Vaqueros baseball, softball look to hang on to first place

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

Their grips on first place in the East Division of the Northern 3A will be on the line this weekend for both the Fernley High School baseball and softball teams.

Both teams will host Dayton in three-game series’ this weekend, starting with a single game Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m.

The baseball team brings a 7-3 record in league play and a one-game lead over Fallon into this week’s action, after taking two of three from Lowry in Winnemucca last weekend. The Vaqueros lost the first game last Friday, 4-3, when Lowry scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the seventh for a walk-off win.

Fernley rebounded by bombarding Lowry pitching in Saturday’s doubleheader, 9-1 and 15-0. Ryan Gamsby and Jake Cumming each drove in two runs in Saturday’s first game, and Gabe Tollestrup led the onslaught in the second game with three RBI, while Gamsby, Derek Ornelas and Brandon McCullar drove in two each.

The softball team comes into the weekend with a 10-1 record, having suffered their first loss in league play at Spring Creek on Tuesday, before bouncing back in the second game of the doubleheader with a 17-1 win. In the first game, the Vaquero bats went silent after taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

But they woke up in the nightcap, pounding out 16 hits. Mackenzie Depaoli and Haeley Diehl Lea each drove in four runs, and Mackenzie Viehland drove in three.

Last weekend, the Vaqueros went 1-4 in a tournament in Las Vegas, losing 3-0 to Brawley (Calif.), beating Mingus (Cottonwood, Ariz.) 5-4, losing 16-1 to Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif), 7-6 to Winslow (Ariz.) and 13-7 to Birmingham (Lake Balboa, Calif.)