Galena and Fallon baseball split

Jacob Anderson pitched a two-hitter in the second game of a double-header Saturday in leading Galena to a 3-1 win and a split with the Greenwave Saturday afternoon in Fallon.

Galena improves to 6-3 in the High Desert League, 6-10 overall. Fallon, which won the first game in extra innings, is 4-5 in league, 6-8 overall.

Anderson ran into trouble in the first inning when he allowed the Wave to scored a run on two hits. After that, he settled down to retie the next 18 of 20 batters in coasting to the win.

Anderson felt good with his pitching.

"It was mostly going my way," Anderson said of his pitching. "I was locating my pitches well. My change up and fastballs were working well."

Galena coach Gary McNamara said Anderson turned in one of the best pitching performances he has seen in Fallon in seasons.

"We definitely need that second game. It was an absolute must," he added.

The Grizzlies had taken a 1-0 lead off Fallon pitcher Colby Ingram in the first inning. With two outs Erik Maupin rode a 1-2 pitch into centerfield for an RBI.

In the bottom of the fist inning with runners on first and third, left fielder Andrew Kamps tied the game on a high throw to first base.

Ingram ran into trouble in the fourth inning with two outs. Phil Diaz and Justin Norvik safely reached base on two consecutive infield errors, but another error led to Diaz scoring the go-ahead run.

Galena added an extra run in the sixth inning. Andrew Ferguson led off the inning with a pop up single to shallow centerfield. Two outs later another infield error allowed Ferguson to score Galena's third run.

The Grizzlies also had one opportunity thwarted by the defensive work of right fielder Rick Cornu in the fourth inning.

The Fallon junior fielded Ferguson's single to right field, but an accurate throw to second base nailed Ferguson before he even reached the bag.

Galena touched Ingram for six hits, but the four Fallon errors proved costly for the Wave trying to win the second game.

Ingram said his pitching was better Saturday than his last outing at McQueen in which the Lancers shelled the Fallon senior.

"I stayed with it today," he said, after pitching a complete game. "But it was frustrating for the defense to let me down."

Fallon coach Brad Barton echoed Ingram's assessment.

"Colby pitched great, but those couple of errors were the difference in the game," he said.

Fallon had to use the late game heroics of Brett Wickizer to win the first game, 7-6, in eight innings.

After Keith Blackmon walked, Wickizer smashed a double ro right field that scored the Fallon first baseman with the winning run.

Fallon had to use a three-run seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. Down 6-3 and with one out, Wickizer walked followed by Ingram's single. Pitcher Roger Locke uncorked a wild pitch that advanced the runners. Cornu then walked to load the bases.

Cat Baker rolled a weak grounder for an infield hit and an RBI to cut the lead to two runs. Andrew Kamps then rode the first pitch he saw for a two-run single to centerfield.

Locke then settled down to retire the next two batters.

Fallon relief pitcher Lyle Gardner, who picked up the win, had no difficulty in setting down Galena in order in the top fo the eighth.

Galena scored the game's first run on Ferguson's shallow hit in the first inning and another run in the second inning on Norvik's RBI double and past the outstretched body of Cornu in rightfield.

Fallon tied the game in the bottom of the third inning. Although third baseman Cullen Bryant grounded out, he still drove in a run, and Gardner hit a single into centerfield for another run.

The Wave left the bases loaded.

The Grizzlies doubled the score with a pair of runs in the fourth.

Ferguson hit a 1-0 pitch into rightfield for an RBI, and a throw to second trying to nail Thompson was late. Galena scored its fourth run on the throw.

Fallon cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth inning on Kamps single to right field. Galena added a run in the fifth on a wild pitch and another in the seventh on Norvik's third RBI of the game.

Barton said the team showed heart and commitment with its rally in the first game.

"I knew they had it in them," he said.

As he did in the second game, Cornu turned in another defensive gem when he tracked down Ferguson's deep fly to right field. The ball began to tail away from Cornu, but he caught it in the web of his glove.

"That's the second time I've done it. I did it once in Carson," he said. "I just kept my eye on the ball and watched it."