Fallon junior slugger Megan McCormick blasts a home run in the first inning of Friday's 8-1 win over Elko. The Lady Wave swept the series.
The homers are a bombastic sight to see.
Megan McCormick and Paige Thorn are clubbing opposing pitchers like cavemen and filling the void left by Rileigh Ricken’s big bat from last season.
McCormick blasted another two bombs and Thorn added one as the Fallon softball team swept Elko, 8-1, 4-1 and 12-0, last weekend in a three-game Northern Division I-A series at the Edward Arciniega Complex.
Fallon battled rival Fernley on Tuesday, but results were not available at press time.
“No matter how you get the W’s, you are pushing yourself to get to that goal of reaching the playoffs,” Fallon coach Bill Archer said.
The duo has lifted any concerns over who would fill the hole left by Ricken’s presence. McCormick leads the club with four homers, while Thorn is second with three.
But it’s not as if Fallon needed a power presence in an already stacked lineup. The Lady Wave is built on a veteran core with several state championship appearances and titles under their belts.
“I think it helps us a lot because there’s not just one of us, there’s two of us,” McCormick said of the power duo. “It’s twice the opportunity to start something and get our team excited and ready to hit.”
McCormick opened the weekend with a monster three-run shot on Friday in the first inning. She crushed the pitch about 40 over the left-centerfield fence to give Fallon a 3-0 lead.
Fallon cruised the rest of the way despite being out hit 7-5. Kayla Buckmaster earned the win as the sophomore struck out eight and allowed just one earned run in a complete game.
“I know everyone on the team will rope the ball no matter what,” Thorn said. “So if we do get behind, we have our defense and still have our sticks. There’s a lot of confidence on this team.”
In Saturday’s first game, a 4-1 win, McCormick pummeled a ball over the scoreboard in left field, the second time she has done so this season.
Thorn followed with her own blast to give pitcher Miranda Ford the lead.
“We know we need to step up,” Thorn added. “We get excited and say ‘Who’s next?’”
Ford also had a great day in the circle as the junior threw a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
In the finale, neither of Fallon’s power hitters went deep, but it wasn’t needed as the Lady Wave put up 11 runs in the first three innings.
“Sometimes the games start off slow,” Archer said. “They played pretty tough … but we got enough hits there at the end to score some runs.”
Thorn and McCormick combined for three runs scored, while Ali Tedford added a pair of RBIs and runs. Alecia Baze picked up the win as all three of Fallon’s pitchers earned victories in the series.
She struck out two and allowed just four hits as she improved her record to 2-2.
The trio of arms, though, is a benefit Fallon is just getting used to. Last year, Ricken was the horse, while Buckmaster and Ford had spot duty, but this year Buckmaster, Ford and Baze have all shown they can handle the spotlight.
“That was the excitement for us,” Archer said. “We have three pitchers and utilized each one.”