MESQUITE — You never know what your going to get when you get into the postseason, especially the state tournament.
The Lowry High School softball team and rival Fernley, provided something fans were not expecting — a low scoring contest from two of the highest scoring teams in the league in an elimination game on Friday night at the NIAA State Championships in Mesquite.
The two schools combined for nearly 500 runs this year, but a pitchers duel broke out in a 1-0 final. Unfortunately, for the Lady Bucks they were on the wrong side of the scoreboard. The Vaqueros scored the lone run of the night in the sixth inning and held off a Lady Buckaroo rally in the seventh to end Lowry’s season a game short of the state championship.
“That’s a game you don’t expect,” said LHS coach Austin Mayo. “We had our chances to win it. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. We had a great year. Very few people thought we would be here. With what we lost and a new head coach, we surprised some people. People thought we would have a down year, but I give all the credit to our seniors. They stepped up and wiled this team and made sure everyone was where they needed to be.”
Lowry loaded the bases in the first inning, but could not get a run across the board. That turned out to be the best opportunity of the contest for the Lady Bucks.
Lowry put two runners on base in the fifth inning, but once again could not convert the opportunity into runs.
The Lady Bucks’ Mackenzie Salas-Begay led off the seventh with a single, only to see her pinch runner thrown out at second base on a stolen base attempt to end the rally.
Salas-Begay allowed just three hits and the unearned run in the circle. She struck out two and walked one. Kelcey Cooper picked up two of Lowry’s four hits.
Lowry falls to Pahrump
in opener
Lowry opened the state tournament on Thursday night and lost 6-5 despite a late rally in the seventh inning.
The Lady Bucks had their chances to open the scoring in the first inning, but could not convert runs with runners on base.
With two runners on base, Sydney Connors was hit by the ball on her way to second base, forcing her out and putting Cooper back on third base instead of scoring the first run. After that out, the inning fizzled.
Pahrump Valley took advantage of the break and scored three times in the bottom of the first inning to go in front 3-0.
Lowry cut the deficit to 3-1 in the fourth inning, with the help of two Pahrump Valley errors. However, the Trojans answered back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead 5-1.
The Lady Bucks trimmed the deficit to 5-2 in the sixth inning, after a lead off double by Sierra Maestrejuan and a fielders choice by Destiny Starkey. Once again, the Trojans had an answer in the bottom of the sixth with a single run, which turned out to be an important insurance run.
Lowry found its offense in the seventh inning, as Cooper led off with a single. She scored with one out when Connors singled her home.
After a ground out for the second out, Connors scored on a double by Maestrejuan. Maestrejuan eventually scored to make the score 6-5, but Lowry could not complete the comeback. Cooper, Connors and Maestrejuan each had two hits.
Salas-Begay suffered the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) on 11 hits. She walked five and struck out three.
Lowry rallies past
Moapa Valley
Lowry had to rally in the closing innings to keep its season alive in an elimination game on Friday against Moapa Valley.
The Pirates jumped out to a 4-1 lead, only to see Lowry rally for eight runs in the fifth and sixth innings to win 9-7.
Trailing 4-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Lowry tied the game with three runs.
With one out, the Lady Bucks loaded the bases after a double by Connors and walks to Maestrejuan and Madi McClellan. A sac fly by Bailey Hayes that scored Connors cut the deficit to 4-2. Salas-Begay helped herself out, tying the game with a two-RBI double.
The momentum was short-lived as Moapa Valley scored three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth inning, including two on a home run to go back in front 7-4.
Lowry’s bats remained hot after the fifth inning, as Kenzie Dowd-Smith led off the sixth inning with a single, which was followed by a single by Cooper.
Starkey advanced the two runners on sac bunt to bring Connors to the plate. But the senior was intentionally walked to load the bases.
The rest of the line up made the Pirates play for putting her on base. Maestrejuan followed with a two-RBI double to cut the gap to 7-6. McClellan, the next batter, gave Lowry the lead for good with a three-run home run.
“We finally made a team pay for not pitching to Sydney,” Mayo said. “Sierra and Madi came up big for us. The bunt by Destiny was huge too.”
Cooper, Connors, Maestrejuan and McClellan each had to hits. Salas-Begay earned the win.
“Our season turned around at the Reed tournament,” May said. “We had that one bad game against Fernley and went to Reed the next day. “Everything flipped from there and we became the team that we are now. To lose two games by one run in the state tournament is just tough. I can’t remember the league has been that balanced at the top. For us to be right there, shows a lot about us. I asked them one thing — leave all out on the field and they did that.”
