Sizzling Lady Wave burns Vikings in doubleheader win

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — The Lady Wave sizzled at the end of the regular season Northern 3A softball race.

Fallon swept South Tahoe in a doubleheader, 17-2 and 23-9, on Saturday at Lake Tahoe and won the tiebreaker to head into Thursday’s Northern 3A region tournament at Elko High School. Fallon is the No. 3 seed and plays Spring Creek, a team it swept on the road, at 11:30 a.m. The winner of that game then faces No. 2 Lowry at 4:30 p.m. During the regular season, Fallon and Lowry split.

The Wave have won their final four games and five of the last six to tie Elko at 13-5 in league. Based on head-to-head competition, Fallon had the better record to finish ahead of Elko, which plays at 9 a.m. Thursday against Dayton.

Fallon is catching fire at the right time, similar to how the team played down the stretch last year and won the 3A state title.

“Fernley and Lowry will be tough to beat, and Elko has the advantage of playing at home which played a huge factor for us last year,” said Fallon coach Kayce Chu. “We aren’t going to take any team lightly. We have been working as a team to go and play our game, regardless of who we are playing as I believe this has hurt us this season.”

Ashley Agaman set the tone for Fallon in Saturday’s first game, throwing a two-hitting and striking out 11. Even with both teams tied at 1 after the first inning, Agaman relied on her team’s six runs in the third to give her all the support she needed.

Rylee Buckmaster scored on an error to break the tie and give Fallon a 2-1 lead. Shaylee Fagg followed with a two-run single. Fallon also scored a pair of run on two wild pitches.

Fallon added a run in the top of the fourth when Agaman drove in a run with a single and two more in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and Buckmaster’s bloop hit.

Fallon exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning.

Shelbi Schultz singled home a run, and with the bases loaded, Bella Jones hit a two-run single to give Fallon a 13-2 lead. Mori’s blooper account for a run.

Makenzee Moretto put a finishing touch on the game with her speed. With two runners on, the Fallon junior ripped the ball to the fence, and she raced home for a three-run inside-the-park homer.

South Tahoe’s Maleeah Castaneda drove in the Vikings first run in the first inning, and an error led to South Tahoe’s second run in the fifth inning.

Freshman Rachel Mori picked up the win in the second game as Fallon scored 10 runs in the second inning, one in the third, eight in the fourth and four in the fifth and final inning because of the 10-run mercy rule. Fallon banged out 16 hits.

Moretto had another big game with three hits, including a double, and five RBIs. Mackenzie Fish also had three hits and five RBIs.

Aspen Mori scored three runs and had two hits and three RBIs. Savana Manha and Shaylee Coldwell each had two hits and drove in two runs apiece, while catcher Lorynn Fagg drove in two runs.

Rachel Mori gave up nine hits, allowed three walks and fanned four.

At Truckee earlier in the week, Fallon pummeled the Wolverines 29-1 and 19-0. Agaman kept Truckee to one hit and struck out seven. Fallon, on the other hand, had 12 hits and took advantage of four errors.

Lorynn Fagg. Had three hits including two doubles and drove in five runs. Aspen Mori and Karlee Hitchcock knocked in four runs each. Mori had three hits as did Agaman. Jones, Manha and Fish each had a hit.

In the second game Jhada Ramsey threw a two-hitter in blanking Truckee. Manha and Aspen Mori each drove in three runs, while Fagg and Fish each knocked in two runs.

Truckee didn’t enter its final statistics for the game.

Fallon’s offense had heated up during the latter part of the season, which pleases Chu.

“At this point I do feel that our team is where I have hoped in some aspects and lacking a little in others,” she said. “Defensively I don’t believe that we are, but our bats have really come around.”