Fallon’s softball team celebrates its win over Lowry at the 3A regional.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
The Churchill County High School softball team beat Fernley on Saturday to claim its second-straight regional softball title.
After falling 8-4 in Saturday’s 3A Northern championship first game, the defending state champs came back to win the second game, 4-3.
Fallon returns to state this week at Pahrump Valley High School. Fallon plays at 3:30 p.m. as it will take on No. 2 SLAM Nevada while No. 1 Boulder City faces Fernley at 1 p.m.
The winners of Thursday's games play at 1:30 p.m. on Friday while the losers play at 11 a.m. The winner of the 11 a.m. game and loser of the 1:30 p.m. game will play late on Friday. The championship is Saturday at 10 a.m.
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FALLON 4, FERNLEY 3
Fernley, the No. 4 seed from the East, struck first in Saturday’s second game with an RBI groundout single.
But Fallon took the lead on one swing of the bat after back-to-back errors and an intentional walk breathed life into the inning.
With two outs in the third inning and the bases loaded, Sutton Yost tripled on an 0-2 count, bringing in Dana Buckmaster, Janessa Bettencourt and Maddison Keller. Fallon added its fourth run in the sixth inning when Vernita Fillmore doubled in Taralynn Vershum with two outs.
Fernley, though, didn’t go down without a fight.
With two outs, Sara Moffett doubled in Taylor Tollestrup on a hit-and-run before Hunter Lyle singled in Moffet on a pop-up infield single, cutting the deficit to a run. After Ximena Rodriguez walked, Fillmore fielded the grounder, threw to Yost at first and was swarmed in the infield.
Fillmore scattered 10 hits and struck out three over seven innings after playing shortstop for the first two games. The senior hurler pitched Fallon to the regional and state championships last season.
FERNLEY 8, FALLON 4
Fernley blew open a 2-0 game with a five-run fifth inning, but the Wave came back to trail by only three runs in Saturday’s first game.
Bettencourt, who picked up the wins over Elko, North Valleys and Lowry earlier in the tournament, couldn’t recover against Fernley. She lasted 4.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs and eight hits although she recorded five strikeouts. Fillmore entered in the fifth, limiting Fernley to a run while striking out five in 2.2 innings.
A triple and fielder’s choice opened the scoring for Fernley in the third inning before nine Vaqueros reached the plate in the fifth. Tollestrup’s two-run triple followed by a pair of RBI singles gave Fernley a 7-0 lead.
Fallon, though, came back with four runs thanks to Fillmore and Bettencourt’s bases-loaded walks and Buckmaster’s RBI single. Buckmaster later scored on a passed ball after Fillmore was caught stealing.
FALLON 13, LOWRY 8
The Wave softball team did something it couldn’t all year: defeat Lowry.
After beating Elko on Thursday, Fallon came from behind to take down the Winnemucca school, 13-8, on Friday to qualify for state.
Fallon opened the scoring with two runs in the first before taking a 7-1 lead in the fourth. Lowry, though, came back to tie the game with six runs in the bottom half and then took the lead in the sixth.
The Wave, though, erupted for six runs in the final inning to steal the win.
The first five batters reached base against Maite Bengochea, starting with Keller’s mishandled grounder in the infield. Back-to-back doubles by Yost and Kalaya Downs gave Fallon a 9-8 lead with no outs. After Wright’s single, Vershum drove in Downs on a single to right. Fillmore drove in two runs on a one-out single to left before Bettencourt’s RBI double drove in Fallon’s final run.
After recording the first two outs, Bettencourt allowed a pair of singles before an error loaded the bases. On the next pitch, Bettencourt dove to her right, securing Adalyn Enwistle’s line drive for the final out of the game.
Fallon chased out Lowry’s top pitcher - Makinley Hislop - after she allowed seven runs (five earned) in four innings.
Fillmore led Fallon at the plate with four hits and four RBIs, while Bettencourt drove in three on two hits. Buckmaster had two RBIs, and Keller, Downs and Wright each had two hits.
FALLON 6, NORTH VALLEYS 2
After beating Elko earlier in the day, Fallon defeated North Valleys, the 3A East's top seed, 6-2, Thursday afternoon.
Bettencourt pitched her second complete game of the day, navigating out of trouble in the fourth and six innings. The junior flamethrower fanned 11 and scattered seven hits in seven innings. Both runs were unearned.
Fillmore, Buckmaster, Yost, Bostynn Wright and Bettencourt each had an RBI.
Yost doubled over the centerfielder to score a run in the first inning before Fillmore reached on an error in the second to score Vershum. Wright’s fielder’s choice scored Keller to give Fallon a 3-0 lead after three innings.
The Panthers battled back in the fourth, loading the bases after a walk, single and error. A fielder’s choice scored one run before Bettencourt struck out the next two batters. After Wright’s error at second allowed a run, the second baseman fired the ball to Vershum, who tagged Aunnika Morrison at the plate to prevent the tie.
Fallon added three runs in the sixth when Fillmore singled in Vershum, Buckmaster’s sac fly scored Peyton Prinz and Bettencourt singled in Fillmore.
FALLON 4, ELKO 2
Fallon defeated Elko, 4-2, in Thursday’s opener.
Bettencourt went the distance, striking out eight over seven innings and allowing an earned run and seven hits.
Fallon's offense managed only three hits but it was enough to get the win. Freshman Bostyn Wright had two hits, while Bettencourt had the other hit plus an RBI.
After the Indians scored one in the first inning on a line-drive single, Fillmore walked in the bottom half and then scored when Bettencourt singled to center. Fallon broke the tie in the second inning when Wright, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a passed ball.
Fallon scored again in the fourth after Downs walked and then advanced to second on Wright's second hit of the day. Downs later scored on a passed ball, but Wright was caught stealing home to end the inning.
Fallon added another insurance run with two outs in the sixth inning. Keller walked and two batters later, scored when Wright reached on an error.