Coming into its home stand last weekend against South Tahoe, the Lowry High School softball team was looking to secure its place in the Northern 3A playoffs.
The Lady Bucks were sitting in third place at 5-2 when the Lady Vikings came to town.
Lowry scored two more wins to go to 7-2 on the season and keep a top three playoff position alive.
"We came out and jumped on them early on Friday," said LHS coach Austin Mayo. "South Tahoe is a game we are supposed to win, so for us to come out and play smooth and stay up for games like that and get out to an early lead, the girls did an excellent job. Everybody played really well.”
On Friday, the Lady Bucks grabbed 17 runs in just two innings to finish off the Vikings 17-0 for the win.
“Bailey Hayes is a freshman who is still figuring out how to be a varsity player, but each week she keeps getting better,” Mayo said. “She hits well with a lot of pressure. She puts the ball in play, and she puts her bat on the ball. She can bunt, she can hit; she doesn’t hit for a lot of power yet, but she is young and that will come, she has a lot of room to grow there.”
Saturday’s game was a little tougher for Lowry, but they took home a five inning 11-0 victory.
“It took a little bit longer today, but the girls did well and they stayed up for it,” Mayo said. “It is tough to adjust to slower pitching, but they made the plays that we are supposed to and took advantage of the opportunities that we had.”
Lowry takes on Churchill County (Fallon) on Tuesday, at home starting at 2 p.m. and the Lady Bucks will play a make-up game at North Valleys at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
“We have a big game Tuesday against Fallon," Mayo said. "It will be a tough game. They have been at the top of the league with us and Fernley for the past couple of years, and we lost to them in the state championship game last year, so we are looking for a little bit of revenge. Ultimately we try and do the same thing week in and week out. If we come out and do what we do, hit the ball and pitch well, we will be fine.”
Sparks will host Lowry on Friday and Saturday. Churchill County returns to Winnemucca on Tuesday, April 23 for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
“It will be a little different for us this week, we haven’t had a Tuesday game in a long time,” Mayo said. “We have a busy week. We go to Fallon on Tuesday and then our make-up game at North Valleys, and then a series at Sparks on the weekend."
