Lady Wave wins Northern 3A softball championship

Lowry paid dearly for unleashing an unstoppable Lady Wave softball team.

After sweeping a Northern 3A doubleheader in Fallon on April 28, the Lady Wave has won 10 straight games including Saturday’s 14-2 championship win against the same Buckaroos’ team that started the streak. Fallon also defeated Fernley, 7-5, on Friday and Lowry, 20-10, on Thursday. In that 10-game stretch, Fallon has outscored its opponents 142-21 and recorded five shutouts.

First-year coach Kasey Shu said her players knew what had to be done … win all three games and claim the title.

“Fernley … they were ready for whatever we did,” she said.

But Saturday against Lowry was all Fallon.

“Coming off the wins, they were enthusiastic,” Shu said of the Wave. “They were hitting the ball and helping each other. That was something good to see.”

Shu said this year’s team consist of a special group of players who click well and pick each other up.

Senior infielder/catcher Caitlyn Welch said losing on Senior Day re-focused the Wave.

“We figured we didn’t want our season to end,” she said regarding the April series with Lowry.

The team re-focused. Welch said her teammates took extra batting practice, and the work paid dividends, especially with the long ball.

“I knew they (her teammates) could hit the ball over the fences and far,” she added.

Fallon will take its streak into the NIAA 3A state championship series on Thursday at 2 p.m. against Pahrump Valley, the No. 2 team from Southern Nevada. The 3A games will be played at Reno High School, and KKTU (99.5 FM) will broadcast the Lady Wave games with Larry Barker calling the action.

Lightning struck more than once during the Lady Wave’s softball game against Lowry on Saturday as Fallon pounded out five home runs against the Lady Buckaroos. The barrage of solid hits over the left-field fence near the scoreboard came on the back of three homers hit against Fernley on Friday to set up the matchup with Lowry.

Fallon shortstop Stacy Kalt had the game of her high-school career Saturday by walloping three home runs including a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Wave the championship at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex.

Against Lowry, the Wave went into the bottom of the sixth inning with a light drizzle falling on the field and Fallon leading 10-2. Fallon needed two more runs to end the game because of the 10-run mercy rule. The Wave loaded the bases on two walks and an infield error. Alexis Jarrett’s single drove in a run, setting up Kalt’s next plate appearance. Kalt powered a shot near the scoreboard, sending the Greenwave fans into a frenzy and her teammates to home plate to greet her coming down the third-base line.

Kalt also ignited the Lady Wave in the first inning. Fallon pitcher Faith Cornmesser retired Lowry in order to begin the game. In Fallon’s bottom half of the inning, Lowry pitcher Sierra Maestrejuan fell behind Kalt 3-0, but she sailed her next pitch across the plate for Kalt to rip a shot beyond the scoreboard.

“On my first home run, the ball was inside and I turned on it,” Kalt said “I had three balls, and I knew it (the next pitch) was a money pitch.”

Kalt said she felt the home run inspired the team.

Lowry made a quick pitching change by bringing in Macey Katzenmeyer. Aspen Mori greeted Katzenmeyer with a single up the middle for an RBI, and Shelbi Schultz walked with the bases loaded for Fallon’s third run.

The Wave exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning. With a runner on first, Kalt launched her second homer of the game followed Cornmesser’s solo shot to left field. After Maci Anderson walked, senior Jordan Beyer cranked a two-run home run to left field.

“I was super thrilled to start it and end it,” Kalt said of her home runs. “I pumped up the team. They had my back like I had theirs.”

Lowry added a run in the fifth inning on Kiley Sappington’s infield hit and its second run in the sixth on a home run from Bailey Sapien.

Cornmesser allowed five hits and kept Lowry guessing for most of the day.

“The team really clicked this week,” she said. “Everyone was positive and pumped each other up. As a team we had high energy.”

The Fallon senior, though, struggled against Lowry on Thursday, surrendering 10 hits on 13 hits. As with the April 28 game she lost to Lowry, Cornmesser made changes.

“I was trying to get the balls away from the batters,” she said after the game, savoring the team’s Northern 3A title.

Fallon 7, Fernley 5

Like in its previous game against Lowry in the quarterfinal, Fallon had to battle from behind after Fernley opened with a 2-0 lead on Makenna Montgomery’s two-out, two-run homer to centerfield in the first inning.

Fallon chipped away at the deficit with a run in the third when Cornmesser scored Bella Jones on a sac fly with the bases loaded. The big break, though, came in the fourth inning when four runs scored. After Mori singled, Schultz reached base on an error when trying to bunt. Alexis Jarrett scored two runs on a shortstop error to give Fallon a 3-2 lead.

Fallon broke the game open, temporarily, in the fifth inning with Welch’s sac fly scoring Mori, who singled with one out. With Kalt at the plate, she drove the ball toward shortstop, which resulted in another error that scored one more run. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Cornmesser smacked a two-run double to center for the 7-2 lead.

Montgomery, who took the loss, hit her second homer of the game, a solo blast in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to four (7-3) and Fernley added two more in the final inning before Cornmesser shut down the Fernley’s offense to secure the state-clinching win.

Thomas Ranson, Lahontan Valley News

Fallon 16, Spring Creek 0

No. 3 Fallon needed just four innings Thursday to tear apart No. 6 Spring Creek by a final score of 16-0.

The Lady Spartans were retired in order in the top of the first inning, and Fallon took a 6-0 lead in the bottom half.

Cornmesser drove in Welch with a single and Macie Anderson smacked a two-RBI double.

A three-run homer by Aspen Mori drove in herself, Anderson and senior Jordan Beyers.

In the second inning, a double by Beyers scored Cornmesser, followed by a two-run double from junior Shelbi Schultz – opening a 9-0 lead.

Mori stole home, and Fallon took an 11-0 advantage when Schultz crossed on a passed ball after stealing second and third base. Stacy Kalt capped another six-run frame with a sacrifice fly that drove in sophomore Bella Jones.

Fallon nearly walked off in the bottom of the third, falling one run shy of the 15-run mercy rule. A two-run double by Welch scored Beyers and Mori for a 14-0 lead, but a groundout to Corona at third base advanced the game to the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Anderson reached on a one-out error at shortstop and Beyers walked off the Lady Greenwave in grand style, smashing a two-run homer to center field.

Mori led Fallon with five RBIs, Beyers finishing with three runs driven in, and Anderson and Welch each closed with a pair of RBIs. Welch hit 3-for-3 with two doubles, Mori went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run and Beyers finished 3-for-4 with a deep blast and a double for the Lady Greenwave.

— Anthony Mori, Elko Daily Free Press