Shannon Litz/Nevada Appeal
MINDEN — The Douglas baseball team struggled to get its bats going until the final inning Saturday afternoon and suffered a 6-3 loss to Galena.
Douglas dropped to 9-3 in league play and into third place after losing its third contest in four games.
Despite the nine combined runs scored, the game was a pitchers’ duel throughout between Douglas’ Nolan Weintz and Galena’s Wyatt Nebe. Both pitchers struck out three and Weintz allowed just two earned runs compared to Nebe’s three.
Dillon Lopez had Douglas’ lone hit through the first five innings — a one-out single in the bottom of the second — while Galena got on the board as Brock Raggio delivered a two-out RBI single in the top of the third.
Galena opened up a bigger lead in the bottom of the fourth as Cole Fenner scored after Nebe reached on an error. Weintz was then struck by a hard grounder off the bat of Galena’s Chaz Clark. Weintz was able to scoop up the throw and throw Clark out, but the play moved runners to second and third with two outs. Raggio singled to put Galena up 3-0 and Nebe and Raggio later scored on an error in the outfield, stretching the lead to 5-0.
The Grizzlies scratched across one more run in the top of the seventh after Weintz had exited the game.
Douglas then put together a rally in the bottom half as Cale Kynett singled, Jimmy King walked and Joe Almeida hit a pinch-hit single to bring Kynett home, cutting the score to 6-1.
Dusty Fisher later drew a one-out walk to load the bases and Chase White was hit by a pitch, bringing King home. Kaleb Foster grounded out to first, which allowed Almeida to score, but a Galena strikeout ended the game with the potential tying run at the plate.
Douglas returns to action Monday at 2 p.m. against Carson at Ron McNutt Field in the opening round of the Spanish Springs Tournament.
DAYTON GETS SWEPT
YERINGTON — The Dust Devils fell to 6-8 after dropping a pair of 5-4 decisions to Yerington on Saturday in Lahontan League action.
Dayton returns to action Wednesday with a home game against Fallon.
In the opener, a one-out error snapped a 4-all tie and gave the Lions the win. Michael Dieneman took the loss, giving up 10 hits and striking out four.
Calloway Miller led Dayton with two doubles and two RBIs, while Peter Scott added a double and single.
In the second game, Dayton led 4-3 entering the bottom of the sixth but the Lions rallied for two runs and the win. Nicki Selmi was called for a balk, which pushed across the winning run.
Selmi, Scott and Marco Saylor each had a hit for Dayton. Miller squeezed home a run.
JC BASEBALL
WILDCATS SWEEP SLCC
WEST JORDAN, Utah — Western Nevada moved into a third-place tie in the Scenic West Athletic Conference with a doubleheader sweep of Salt Lake Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats, who won 9-3 and 4-3, improved to 13-11, while Salt Lake is now 14-10.
“It feels great,” WNC coach D.J. Whittemore said. “A lot of the credit goes to our players. We challenged them to play every pitch and not get complacent with a lead. In two of the games we had plenty of breathing room.”
In the opener, Phil Belding worked six innings to pick up the win. Conor Harber collected two hits and drove in three runs.
In the nightcap, WNC scored twice in the top of the seventh to wipe out a 3-2 deficit. Christian Stolo was hit by a pitch that forced in the tying run, and then Alex Fife walked with the bases loaded for the go-ahead run.
Stolo went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in the second game. Joey Crunkilton, Harber, Connor Klein, Cole Ferguson and Colby Rice all hit safely.
JC SOFTBALL
WNC LOSES TWICE
SALT LAKE CITY — Western Nevada College’s softball team lost 12-3 and 11-0 to Salt Lake Saturday afternoon in a Scenic West Athletic Conference doubleheader.
In the opener, WNC stayed with SLCC for 3 1/2 innings, but the Bruins erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a nine-run lead. WNC failed to score in the top of the fifth, ending the game on the mercy rule.
Sydney Darby led the WNC offense, going 3-for-3 with an RBI.
Jen Reichel, Alisha Nielsen and Madison Gonzalez each collected a hit.
The Wildcats managed just five hits in the nightcap and made seven errors which led to six unearned runs off Carlee Beck.
Darby, Heather Septon, Andi Lee, Alia Cox and Nielsen each had one hit.