THOMAS RANSON • Nevada News Group
Lowry’s Maddison McClure attempts to tag out a Churchill County runner at home during Friday’s road game in Fallon
After a slow start to the season, the Lowry High School softball team is starting to play some of its best ball of the year.
The Lady Bucks were in Fallon last weekend to play league-leading Churchill County.
Lowry needed to come away with at least one win to keep its playoff hopes alive. They did just that but two more wins slipped away.
Lowry won the opener on Friday 7-3, with Churchill County winning 5-4 in eight innings and 7-3 on Saturday.
The Lady Bucks sit at 4-8 in the Northern 3A East and 10-17 overall.
Lowry 7, Churchill County 3
Lowry wasted no time in jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the opening inning of Friday’s game. The Lady Bucks began the contest with five straight hits, starting with a single from Savannah Stoker.
Maddison McClure followed with a double, Hayden Case a single, Baliey Peterson a single and a triple by Cambria Tisue to make the score 4-0.
The fifth run came on a wild pitch.
The Lady Bucks extended their lead to 6-3 in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Stoker, her 50th on the season. Lowry tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Natayla Guizar scored on a wild pitch.
Stoker was 3-for-3 with an intentional walk and Case added a pair of hits. Adalyn Entwistle, Isabel Upton, Guizar, Peterson and McClure each had one hit.
Stoker struck out eight and allowed seven hits and three runs in the complete-game win.
Churchill County 5, Lowry 4 (8 Innings)
In Saturday’s first game, Stoker homered on the second pitch she saw in the first inning for her 51st, giving Lowry a 1-0 lead. That was the last pitch she saw for the day, as she was intentionally walked seven times.
Churchill County tied the game in the third inning but Lowry jumped ahead once again in the fourth off a solo home run my Cambria Tisue.
The Lady Bucks led 3-1 in the sixth inning on a steal of home by Case, only to see the Greenwave take the lead 4-3 on a two-run homer.
After Stoker was walked with two outs in the seventh, McClure and Case followed singles to tie the game. One batter later, Peterson reached base but Maura Braatz running for McClure was thrown out at home trying to score the go-ahead run. Churchill County used an error, sac bunt and single to win in the eighth.
McClure, Upton and Case each had two hits.
Churchill County 7, Lowry 3
Trailing 3-1 going into the fourth inning of the series finale, a single by Entwistle closed the gap to 3-2, which loaded the bases. The Greenwave didn’t bother with Stoker, walking her to tie the game. The inning ended with a flyout.
Churchill County took the lead for good with a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Entwistle finished with two hits and Elisabeth George had a hit.
Lowry hosts Dayton on Thursday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Friday at 11 a.m. If the Lady Bucks win twice, they advance to the postseason to play either South Tahoe or Wooster on May 4.