Oasis Academy’s Emily Payne pitched the Bighorns to a sweep over Smith Valley last week as they host Wells on Thursday in the playoffs.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
The Lady Bighorns softball team is two wins away from winning the school’s first regional title.
After sweeping Smith Valley on Senior Day last week, Oasis Academy finished the regular season undefeated (12-0) for the first time in school history and will host Wells on Thursday at 3 p.m. at the East Richards softball field in the 1A regional semifinal. The winner faces the Tonopah/Indian Springs-Pahranagat Valley winner on Saturday at a neutral location.
Oasis Academy is the only undefeated team in the 1A North and became the school’s first team in any sport to finish without a blemish to its record. Wells is also undefeated in league play but had five non-league losses to teams outside of the 1A.
In the team’s sweep over Smith Valley, the Bighorns won the first game, 11-1, and second game, 17-2.
Senior Emily Payne struck out 10 and allowed one hit and one unearned run in five innings of the first game. Payne is the best pitcher in the region, possessing a 0.23 ERA (second best is 5.55) and striking out 71 of the 112 batters she’s faced in 31 innings.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Hert led the team at the plate with three hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Senior Callie Perez and junior Elisabeth Bird each had two hits. Perez, Payne and junior Rachel Bake each drove in two runs and Bird had one RBI.
In the second game, Payne struck out six but allowed a pair of hits and one earned run. Bird led the team with four hits, including a double, and two RBIs, while Perez drove in four on three hits, including a double. Bake drove in three on two hits and Rios had three RBIs and one hit. Payne also had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.
Five of the top 10 hitters in the region come from Oasis Academy.
Hert is second in the league with a .750 batting average followed by Rios, Payne, Bird and Perez – all who are hitting above .540.
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