A well-timed loss may not be a bad thing and that is what happened to the Lowry High School softball team last week.
The Lady Bucks, who have cruised through much of the 3A East season this spring, hit a major speed bump on Wednesday, May 12. Lowry took on Spring Creek, who is fifth in the league, in Winnemucca and suffered a 5-2 loss to the Spartans. It was the first win for Spring Creek over Lowry since 2011.
The loss did not sit well with the Lady Bucks, who swept a doubleheader from the Spartans this past Friday in Spring Creek, winning 11-1 and 14-0 to improve to 13-2 on the year. The Lady Bucks clinched the No. 1 seed for the regional tournament as well.
In the Spring Creek win in Winnemucca, the Spartans’ Janeigha Stutesman hit a two-out home run in the first inning and Spring Creek never trailed. Stutesman also picked up the win for the Spartans, allowing 10 hits in seven innings of work.
Lowry tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning, as Kenzi Dowd-Smith doubled home Natalia Zepeda. Spring Creek strung together three singles in the top of the fifth inning to lead 3-1, when Lowry cut the deficit to 3-2 on an RBI-single by Zepeda that scored her sister Isabella Zepeda.
Spring Creek added two runs in the sixth inning to finish off the upset. Dowd-Smith had three hits for Lowry and Hayden Case and Natalia Zepeda had two hits apiece.
After a day off, Lowry regrouped and showed by it’s the top team in the league with an 11-1 win in game one. Freshman Savannah Stoker had four hits and six RBI in the victory.
The freshman provided the first run in the opening inning, as she singled home fellow freshman Isabella Zepeda, who led off the game with a triple.
Spring Creek tied the game in the bottom of the first but Lowry took the lead for good with four runs in the third inning. Case, a freshman, double home Alexus Gomez and Stoker capped off the frame with a three-run homer to make the score 6-1.
After scoring a single run in the sixth, the Lady Bucks added four runs in the seventh off base hits by Dowd-Smith, Kadence Cooney, Case, Stoker and Natalia Zepeda.
Isabella Zepeda and Case each added three hits and Cooney and Dowd-Smith had two hits apiece.
Bree Dunckhorst picked up the win in the circle, allowing one run on five hits. She struck out six and walked none.
Lowry carried the momentum into the nightcap, as Stoker and Dowd-Smith each had four hits, with Stoker adding six more RBI.
Lowry took a 5-0 lead in the second inning after a double by Stoker and back-to-back triples by Natalia Zepeda and Dowd-Smith. Stoker added a solo home run in the fourth inning and picked up three more RBI in the fifth inning with a bases-clearing triple.
Mackenzie Salas-Begay collected three hits, as well as the win in the circle. The senior allowed just four hits in the 53-pitch complete-game effort.
Natalia Zepeda added three hits and Shelbie Hoyt, Bailey Hayes and senior Hannah Toth had one hit each.
Lowry traveled to Fallon on Tuesday for an extra game with Churchill County. The game does not count in the league standings.
The 3A East Regional Championship is Friday and Saturday in Winnemucca. Lowry will play the winner of Elko on Spring Creek on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
If the Lady Bucks win, the championship game follows immediately in the single-elimination tournament.
