Fernley softball stays alive

RENO - As far as the Fernley High softball team is concerned, it hopes that Heather Mathews is just getting warmed up.

Mathews pitched 13 innings for Fernley in the NIAA 3A State Championships on Friday at Damonte Ranch and may have to pitch another 21 today if the Vaqueros are to win the state crown. After an opening 3-2 loss to Faith Lutheran, Fernley stayed alive with a 9-2 win over Spring Creek.

The Vaqueros will play at 10 a.m. today and will have to win three games today to take the state title. All of them could be pitched by Mathews, who allowed just one earned run in 13 innings on Friday.

"She should be good. She actually throws better the second than the first," said Fernley coach Diane Chapin, commenting on how she expects Mathews to be even stronger today.

"She's just getting warmped up let's hope. She hasn't thrown a lot of pitches. She's still throwing hard."

But if Mathews falters, Chapin has just as much confidence in Jayme King, who went 3-0 this season and has a win over Lowry. "If she does struggle, we've got another backup," said Chapin about Mathews and King.

Against Spring Creek, Fernley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Severana Johnson walked, moved to second on Quinn Hull-Taylor's sacrifice bunt, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on King's single.

The Vaqueros extended their lead to 4-0 in the second when Lynsie Dunn walked and Samantha Rambeau singled. A wild pitch and an error scored a run and after Teri Medlock stole second and Paula Fryling walked, Johnson's RBI single made it 3-0. Medlock scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.

In the third, Nikole Whitney doubled, Dunn singled and Whitney scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. After Spring Creek scored two unearned runs in the fourth, Fernley answered in the fifth on the strength of Chelsey Calvin's single to take a 6-2 lead.

Fernley made it 9-2 in the seventh with the big hits coming on doubles by King and Whitney. King and Whitney each had two hits and Fryling added a hit while Mathews struck out seven for Fernley. "We came out and got some runs and stayed in it and played hard," Chapin said.

Against Faith Lutheran, Johnson walked, went to second on Hull-Taylor's sacrifice bunt, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Kings' RBI single to give Fernley a 1-0 lead in the first.

The Crusaders had a runner at third with no outs in the bottom of the first, but Johnson, the catcher, fielded a bunt in front of home plate and tagged out the runner trying to score to end the threat.

A walk in the third was wiped out when Dunn, the first baseman, caught a bunt attempt and threw to second baseman Hull-Taylor to nail the runner who strayed to far for a double play. But Faith Lutheran scored two unearned runs to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Fernley tied it 2-2 in the fifth when Fryling and King singled and Mathews eventually followed with an RBI sacrifice fly. Laura Krumins, though, led off the sixth with a triple and two bunt singles loaded the bases with no outs.

Tarra Prisbrey's RBI single gave the Crusaders a 3-2 lead and they still had the bases loaded with no outs. But Mathews induced a comebacker, threw to Johnson at home and Johnson threw to Dunn to complete the double play and Mathews went on to escape the jam.

Jessie Tracy, though, pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to nail down the win. Angie Miller allowed one run over the first four innings for Faith Lutheran.

King had three hits, Fryling had two hits and Johnson and Whitney each added a hit. "They executed is some spots and we didn't," Chapin said.

Chapin, though, still likes her team's chances today. "The key is probably just to keep the offense going," Chapin said.

•Contact Charles Whisnand at cwhisnand@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1214