Dayton High freshman Edgar Landa winds up to throw to first base against Douglas High earlier this season. Landa and the Dust Devils made the Class 3A state tournament for the first time since 2010.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Dayton High baseball took the 3A North by surprise in the regional tournament two weeks ago.
Though, the Dust Devils were bounced from the state tournament after two losses, it’s safe to say plenty of teams overlooked them heading into regional play.
Dayton dropped its first round regional contest to Fallon, setting up a must-win contest with top-seeded South Tahoe.
The Dust Devils ended the Vikings season with a 12-7 win and proceeded to do the same to North Valleys by a 10-6 final.
Playing their fourth game in three days, the Dust Devils met up with second-seeded Fernley in the consolation finals.
A 7-6 win sent the Dayton team into a frenzy as it had punched its ticket to the state tournament.
“In the beginning of the season, we were really struggling,” said senior Robbie Harrison. “It took a lot for us to kind of bring it together and play as a team to win a couple of games.”
Both players and head coach Jeremy Kinney agreed that the team just came together at the right time.
Harrison, one of four seniors on the team, was an instrumental part of the Cinderella run as he hit .526 at the plate this season with 16 doubles.
Juniors Isaac Perry and Jacob Moore hit .450 and .403, respectively, while driving in 48 RBIs combined.
Moore also led the team in home runs with both coming in back-to-back wins against Lowry.
Three other every day Dust Devil hitters — Garrett Cower, Koen Stott and Edgar Landa — hit over .300 as Dayton’s bats paved the way to the state tournament.
In five regional tournament games, Dayton’s offense put together 38 runs total.
“Some kids really stepped up,” said Kinney.
Several players alluded to Dayton’s team last year that didn’t get a chance to play in the state tournament due to the pandemic.
“We just kicked up the intensity and realized we had to start winning as a team,” said Stott. “The approach was just to leave it all out there.”
Stott thinks his move from second to third base was crucial for him.
“It was different playing third, but (that) side of the field felt like home,” added Stott.
At state, Dayton fell to eventual state champion Virgin Valley, 17-2, and lost to Class 3A regional champion Truckee in the first round of the consolation.
“We worked hard. Some of us were surprised we made it this far, but we put in the effort when it really mattered,” said senior Charles Reyes. “Team chemistry has been a really big thing for us this year.”
With some longer road trips in Class 3A, Reyes said the team bonded with karaoke and team concerts.
All-conference selections
Harrison was a first team selection for the Class 3A East all-conference team as a designated hitter and utility player.
Perry and Stott both picked up second team honors at pitcher and third base, respectively.
Perry tossed 33 innings on the hill with a 4.67 ERA while striking out 35 batters this season.
Moore was also a second team selection as an outfielder.
