Fallon’s Taralynn Vershum and the Wave softball team will defend the state title when they begin the regional tournament this week in Reno.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
Fallon’s baseball and softball teams will begin their quest for state Thursday in the Class 3A Northern Region double-elimination tournaments at Hug High School.
The champion and runner-up advance to next week’s state tournament in Pahrump Valley.
The Greenwave baseball team secured the No. 1 seed from the East after taking the series in Elko three weeks ago.
With the top seed, Fallon has a bye and will face either No. 2 North Valleys (West) or No. 3 Lowry (East), which battle each other at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Fallon’s game is the last one of the day at 4 p.m.
The championship bracket semifinal is Friday at 1:30 p.m. with the winner punching its ticket to state and the regional title game on Saturday at 11 a.m. The consolation bracket begins Friday at 8:30 a.m. with the consolation final on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
During the regular season, Fallon split a doubleheader with North Valleys in March and won the series against Lowry in Winnemucca last month. Fallon has been to the state tournament the last two years and advanced in 2023 after eliminating North Valleys in the regional tournament in Reno.
Fallon is ranked No. 1 in the Class 3A according to MaxPreps.com while North Valleys is No. 3.
A quartet of seniors leads Fallon in hitting this season, starting with second baseman Chase Carnahan, who is hitting .455 with a pair of home runs and has a team-high 13 stolen bases. Seniors Trevor Hyde (.375), James Kelsey (.361) and Nathaniel Zackery (.346) have had strong seasons with Kelsey leading the team in doubles (11). Senior Anthony Gonzalez is tied with Carnahan for the team lead in stolen bases, junior Zachary Adams leads the team in RBIs (30) while senior Eric Cornejo also has two home runs.
On the mound, senior Luis Lopez-Pinuelas boasts a 6-1 record and 2.85 earned-run average in 34.1 innings, third most on the team. Senior Anthony Juarez has been the team’s workhorse in logging in 51 innings – 15 more than the next pitcher – while commanding a 1.37 ERA, 38 strikeouts and a 4-2 record. Also logging innings on the mound have been Adams (36), senior Mason Storm (27.1) and sophomore Tommy Ames (17.1).
SOFTBALL
The defending state champion softball team finished second in the 3A East after a sweep in Winnemucca last month.
Fallon opens the regional tournament on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. against No. 4 Elko (East) after the Indians easily defeated Sparks, 19-1. The winner advances to face No. 1 North Valleys (West) at 1:30 p.m. while the loser plays Friday at 8:30 a.m.
The championship bracket semifinal is Friday at 1:30 p.m. with the winner punching its ticket to state and the regional title game on Saturday at 11 a.m. The consolation bracket begins Friday at 8:30 a.m. with the consolation final on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
Fallon split in a road doubleheader against North Valleys in Reno in March after dethroning the 2023 state champion in last year’s regional tournament.
Leading the team at the plate this season have been seniors Vernita Fillmore and Maddison Keller, junior Janessa Bettencourt and sophomore Kalaya Downs. Fillmore leads the team with a .443 batting average and four triples, while Bettencourt has the team lead in home runs with five and RBIs with 46 followed by Keller and Downs each with four home runs.
In the circle, Bettencourt has logged more than half of the team’s innings, striking out 128 batters in 90.2 innings across 19 appearances. She leads the team with a 2.93 ERA. Fillmore, who pitched Fallon last year to the state championship win over Fernley, has a 5-3 record and 4.20 ERA in 41.2 innings.