Fallon's Miranda Ford stretches for an easy out at first.
The Lady Wave’s second sweep of the season began with a no-hitter victory for Fallon pitcher Alicia Baze on Friday, 11-0, followed by a two wins, 10-0 and 16-0, on Saturday for a triple shutout against the Truckee Wolverines at home.
The Wolverines (3-7 overall and 0-6 in DI-A) saw their sixth game on the dirt in league play against Fallon (6-0 overall and in D1-A) but Truckee coach Chris Simpson said he was proud of his players for keeping their heads up while wishing for more dirt time.
“I have mad respect for this team,” Simpson said of the Lady Wave. “The team we just played is so classy, and I really respect the softball program and the coaching staff. They’re really good people.”
With the Lady Wave’s next away game against Fernley rescheduled for today, Fallon coach Tammie Shemenski said she’s feeling pretty good after seeing her team play strong last weekend with another no-hitter.
“I think the girls’ bats are going ,and our defense is going, so I think we’ll be really great,” Shemenski said, “so I think we’re in really great shape for Fernley.”
Friday’s no hitter began and ended with Baze on the mound with Truckee bats slow to wake up.
Fallon’s Caitlyn Welch got the bats going at the top of the order and scored the Lady Wave’s first run.
By the end of the second inning, the Lady Wave leapt ahead nine runs in one inning for an 11-0 lead the Wolverines could hold them at but not break out of.
Truckee’s infield displayed their capability to take on a team like Fallon in their ability to hold them runless for three innings since the Wave isn’t the type of team to slow down no matter how wide the margin.
The second game of the weekend, the first of Saturday’s double header, was slightly more eventful with the Wave’s Kayla Buckmaster on the mound.
The game at first, nonetheless, appeared as a clone of Friday’s game with Stacy Kalt’s RBI knocking in Welch.
The bottom of the first was less of an onslaught than on Friday, though, as the Wavesurged ahead 5-0. Megan McCormick had the second RBI of the game driving in Kalt from third base. Paige Thorn stole home after Kayln Huckaby was caught out at home, followed by McCormick scoring off an RBI by Miranda Ford until the Wolverines ended the inning with a third out by captain Katie Fischer at first.
Fallon tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second, leading 7-0 with two more RBIs before Ford got out on the infield fly rule..
By this inning Truckee had finally gone through the order with pitcher Anna Hudson at bat after Buckmaster had been pitching non-stop heat.
Hudson was later caught stealing second base by Kalt at shortstop with Truckee’s Daelyn Borden on first after getting the Wolverines’ one hit of the game before Buckmaster recorded a strikeout.
Fallon’s Izzy Thomas had a two-run RBI double to bring in both Hannah Frank on third and Buckmaster on second, followed shortly by Baze scoring off an RBI by Courtney Cross. In no time, Truckee suffered another 10-run mercy rule at the hands of Fallon in the bottom of the fifth, barely cheating Buckmaster out of what would have been her second no-hitter of the season.
Faith Cornmesser led the Lady Wave on the mound for another five innings in Saturday’s second game, piling up the strikeouts before the Wave took the field to celebrate another run-packed inning.
Shemenski said Cornmesser pitched well for her first full game on the mound this season. Cornmesser pitched the full five innings of the third game in the series against Truckee.
“She did so well today,” Shemenski said. “Our pitching is really strong between the three of them (Baze, Buckmaster and Cornmesser). We’re going to go in pretty strong against Fernley with them for sure.”
Among the pitchers, Ford has been unable pitch for Fallon since her shoulder injury from an automobile accident in the fall, and though Shemenski said it’s looking like she won’t be for a while, she also said Ford has been playing a strong first base.
Ford had two big hits in the third game of the weekend including a double RBI in the bottom of the first to drive in McCormick and Thorn.
Cross had the next two-run RBI bringing in Cornmesser and Ford before the end of the first.
Two innings later, Cornmesser also had a two-run RBI in the third game knocking in both McCormick and Thorn in the bottom of the second to lift the Lady Wave 8-0. In the same inning Ford ripped the ball slightly foul to left field for a near home run that would have been Ford’s second of the season before she was walked by Truckee pitcher Danielle Jackson.
Errors in the field hurt Truckee in particular, including two by third base Adela Ortiz that resulted in Ford scoring Ortiz would end the inning with an out thrown to first, but Fallon was too far ahead for it to make a difference.
Fallon finished its scoring with two final runs in the bottom of the fourth, an RBI by Thorn which batted in Buckmaster and an RBI by McCormick that drove in Thomas for a 16-0 victory.
With the Lady Wave bats on fire on Saturday, Shemenski said the girls have been working hard as she’s been drilling through the batting stations preparing for Fernley.
“We just want to refine a few things and make sure we’re not making any more of the smaller errors and so we’re getting the hits we need and laying the bunts down when we need to,” Shemenski said.