Boulder City can’t overcome Lowry pitcher

Lowry's Ambar Huish used her arm and bat to help beat Boulder City 6-0 on Thursday in the first round of the Class 3A state softball tournament at Faith Lutheran.

Huish threw a three-hitter with five strikeouts and went 2-for-3 with two runs for the Buckaroos, Northern Nevada's No. 1 seed.

"I was focused and ready, and the defense was great behind me," Huish said.

Huish's presence was felt early. She led off the bottom of the first with a single and scored on Rachel Baker's single.

The game was decided in the fifth, when Lowry scored four runs.

Lynnsey Johnson and Samantha Rice reached base on consecutive singles and scored on a throwing error. Christal Herrera then scored on another throwing error, and Huish singled and scored the final run of the inning.

Angela Dennis doubled and scored Lowry's final run in the sixth.

"Error-free ball is needed to win these state championship games, and we played excellent defense," Lowry coach Tom Kingston said.

Caiti Forrester pitched a complete game with five strikeouts for Boulder City.

• Fernley 10, Pahrump Valley 3 -- Heather Matthews pitched a four-hitter and Severena Johnson hit a three-run homer to give the North a first-round sweep.

Fernley's Frances Estrada led off the game with a walk and scored on Nikole Whitney's single, and the Vaqueros scored another run to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning.

Pahrump tied the game in the third on an RBI single by Karen Daun and a two-out RBI double by Rebecca Gamble.

In the top of the fourth, following a Samantha Rambeau double and a walk to Estrada, Johnson smashed her home run over right-center to give the Vaqueros the lead for good.

"We kept runners on the bases, and our defense made plays behind our pitcher," Fernley coach Diane Chapin said. "We're going to have to hit the ball well and play great defense again tomorrow if we are to win."

Fernley will play Lowry at 4 p.m. today. Pahrump and Boulder City will meet at 2 in an elimination game.

The winner of that game will play the loser of the Fernley-Lowry game at 6.