Galena baseball sweeps Fallon

FALLON - Galena's varsity baseball team has quickly discovered that playing on the road is just as good as playing at home.

Eric Maupin and Jacob Anderson threw back-to-back shutouts against Fallon Saturday as the Grizzlies swept the Wave, 8-0 and 6-0, in High Desert League play.

Because of work being down on Galena's field, the Grizzlies must play all their home games on the road.

Galena coach Gary McNamara said he hasn't seen two consecutive pitching performances like the ones he saw Saturday.

"These were two dominant pitching performances," he said.

Out of 42 outs from both games, 29 came on strikeouts.

McNamara said the pitching in both games seemed to throw Fallon's batting off.

Fallon coach Brad Barton believes Galena is one of the top team he has seen this season.

"These guys are probably the best," he said.

With the three-game sweep, Galena improves to 6-3 in league, 11-4 overall, while Fallon drops to 4-8 in league, 4-13 overall.

Fallon's offense struggled in the doubleheader, especially in the first game against Maupin.

Maupin, son of a former Greenwave pitching great who led Fallon to a state baseball championship in 1971, threw a no-hitter. He also missed a perfect game when he hit shortstop Brett Wickizer with an inside curve in the fourth inning.

The Galena junior recorded 14 strikeouts and walked one. He also struck out the side in the first and third innings.

The 6-foot-2 Maupin said his fastball and offspeed pitches were working for him. His mastery over Fallon, though, extends back two years when he threw a no-hitter against the Greenwave as a freshman.

"I threw well early in the game. I would throw a fastball and then throw an off-speed pitch," he said.

"His fastball was on," McNamara added.

The Grizzlies jumped on starting pitcher Jake Morford for seven runs in the first inning. Morford had problems with his velocity, and as a result, Galena touched the Fallon senior for five hits. Basim Azzam and Justin Norvick each drove in a pair of runs, and Jake Hess singled home another run.

With two outs, Ernie McNair relieved Morford and shut down the Grizzlies for the rest of the game, allowing one run on two hits.

McNair felt pleased with his pitching against one of the top teams in the High Desert League.

"I wasn't nervous," McNair said when he entered the game in the first inning.

The Fallon senior said his changeup was working as was his fastball.

Barton said McNair has three good pitches, and he used each one of them effectively.

Anderson handcuffed Fallon in the second game, striking out 15 and allowing four hits.

"He did a good job of keeping the ball down. He also adjusted well to the strike zone," McNamara said.

The Galena junior started to wear down in the seventh inning. With two outs, he surrendered a double to Allan Albisu and a single to Jake Baker. He then walked Lyle Gardner before striking out Tyler Rechel on three pitches.

A Fallon throwing error allowed Galena to score first in the second game. The Grizzlies loaded the bases, but a force play at home resulted in the ball scooting to the backstop and allowing two runs to score. Pete Lazzari followed with an RBI single off Fallon pitcher Daniel Doty to make the score 3-0.

Tony Thompson led off the third inning with a triple. Assam followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Galena a four-run lead. Galena added two more runs in the fifth inning. J.D. Peters singled, and Thompson followed with a double. Norvick, who drove in five runs in the series' first game, then ripped a two-run single.

Galena finished the game with seven hits off Doty, who pitched his first complete game of the season.

"He pitched a great game," Barton said of his junior.