After winning two games in Fallon the week before, the scenarios for the Lowry High School softball team to clinch a bye and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming 3A regional championships were pretty simple.
The Lady Bucks needed just one win against last-place Truckee this past weekend at home to end the season to accomplish that feat. That quickly came in a 15-0 win on Thursday afternoon and Lowry shut out Truckee twice on Friday 12-0 and 15-0 to finish the regular season at 21-3 in the Northern 3A and 21-6 overall.
Lowry will await the winner of Churchill County and Spring Creek, as it opens play in the regional tournament on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Fallon at Churchill County High School.
Lowry needs just three innings to beat Truckee
Truckee collected the first two hits in Thursday’s opener, as Lowry celebrated senior day. That was all the offense for the Wolverines, as Lowry senior Sylvie Prokasky retired the final nine Truckee batters to earn the win. Prokasky threw just 33 pitches in thee innings of work and struck out four batters.
The Lady Bucks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, with three of those runs coming on a bases-clearing double by Madi McClellan. McClellan eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk.
Lowry broke the game open with 11 runs in the bottom of the second inning. McClellan added two more RBIs with a single that scored Kelcey Cooper, Kyllie Sappington and Sydney Connors. Destiny Starkey added a two-RBI triple and McClellan knocked in two more runs later in the frame. McClellan finished with three hits and seven RBI. The final two outs were recorded as Lowry runners left the base early.
Bailey Sapien, Sierra Maestrejuan, Kuskie and Cooper each had one hit. The Lady Bucks were aided by nine walks, three Truckee errors and Connors was hit by pitches on two occasions.
Lady Bucks blank
Wolverines
Lowry needed to go five innings in the first game but the result was nearly the same.
Junior Macey Katzenmeyer was dominant in the circle as she allowed just one hit in five innings of work. She struck out eight Truckee batters and two hits over own at the plate.
The Lady Bucks strung together a pair of hits by Sappington and McClellan I the first inning to score three runs. Lowry also took advantage of two walks by Truckee pitching.
Katzenmeyer led off the second inning with a triple, starting a seven-run rally. She also had a single in her second at bat of the frame. Sappington added a three-RBI double in the inning and Connors also had a double. Connors led off the fourth inning with a solo home run, which was followed by a single by McClellan and a double by Sapien.
Connors, McClellan and Katzenmeyer each had two hits for Lowry. Sappington, Sapien and Prokasky had one hit apiece.
Maestrejuan throws
two-hitter in finale
Lowry picked up its third consecutive string pitching performance, as sophomore Sierra Maestrejuan allowed just two hits in her three innings of work.
The Lady Bucks scored seven runs in the first inning and did not look back. Kuskie led off the game with a double off the bottom of the fence and Cooper followed with a single. After four walks and a fielder’s choice, Starkey began a stretch of three consecutive hits, which was followed by Kuskie and Cooper.
Lowry extended the advantage to 9-0 in the second inning and closed the game out with six runs in the third inning. McClellan had a three-RBI triple in the big inning and Savannah Dalley closed out the game with a RBI-single that scored Maestrejuan.
Lowry had its best hot total of the weekend with 12, as Kuskie, Cooper, Maestrejuan and Dalley each had two hits. Connors, McClellan, Sapien and Starkey had one hit apiece.
The Lowry High School softball team (21-3) earned the No. 2 seed in the Northern 3A Regional Championships, which starts Thursday at Churchill County High School in Fallon.
Lowry will play the winner of Churchill County and Spring Creek at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Greenwave and Spartans play in the first round round at 11:30 a.m.
If the Lady Bucks win their opening game, they would play at 2 p.m. on Friday. A loss means Lowry plays at 9 a.m. on Friday morning.
South Tahoe and Elko open the tournament on Thursday at 9 a.m. and the winner plays Fernley at 2 p.m.
The tournament runs through Saturday in Fallon. For a complete bracket, visit www.niaa.com.
“It was a solid weekend for us and we have a couple things to work on and clean up,” said LHS coach Ty Lucas. “The goal is to get dialed in for next weekend. “It’s time for some tournament ball and we are going to show up, have some fun and see what happens.”
