PREP / JC Roundup Douglas softball advances to semifinals

MINDEN — The Douglas High girls softball team advanced to the regional semifinals Wednesday afternoon, beating Galena 9-1.

The win set up a 5 p.m. matchup against defending regional champion Damonte Ranch Thursday at Bishop Manogue in the semifinals.

The winner moves on to Saturday’s regional championship round while the loser will have to battle through Friday’s elimination bracket to stay alive.

On Wednesday, Douglas sophomore Kali Sargent was stellar for the second consecutive day. She pitched a complete-game three-hitter, striking out six and waking two as Douglas improved to 22-10 on the year.

Galena took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and went quiet after that as Douglas tied it in the bottom of the first, went ahead in the bottom of the second, extended it to 3-1 in the fifth and put the game away with a six-run sixth.

Kelly Sonnemann doubled twice, driving in a pair of runs, Makayla Shaver doubled and drove in a run, Iliana Brown went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Katie Kluever scored three runs and drove in another, Sargent went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Allison Meyer and Maddie Parks each had a base hit.

Brown stole two bases in the game, while Meyer and Kluever each drove in a run.

PREP BASEBALL

Douglas eliminated

RENO — Douglas fell 5-2 to Reed in an elimination game Wednesday at Reno High School.

The Tigers carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth behind a strong pitching performance from Kyle Johnson before Reed surged ahead with a five-run inning.

The Raiders put runners on with a pair of bloop singles just over the infield and moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly brought the first run home and a single into left tied the game up with two outs.

Reed then hit a three-run home run for what proved to be the game-winning hit.

“It felt like we were just a bloop single or a key hit away from breaking things open all game long,” Douglas coach Bruce Jacobsen said. “We just weren’t able to get there.

“Credit Reed, they stayed with us all game, got a few things to happen for them and got out with a win. It’s a tough way to go out.”

JUNIOR COLLEGE SOFTBALL

WNC falls in opener

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Southern Nevada scored four runs in the fifth inning to snap a 1-1 tie en route to a 7-1 victory over the Western Nevada College softball team at the Region 18 softball tournament Wednesday.

WNC (18-42 overall) will try to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament at 8:30 a.m. today when it battles Colorado Northwestern in an elimination game.

Freshman catcher Sydney Darby pulled WNC into a 1-1 tie with a school-record-setting home run in the top of the fourth inning. The solo blast was Darby’s 17th homer of the season, breaking a record she shared with Taleas Marble.

After Darby’s tying homer in the fourth, WNC put Jennifer Rechel and Andrea Lee in scoring position with two outs, but a strikeout ended the rally.

In CSN’s fifth inning, Tiffani Taylor hit a sacrifice fly and Mikela Manewa stroked a two-run double to score Jasmine Fukuda and Erin Romero. Hope Curtis’ run-scoring single provided the Coyotes with their fourth run of the inning and a 5-1 lead.

The Coyotes added two insurance runs in the sixth on Manewa’s RBI single and Rhiana Balaun’s sacrifice fly.

The Wildcats had their offensive success against Coyote starting pitcher Breea Buckey, who allowed five hits in 3 1/3 innings. However, Alashanee Medina, who two-hit the Wildcats last weekend, quieted WNC’s bats the rest of way, allowing one hit in 3 2/3 innings of relief. She struck out four and walked two.

Freshman Carlee Beck pitched the distance for the Wildcats, allowing 10 hits and five earned runs in six innings.

Darby collected two of WNC’s six hits, as well as a run scored and RBI. Rechel, Jennifer Quam, Alisha Nielsen and Madison Gonzalez each had a hit for the Wildcats.