Wave looks to bounce back against Sparks

DAYTON — It’s been awhile since the Greenwave baseball team has had to face adversity this late in the season.

Surging Dayton nearly swept the defending state champs over the weekend, winning the first two games — 18-12 and 5-3 — before dropping the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader, 5-3.

Fallon (13-8), though, can finish no worse than fourth place in the Division I-A as the top six teams qualify for next week’s three-day double-elimination tournament at Spring Creek.

“We kind of ran into a buzz saw in Dayton,” Fallon coach Lester de Braga said. “We may have taken Dayton a little too lightly but they’re a team to be reckoned. Dayton came out and played. They’re going to be a team that’s qualified for the playoffs and can’t be overlooked. Their goal’s the same as ours.”

The Greenwave ends the regular season this weekend with a three-game series at Sparks, which is 1-19. Elko (18-3) and Spring Creek (17-3) are in a battle for the top spot but both have claimed first-round byes, while Fernley sits in third at 14-6. South Tahoe (8-11), Dayton (8-12) and Lowry (8-13) are fighting for the last two spots.

“The league itself is continually improving and getting better and better as we get along. WE just have to advance our game,” de Braga said.

De Braga has preached every season that Fallon’s goal is to make the playoffs and let the seeding take care of itself. With Fallon finishing no worse than fourth, the Greenwave will be in good position to turn the corner and return back to the state tournament in two weeks.

“That’s kind of been our goal the whole time,” he said. ”It’s not necessarily where you finish in league but you focus on getting into the playoffs. It’s a little more losses than we’ve encountered in a few years. The whole process gets you ready for playoffs. We’re working hard now in practice.”

Much like Game 1 on Friday, the series finale on Saturday turned into a slugfest.

Dayton opened with a 3-1 lead before Fallon scored three in the third to go ahead 4-3. Fallon lost the lead but regained control after two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth before piling on four in the last inning to hold on for the two-run win.

Calvin Greenwell last 2.1 innings, giving up five runs (two earned), but Branden Beeghly entered in the third inning and completed the game, surrendering only one earned run and striking out four.

Kendall Johnson and TJ Fagg each drove in two runs for Fallon with Fagg also collected three hits and Johnson with two. Cameron Beyer, Alex Mendez and Colton Coverston each had two hits. Beyer, Johnson, Mendez and Coverston each doubled, while Fagg tripled.

In Saturday’s loss, Johnson went the distance, striking out seven in six innings and allowing five earned runs. Marshall Coverston led Fallon with two hits, while Jack Swisher, Michael Porras, Mendez and Beyer each had one. Porras and Beeghly drove in Fallon’s only runs.

After Dayton’s Dylan Baker drove in two in the first, tying the game at 2, Trevor Burrows singled in a run in the second and Nick Hein had a run-scoring hit in the third to give Dayton a quick 5-2 lead. Burrows, Baker and Hein all had two hits in the win.

The series got off to a rough start for Fallon on Friday when Mendez, the team’s ace, was tagged for 12 runs (nine earned) in 2.2 innings. Ricardo Delgado (0.1), Hayden Strasdin (1.2) and Alex Vest (1.1) pitched in relief.

Dayton led 6-4 after just one inning on Zach Woitas’ 3-run double. The Dust Devils trailed 9-6 when they scored six runs to take a 12-9 lead in the third. Jacob Nelson hit a 2-run single and Burrows added an RBI single during the rally.

Jesse Schmidt’s 3-run home run extended Dayton’s lead to 16-10 in the fourth and Hein’s RBI double and Burrows RBI sacrifice fly gave the Dust Devils an 18-11 lead in the sixth.

“When you host the defending state champs you hope that gets your players attention and today it did,” Dayton coach Mike Burrows said. “I couldn’t be prouder. We came out swinging and played well defensively.”

Isaac Von Schoff pitched a complete game in tough conditions for the win.

“I can’t say enough about Isaac’s pitching performance in the conditions he was faced with,” coach Burrows said. “He found his change-up in the fourth inning and that’s really what carried him to the complete game win. His pitch count ran higher than we would of liked but he really wanted to finish the game.

“This might be the type of signature win we’ve been working towards. We have a ton of respect for Fallon’s athletics programs as a whole. This was a huge win for our kids, the program, and where we intend to go.”

For Fallon, Porras and Brock Uptain each homered with Porras hitting a solo shot and Uptain driving in three, while Coverston, Sean McCormick and Trae Workman each doubled. Coverston and Clay Davison each drove in two runs, while Beyer and Mendez each had an RBI.

The Nevada Appeal contributed to this story.