended the game in the fifth inning on the 10-run rule after Tyler Neu reached base on an error to lead off the frame. Neu moved up from the JV team on the weekend, since the Railroaders did not have a JV team. After Chris Schultz was hit by a pitch, Neu scored after Michael Yarnell reached base on an error.
Tazmin Milton earned the win for the Buckaroos in five innings of work. He allowed three hits and struck out 11. He walked one batter.
Domire collected three of Lowry’s eight hits. Ricketts and Sakurada each had one hit and two RBI. Leveille, Milton and Sappington each had one hit.
Buckaroos pull away
from Railroaders
Lowry jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second inning in Saturday’s opener, following as two-run home run by Domire that scored Yarnell. The Buckaroos also picked up hits from Leveille and Sappington in the inning but took advantage of two Sparks’ errors.
After going scoreless through the first seven innings of the series, the Railroaders plated four runs in the top of the third inning to cut the deficit to 6-4. Sparks took advantage of a walk and hit batter to start the rally. Sparks added three consecutive hits to account for the four runs.
Lowry answered back in the bottom of the third with three runs, including a RBI-single by Sakurada and a RBI-double by Jimmy Rackley. Rackley scored the final run of the inning on a Sparks error.
Rackley added another RBI-single in the fourth inning to give Lowry an 11-4 lead. After Sparks added a run in the sixth inning, Lowry scored four times in the bottom of the inning to end the contest by the 10-run rule.
Ricketts led off the inning with a double and Leveille was hit by a pitch. Sakurada and Rackley followed with singles. After Heath Hall and Levi Christopherson walked, Domire walked with the bases loaded to end the game.
Lowry used four pitchers in the contest with Domire getting the win in 2.1 innings of relief. He allowed four runs and six hits. He struck out four and walked three. Jake Marriott threw two innings and allowed one hit, while striking out four. Parker and Christopherson also saw time on the mound.
Rackley paced Lowry with three hits, four RBI and two runs scored. Ricketts and Sakurada each had two hits for the Buckaroos. Anthony Hemp, Domire, Leveille, Parker and Yarnell had one hit apiece. Domire also had three RBI.
“Everybody got a chance to see the fields, which was nice,” Harmon said. “With the way the league we might not get another chance to move the players around like we did this weekend.”
Lowry shuts out Sparks
Lowry quickly ended the series finale in three innings with a 15-0 win. The Buckaroos plated six runs in the first inning and cruised from there. Sappington excited the crowd with a straight steal of home as part of the inning.
Lowry extended the advantage to 10-0 in the second inning and scored five more runs in the third inning.
Ren Mattson allowed just one hit to pick up the victory. The senior struck out four and walked one batter.
Sakurada had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored and Milton added two hits, two RBI and two runs scored.
“We looked a lot better in the final game and our goal was to win three games, Harmon said.
Lowry is currently tied for third in the Northern 3A with Truckee at 6-3. Elko leads the league at 5-1 and Churchill County is second at 8-2.
The Buckaroos will see where they stand in the Northern 3A with a road trip to Elko this weekend. The series opener is Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We are sitting in good shape right now,” Harmon said. “The rest of the season is going to be a battle and no easy games. Hopefully, we can go to Elko and take care of business and see where we stand in the league.”
