Baseball: Vaqueros move into 6th playoff position

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

A no-hitter by Zach Burns and a dramatic extra-inning win added up to a doubleheader sweep for the Fernley baseball team last Saturday in Spring Creek, giving the Vaqueros their second consecutive series win of the season.

The Vaqueros won two of three games in Spring Creek to improve their record in the Northern 3A to 5-8, which puts them in sixth place entering this week. The top six teams in the league will qualify for the regional tournament, which will be played in Fernley May 10-12.

The Vaqueros started the weekend with an 11-6 loss to the Spartans on Friday. The game was tied at 5 until Spring Creek scored five times in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jay King, Zach Burns and Josh Kirk all had two hits for Fernley.

The Vaqueros evened the series with a 9-0 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Burns mowed through the Spartans lineup, allowing on three baserunners on two errors and a walk, with five strikeouts.

The Vaqueros backed him with an 11-hit attack, led by a 3-for-5 performance by Jay King, who drove in two runs and scored twice. Burns and Austin Carmack both had two hits, and Gabe Wilson drove in three runs with a single and two sacrifice flies.

The Vaqueros won the finale and the series, 3-2 in 10 innings.

Mason Timbrook went six strong innings, allowing just one run on two hits, despite walking six, and Thomas Chapin, the fourth pitcher of the game, got the win with two scoreless innings.

Chapin also went 3-for-4, while Kyle Heimbruch was 3-for-4 and Ryan Harer was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs.

The Vaqueros will play a three-game series at Sparks with a single game at 3 p.m. Friday and a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.