A year ago, Yerington High School's softball team went 11-1 and tied with Bishop Manogue for the 3A Division II title before being bounced out of the playoffs by third-place Dayton.
So you can forgive Lions coach Rod Rundle for not getting overly excited about his team's division-clinching doubleheader sweep of Manogue on Saturday. Yerington beat the Miners 5-4 in eight innings, then won the second game 8-7 to up its league record to 10-0 and clinch the championship.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," Rundle said. "This is just a step, but it's a nice moment for the girls. We haven't done this in at least 10 years. But I still lose sleep at nights thinking about last year."
Yerington could still finish tied with Dayton or Manogue if it gets swept by Pershing County next Saturday, but it would still win the division title because it swept both of those teams.
The Lions (16-1-2 overall) had to rally just to force extra innings in the first game on Saturday. Letitia Talbot supplied the heroics with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, and then pitcher Sherry Conway shut down the Miner offense before Yerington rallied for the winning run in the bottom the eighth.
Talbot finished 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. Conway and Annalee Hatcher both picked up two hits for the Lions as well. Conway pitched all eight innings to up her record to 8-0.
In the second game, Manogue jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second inning, but Yerington scored three in the bottom of the second and another in the third to tie it up. The Lions then added runs in the fifth and sixth to make a winner out of Amy Sceirine (8-0).
Kendall Castellani was 2-for-4 with a double, while Conway had three RBIs.
Yerington travels to face Fernley at 3 p.m. Wednesday before closing out its Division II season with a doubleheader at Lovelock on Saturday at 10 a.m. The division playoffs are in May.