Fernley softball goes 3-2 in opening tournament

The Fernley High School softball team opened its season by going 3-2 in the Colorado River Invitational Tournament in Needles, Calif., last weekend.

The Vaqueros beat Holbrook, Ariz., 12-3 and lost to Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas 5-2 on Thursday, then beat Needles 7-4 and lost to Tolleson, Ariz., 6-4 on Friday, before finishing the tournament with a 9-0 win over Boulder City on Saturday.

The Vaqueros started the tournament hot, scoring six runs in each of the first two innings against Holbrook. In the first inning, Emma Masters singled in one run, Bella Leija singled in two more, Grace Chapin tripled home two and Lauren Smith finished the rally with a run-scoring double.

In the second inning, Maddison Hill hit a two-run single and Smith singled in another as part of the six-run rally.

Against Faith Lutheran, the Vaqueros fell behind 5-0 after two innings. Their rally in the third produced two runs before the Crusaders escaped and then retired the Vaqueros in order in the fourth.

Fernley bounced back Friday with a four-run fourth inning to break a 3-3 tie. Taylor Tollestrup gave the Vaqueros the lead with an RBI single and Smith followed with a two-run single, then scored on an error.

In Friday’s second game, the Vaqueros again fell behind early when Tolleson scored six runs in the top of the first. The Vaqueros got three back in the bottom of the inning on a double by Smith that drove in Tollestrup, a groundout that scored Smith and a run-scoring single by Leija.

In the fourth inning, Tollestrup singled home Chapin, but the Vaqueros stranded runners on second and third. A two-out single in the fifth brought the tying run to the plate, but the Vaqueros came up empty.

On Saturday, the Vaqueros broke open a close game with three runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth. Leading 2-0 in the fifth, Ximena Rodriguez drove in a run with a triple and two others scored on groundouts. In the sixth, Masters singled in two runs, and a sacrifice fly and an error produced the final two.

Tollestrup led the Vaqueros by going 8-for-10 at the plate with four doubles, scoring six runs and driving in four. Smith drove in five runs and went 5-for-8 at the plate, while Masters and Leija each drove in three runs.

The Vaqueros used four pitchers in the tournament. Janessa Robinson pitched 10 1/3 innings, giving up six earned runs with five strikeouts.

This week the Vaqueros are scheduled to play at Sparks at 3 p.m. Friday in a Northern 3A crossover game.