Fallon holds off Railroaders

A gutty performance lifted the Fallon baseball team to a hard-fought 5-4 win over Sparks on Monday at the Edward Arciniega Complex.

Saturday’s doubleheader was postponed due to rain, but Fallon came out hot with five runs in the first three innings.

Fallon and Sparks complete the series on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the complex, and Fallon caps the season with a three-game set at South Tahoe.

“Maybe this was one of the best things for us,” Fallon coach Lester de Braga said. “We had to push ourselves to stay in front and get the win. The last four or five games we just walked through them and there wasn’t much pressure.”

Marshall Coverston and Dylan Jabines each drove in two runs, while Riley Williams added one RBI as Fallon won its ninth straight Northern Division I-A game.

Jabines and Dalton Frank each doubled, while Coverston walked three times.

The Greenwave (17-3, 17-8) remains one game ahead of Elko for the No. 1 seed. Spring Creek, meanwhile, became the fourth and final team, joining South Tahoe, to qualify for the May 8-9 regional tournament in Dayton.

On the mound, Alex Mendez earned his league-leading ninth win striking out seven and allowing four earned runs on seven hits. After Monday’s performance, he leads the league in ERA (2.02) and strikeouts (73).

“I’ll take the blame. We didn’t have them quite ready to go,” de Braga said. “Maybe it was because of the delay. We just got to to come play and it was good for us to have a close game.”

Although the Wave’s performance wasn’t the prettiest of efforts, it may be just what the club needs moving forward.

In addition, the altered schedule presents a familiar format. Fallon battles Sparks on Thursday followed by three games on Friday and Saturday.

The state tournament follows the same schedule, although a team may need only three games instead of four or five. Nevertheless, de Braga said it will provide a good opportunity for the pitching staff to handle the load, as well as test the endurance of the position players.

“We need a push to get the kids mentally ready,” de Braga said. “It might be something we need to find out where we are. We feel we got pitching and maybe this will test our pitching. This could be a benefit for us.”