The Lowry High School softball team was able to get three games in at the Franklin Preseason Tournament in Sacramento, Calif., last weekend before Mother Nature washed out the final day.
Lowry opened the tournament with a 7-2 loss to Laguna Creek on Thursday, March 5, and lost to River City 9-1 and Oakmont 10-0 on Friday, March 6. The games scheduled for Saturday, March 7, were postponed due to rain.
“We knew we were going to see some good competition,” said LHS coach Austin Mayo. “If anybody knows anything about high school softball, they know what kind of softball is played in the Sacramento area. We saw some quality teams and going in cold. We had the scrimmage with Lovelock, but the teams we were playing have been playing for a couple weeks.”
In the loss to Laguna Creek, the California school used a walk and triple to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Laguna Creek added two more runs in the fourth inning to increase the advantage to 4-0.
The Lady Bucks cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Kenzi Dowd-Smith led off the frame with a single and later scored on a single by Shelbie Hoyt. Destiny Starkey added the second run with a triple that scored Hoyt.
Laguna Creek used two walks and a double to take a 7-2 lead in the fifth inning to rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. Bailey Hayes and Sierra Maestrejuan opened the frame with a single and double, respectively.
However, the rally and game ended with two strikeouts and a ground out.
Lowry out-hit Laguna Creek 8-5, but left seven runners on base. Hayes and Maestrejuan each had two hits and Kelcey Cooper, Dowd-Smith, Hoyt and Starkey each had one hit.
Mackenzie Salas-Begay went the distance in the circle, allowing seven runs (four earned) on six hits. She struck out five and walked three.
Lowry falls to
River City
In its first game on Friday, March 6, Lowry took River City (West Sacramento, Calif.) and lost 9-1.
The Lady Bucks grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning, when Dowd-Smith doubled home Maestrejuan who had reached base on a fielder’s choice.
Despite putting runners of base throughout the contest, Lowry could not push another run across the plate.
River City tied the game in the bottom of the first inning and added three runs in the second inning and two more in the third to lead 6-1. River City put three more runs on the plate in the fifth inning to account for the final score.
Lowry left eight more runners on base, as Dowd-Smith and Starkey each had two hits. Hannah Toth and Hoyt had one hit apiece.
“I knew we would probably struggle offensively, but did better than I thought,” Mayo said. “We left a lot of runners on base in all the games. If we push some more runs across, who knows what happens. We just didn’t have that timely hit when we needed it.”
In her first varsity game, freshman Bree Dunckhorst went the distance in the circle for the Lady Bucks. She allowed nine runs on 13 hits. She struck out two and walked two.
Oakmont shuts out Lowry
In the final game of the tournament, Lowry was held to four hits in a 10-0 loss to Oakmont. Oakmont scored four runs in the first and third innings to pull away for the victory.
Cooper had half of Lowry’s four hits, with Alexus Gomez and Toth each picking up a hit.
In her first varsity contest as well, Kadence Cooney pitch a complete game for Lowry. She allowed 10 runs (five earned) on 10 hits. She walked two and struck out one. The Lady Bucks committed three errors, leading to five unearned runs.
“It was a good chance to get all of our pitchers out there to throw,” added the coach. “They probably won’t see those kind of lineups the rest of the year.”
Lowry makes its home debut on Saturday, hosting Spring Creek in a doubleheader at 11 a.m.
“It’s time to go after for real,” Mayo said. “This Spring Creek series will be good to see where we are at in the league.”
