Lady Wave sweeps South Tahoe

Rolling into the postseason is never a bad thing.

And for the Fallon softball team, the bats are warm and defense is on point. The Lady Wave capped the regular season with a three-game sweep over South Tahoe (8-0, 13-3 and 12-0) last weekend, and clinched the No. 3 seed in Friday and Saturday’s Northern Division I-A regional tournament.

Fallon has now won six straight as it heads into its fourth consecutive regional tournament.

The Lady Wave opens the tournament against second-seeded Lowry at noon at South Tahoe High School. Fernley, meanwhile, snapped Fallon’s three-year rein as league champs and will face fourth-seeded Dayton at 10:30 a.m.

“This weekend was a good weekend,” Fallon coach Bill Archer said. “The pitcher (Kendra Conrad) we faced was a decent pitcher and we made some adjustments.”

Fallon’s offense cranked up the heat as the Lady Wave mashed out 32 hits in the three-game set and piled up 33 runs.

Megan McCormick had a monster series at the plate as the sophomore belted a home run and a pair of RBIs in Friday’s opener. She continued her hot hitting on Saturday with a 4-for-4 performance including a triple and three RBIs in the first game.

“It was a great tune-up for the playoffs as we get ready to face Lowry,” Archer said.

On Friday, Paige Thorn added a double, while Ali Tedford chipped in with two RBIs and two stolen bases. Rileigh Ricken, meanwhile, went seven innings and allowed one hit, two walks and nine strikeouts.

Thorn also continued her torrid pace with three hits including two doubles and three RBIs. Hannah Frank, Tedford and Izzy Thomas each added an RBI for Fallon.

Kayla Buckmaster picked up the win as she allowed five hits, three earned runs and struck out three in five innings.

“The pitching was good,” Archer said. “All around, the pitchers did good. Defensively, the outfield made plays and when runners get on, we weren’t making errors.”

To cap the weekend sweep, Kalyn Huckaby, Tedford, Ricken and Ford each had two hits. Ford recorded four RBIs, while Ricken added three and also doubled. Huckaby and Nicole Mariezcurrena also doubled.

Ricken picked up her second win of the weekend as she allowed one hit and struck out seven in five innings.

“It was smart hitting,” Archer said of the weekend. “I think it was patient … kids weren’t swinging at just anything.”