Fallon bats come alive at right time

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — After Friday’s nine-run loss to South Tahoe, the Greenwave baseball team slipped in the standings due to its three-game losing skid.

Receiving a good seed in the postseason playoffs kept slipping from one weekend to another.

Since the Spring Creek series three weekends ago, Fallon had dropped five of nine league games, but Fallon reversed course after sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader at South Tahoe including a one-run win in the final game to ensure a series sweep.

Hayden Strasdin returned to his old form in the first game to tame the Vikings 9-1, while Shaw Lee’s three-run homer in the second game lifted Fallon to a 6-5 win and third place in the Northern 3A. Fallon, 18-9, enters this week’s Northern 3A region baseball tournament at Elko High School as the No. 3 seed and plays North Valleys, a team that took two of three from the Wave during the last weekend in April.

Strasdin threw six-hit ball and struck out six to improve to 4-2. He allowed one run in the bottom of the fifth, an RBI single from Andrew Lehman.

Fallon scored in clusters of three runs against the Vikings. Fallon knocked in three runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

Nate Galusha drove in Fallon’s first run with a single in the fourth, and the Wave added two more runs on errors.

Lee and Brenden Larsen hit back-to-back doubles to open the fifth, and Reile Cole’s base hit led to Fallon’s fourth run. Cole eventually scored on an error, and the Wave added another run on an infield error committed on Galusha’s groundball.

Tommy McCormick opened the sixth with a double, and Alvarado singled him home. Lee got on board with a single, and two outs later, Chase Irvin hit a two-run single off losing pitcher Kevin Lehman.

Fallon slammed South Tahoe pitching for 21 hits with Edgar Alvarado, Irvin, Galusha and Brenden Larsen each having three hits.

Lee helped his own cause in the second game with his home run. Lee hurled 6.2 innings and gave up 10 hits and three earned runs. Irvin retired the final batter for the save.

Fallon scored first in the see-saw game on Larsen’s single to let field in the first inning.

South Tahoe grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning on a run-producing single from Connor Long, and he later scored on a sacrifice. Jacob Rush added to the Vikings’ offense with an RBI single to right field.

Fallon closed the lead to a run in the third after Lee’s RBI single, but South Tahoe doubled the score, 4-2 on Austin Burdick’s double.

Fallon opened the fifth inning when a pitch hit Brock Richardson. After Tommy McCormick hit into a fielder’s choice, Alvarado received a free pass to first after being hit by a pitch to set up Lee’s homer.

In the sixth, Fallon added an insurance run on Bryce Larsen’s single to right field.

Kevin Lehman tripled home South Tahoe’s final run in the bottom of the seventh.

Friday

The Greenwave let a two-run lead slip away late in the game Friday as South Tahoe scored 10 runs over the last two innings to take a 17-9 win in Northern 3A baseball at Lake Tahoe.

South Tahoe took advantage of wild pitches and other mistakes to open the game up with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth.

After reliever Chase Irvin left the game, Nate Galusha replaced him but threw a pair of wild pitches allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score.

South Tahoe scored the next four runs on Connor Long’s sacrifice fly, Cameron Lehman’s single, an error and Eric Vasser stealing home. Vasser was also the winning pitching, entering the game for the final 3.1 innings.

Kevin Lehman had an RBI single in the sixth, and Long smashed a two-run single for South Tahoe’s final runs.

Fallon, though, came out swinging in the first inning and took the lead on Alvarado’s two-run home run.

Starting pitcher Brenden Larsen, who threw a gem against North Valleys a week ago, wiggled out of a jam in the second inning when South Tahoe sliced the lead to 2-1. Larsen uncorked a wild pitch to allow the run to score.

The Wave took a 4-1 lead in the third on Shaw Lee’s double and Galusha’s ground out.

South Tahoe had its first big inning by scoring six runs in the third inning. Long and Aaron Johnson each knock in a run, but with the bases loaded, Larsen’s pitch hit Adrew Lehman who tied the game at 4.

Johnson, though, hit a screaming ground ball up the middle which cleared the bases for a 7-4 South Tahoe lead.

Fallon regained the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth and one in the fifth. Sean McCormick’s ground ball was bobbled, allowing a run to score, and Alvarado doubled home a run. Fallon ties the game on Lee’s ground out, and the Wave leads by a run after Larsen doubles.

In the fifth inning, McCormick hit a run-producing single.

South Tahoe outhit Fallon 15 to 9.