Kalyn Huckaby makes a throw in a previous Lady Wave softball game.
After going through the gauntlet of the top of the division, the Lady Wave softball team will get a chance for redemption this weekend against a team struggling to sustain a winning record.
After dropping its first two league games of the year on Saturday against Lowry, Fallon was on the wrong end of the scoreboard on Tuesday as host Fernley won the third and final game of the series, 7-2. The Vaqueros benefited from a five-run third inning to break a 1-1 tie, giving Fallon its third-straight loss after opening the year with a 12-0 Division I-A record.
Fallon won the first two meetings in Fernley earlier in the season but Tuesday’s loss dropped the Lady Wave to 12-3 in league while the Vaqueros improved to 12-2 after sweeping South Tahoe on Wednesday. Fallon travels to Dayton (7-7) this weekend before hitting the road again at last-place Sparks next week. Fallon hosts South Tahoe in two weeks to close out the regular season.
Deadlocked at one entering the third inning, Fernley scored five times before Fallon added its second and final run in the fifth. Fernley, though, countered with a run in the bottom half as the Vaqueros out-hit the Greenwave, 10-4, and committed one less error (3-2).
Kayla Buckmaster went 2-for-3, including a double, while Courtney Cross and Rileigh Ricken each had a hit. Ricken hit a solo home run to add to her career-leading total of 16.
For Fernley, Mercedes Rothwell was perfect at the plate in three appearances as she drove in two. Bailey Henderson singled twice and drove in two runs, while Kelsie Callahan singled in one. Taylor Hires-caulk scored two runs, and Cheyenne Brewer and Serena Olson each had two singles.
Ricken went the distance, yielding five earned runs on 11 hits – all singles – and four strikeouts, while her counterpart, Hayley Mill kept Fallon in check with four hits and one earned run and two strikeouts.