Fallon's Cameron Beyer retreats back to first as the ball skirts by Wooster's Robert Gordon.
The Greenwave baseball team was three outs away — twice — from sweeping its five-game schedule in the Mike Bearman Memorial Tournament over the weekend in Reno.
Fallon couldn’t hold on against Carson and Central, falling to each in the final inning, but the Wave knocked off Division I-A foes Truckee and South Tahoe before handing Division I Wooster its first loss of the season on Saturday.
“The boys just came out to play ball and put things together at the end,” said Fallon coach Lester de Braga. “The weekend showed things we could work on. Things are looking up.”
Fallon, now 3-2, opens league season on Friday when it hosts South Tahoe for a three-game series at the Ed Arciniega Athletic Complex. Game 1 is Friday afternoon while both teams return on Saturday for a doubleheader.
Junior Alex Mendez bounced back from a tough no decision against Truckee on Thursday when he allowed only one run in three innings. Two days later, Mendez pitched Fallon past Wooster as he shut down the Colts in four innings pitched, allowing one hit and two walks.
The Greenwave never trailed against the Colts after opening with a run in the first inning. Fallon scored twice in the third inning, gave up one in the fifth, and then finished with three in the last two innings. Branden Beeghly accounted for the final four outs, all coming by strikeout.
Marshall Coverston and Beeghly each collected two hits in the team’s 10-hit effort. Mendez drove in two, while Kyle Larsen and Jack Swisher each drove in one.
Fallon opened the three-day tournament with a come-from-behind win over Truckee on Thursday. Trailing 4-2 entering the final frame, the Greenwave scored three times to snatch the one-run victory.
After Mendez and Alex Vest combined for five innings Clay Davison came in for the final two innings to pick up the victory. Davison also scored two runs in his only appearance at the plate while Coverston had a three-hit performance to drive in one. Beeghly also drove in one and Cameron Beyer had two hits.
The bats erupted the following day as Fallon invoked the mercy rule to beat South Tahoe, 13-3, on Friday.
Coverston drove in two on two hits while Jake Wickizer, Trae Workman, Sean McCormick and Beeghly each drove in one. Beeghly pitched five innings for the win.
Fallon lost the nightcap against Carson, 9-8, after scoring six runs in the final inning to lead 8-5.
Jack Swisher and Beyer each drove in a pair of runs while Coverston and Brock Uptain each had one RBI. Kendall Johnson was lifted in the fourth inning for TJ Fagg who gave up four runs in 2/3 inning.
It was almost déjà vu Saturday morning as Fallon led Central (California) 3-2 but couldn’t hold on in a 5-4 loss.
Uptain led Fallon at the plate with two hits and two RBI and McCormick drove in one. Swisher also had two hits. Calvin Greenwell started for the Greenwave, going four innings and giving up two runs before giving way to Nicholas Sanchez and Davison, who took the loss.
Despite the two losses in the final inning, de Braga was pleased with the pitching.
“I can’t pin-point anything but overall, it was a team effort and I told the kids I was proud of them,” de Braga said.