Despite getting a complete-game effort out of junior righty Kameron Van Winkle, the Douglas baseball team opened a crucial league series against Sierra League-leading Galena with a 5-2 loss in Reno Thursday afternoon.
Galena senior Eric Howsley kept the Tiger bats at bay throughout, limiting Douglas to just two runs.
"Howsley is just such a good pitcher and he did a nice job of keeping us off balance all day," Douglas coach John Glover said.
Glover said Van Winkle did a good job of holding off the potent Galena offense, but a couple of untimely miscues behind him led to some extra runs.
"Kameron pitched pretty well, but we made a couple of mistakes on defense," Glover said. "If we did a better job there, I think the outcome is probably a little closer."
Douglas got on the board in the third inning when Ryan Ford doubled and junior Matt Thomas singled him home. The Tigers scratched one more run across in the seventh when Brett Anderson singled, Shane Fencl was hit by a pitch and Van Winkle hit an RBI double.
The teams meet up for a doubleheader in Minden on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
"We need to scratch out a win there," Glover said. "The league is such a log jam right now. It's getting down to the nitty gritty."
