Fallon stumbles in league opener

With two wins against Division I foes already under their belt, the Greenwave baseball team ran into trouble to begin the Northern Division I-A season.

After a strong start to the 2014 season, Fallon dropped its league opener on Tuesday, losing to cross-valley rival Fernley, 6-3.

“I guess we kind of went through a little slump. We didn’t come out prepared to play,” Fallon coach Lester de Braga said. “Every ball we hit was right at them.”

Fallon entertains Truckee today at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. Fernley hosts Dayton for a three-game series.

Fallon struck first with two runs in the third inning but Fernley came back with three in the bottom half. The Vaqueros added two more in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead before the Greenwave added one in the following inning. Fernley, though, responded with one in the bottom of the sixth.

Tristen Salazar took the loss despite allowing only two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. The Greenwave committed four errors.

De Braga said Salazar pitched well and deserved a win but the defense continued to slip and allow Fernley to steal a league win.

“He actually threw a great game,” de Braga added. “He controlled his pitches well. He created ground balls. The defense behind him didn’t support him well enough. He pitched well enough to earn the victory.”

The senior hurler struck out three but walked three as he faced 11 batters over the minimum. Freshman Alex Mendez came in relief and allowed the sixth-inning run after finishing the last 1 1/3.

Fallon collected only three hits to go with four walks. Branden Beeghly recorded two hits in three at-bats, while Tyler Bagby singled in a run and Sage Orozco singled.

“Offensively, their pitcher kept us off balance and mixed pitches pretty well,” de Braga said about Fallon’s struggles at the plate. “For most part, we chased balls out of the strike zone. We were hitting more pop flies. It seemed like we were hitting balls right at them. Sometimes that happens in baseball.”