Fallon’s James Kelsey pitches against Dayton in Thursday’s opener of the 3A North regional tournament in Winnemucca.
After opening the 3A North regional tournament with a convincing win over the eventual tournament runner-up, the Greenwave baseball team couldn’t overcome an early deficit, losing its final game of the season to North Valleys in Winnemucca.
Fallon, which defeated Dayton 16-8 on Thursday, fell to Fernley, 6-3, later in the day to drop into the consolation bracket. Fallon needed three wins to advance to state for the first time since 2019, the last time the state tournament was held before the pandemic canceled the last two.
Instead of extending its season, the Greenwave fell 8-5 to the Panthers on Friday morning. Dayton, on the other hand, upset Fernley and North Valleys before falling to Truckee in the regional championship.
In its final game of the year, Fallon jumped on North Valleys with an early run before the Reno school scored six runs during the middle innings to take a 6-2 lead into the fifth. Fallon chipped away with one run in each of the last three innings.
After Fallon got on the board first when Brady Alves scored on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the first inning, North Valleys tied the game in the top of the second on a two-out single to left field. Two singles and a walk later, North Valleys broke the tie to take the lead for good when Landon Wilkins singled in two runs off Carter Paul with the bases loaded.
Fallon closed the gap to one in the bottom half of the inning when Alves’ double to left scored Francisco Tapia, who led off with a walk. The Panthers came back with two runs in the third thanks to a bases-loaded walk and an infield error, giving them a 5-2 lead. Another error in the fourth added to North Valleys’ lead.
Tyler Austin scored on a passed ball to cut the deficit to 6-3 in the fifth inning after Fallon’s first three singled. Damein Towne and Isaiah Diaz advanced to third and second on the passed ball but the next three batters - Isaac Martinez, James Kelsey and Baylor Sandberg - struck out against Wilkins.
A triple in the sixth erased Fallon’s previous run, extending the North Valleys lead to 7-3 before a double scored the team’s eighth and final run of the game.
Fallon scored on an error in the sixth inning and again in the final inning when Kelsey doubled in Diaz. Tapia lined out for the final out of the game.
Fernley 6, Fallon 3
The Vaqueros jumped on Fallon with three runs in the first inning and led 5-2 after three.
Errors hurt Fallon as Towne pitched four innings, struck out seven and gave up only two earned of the six total runs. Bryce Adams pitched the last two innings.
Cooper Lee led Fallon at the plate with three hits and Alves was 2-for-4 at the plate. Austin and Martinez had Fallon’s only RBIs.
Fallon 16, Dayton 8
In the first game of the tournament, Fallon dominated Dayton from the start, building a 5-0 lead after two innings.
Austin drove in four on three hits, including a home run in the sixth inning. All four of his home runs have been against Lyon County schools, including three against Dayton. Alves had three hits and two RBIs and Diaz drove in three on three hits. Adams also had two RBIs.
Towne doubled in a pair of runs to start the game and give Kelsey a comfortable lead as he pitched three innings and struck out four. Alves pitched 2 ⅔ innings, allowing four earned runs, before Adams came in to close the door.
