Lake Mead wins opener in state baseball tournament

With a runner on base and a 3-2 count in the third inning Thursday, Lake Mead's Spencer Kowis guessed he was about to see a fastball.

He was right.

Kowis belted a home run to lift the Eagles to a 6-3 victory over Virginia City in the first round of the Class 1A state baseball tournament at Arbor View.

Lake Mead (20-8) advanced to play Indian Springs (19-6) in a 1 p.m. winners' bracket game today.

"It was just a fastball right down the middle," said Kowis, whose only other home run this season was an inside-the-park shot. "I knew I had to do it for the team."

Indeed, the blast helped squelch a rally by the Muckers, who scored two runs in the top of the inning to tie the score at 3.

"It definitely gave us a lot of momentum," Eagles coach Doug Johnson said.

Both pitchers settled down to go the distance, with most of Virginia City's remaining threats coming as the result of Eagles errors.

"I didn't think our intensity was where it needed to be," said Johnson, whose squad committed six errors. "But if you're going to (earn a championship), you've got to win the close ones."

Josh Bratton and Kowis each went 2-for-3 for Lake Mead.

• Indian Springs 5, Carlin 0 -- Nick Vandever tossed a three-hitter, striking out 12, to lead the Thunderbirds past the Railroaders (21-8).

Derek Oliver's two-run triple in the top of the second gave Indian Springs a 4-0 lead, and Vandever got out of a jam in the bottom of the inning to keep his team out front.

The Railroaders, who never threatened after the second, will face Virginia City in a 10 a.m. elimination game today.

SOFTBALL

Lake Mead's start wasn't bad. Its finish is something the team hopes it doesn't repeat.

After jumping to a 2-0 lead over Carlin in an opening-round game of the Class 1A state softball tournament at Majestic Park, the Eagles (14-17-1) surrendered the next 20 runs and fell to the Railroaders, 20-5.

Carlin (18-8-1) exploited four Eagles errors, six walks and some questionable defensive decisions to score two runs in the second inning, seven in the third and 11 in the fourth.

Winning pitcher and leadoff hitter Sam Salisbury was 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs, and No. 2 hitter Kayla Anthony was 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs.

The Nos. 8 and 9 spots in Carlin's order batted a total of eight times and scored eight runs.

Ashley Newton had a hit, two walks and two RBIs for Lake Mead, which will meet Wells in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today.

• Pahranagat Valley 5, Wells 1 -- Addie Canning struck out the side in the top of the first and finished with nine strikeouts in a two-hitter as the two-time defending state champions advanced to today's winners' bracket final.

"Addie just pitched a really good game," said Pahranagat Valley coach Mike Sparrow, whose team will meet Carlin at 4 p.m. "She was hitting her spots."

Pahranagat Valley (19-8-1) scored all the runs it needed in a two-run first inning, highlighted by Canning's RBI single.

Pahranagat Valley added single runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings.

"We've got some kids who are real veteran ballplayers," Sparrow said. "They've been in the postseason before.

"We just try to go out and do the things we do every day. You don't have to do anything special. If you just do the fundamental things you do every day in practice, good things are going to happen."

The Leopards' run, aided by a Panthers error, came in the fifth.

Tami Spencer went 2-for-2 for Pahranagat Valley. Molly Hansen was 1-for-1 with three runs and an RBI.

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.