Jordan Byers races into her teammates as they celebrate her three-run homer against Fernley.
The Lady Wave capped off its undefeated season in the Northern 3A, receiving several entries for the All-State and All-Region teams, as well as one of the highest coaching honors available.
Fallon softball coach Tammie Shemenski was named region Coach of the Year for 3A softball, marking the second time this year a Lady Wave coach has received the honor; earlier this year, coach Anne Hale-Smith was Coach of the Year for girls’ basketball. Fernley's coach Diane Chapin was named state Coach of the Year.
For softball’s All-Region, Jordan Beyer, Faith Cornmesser, Stacy Kalt and Caitlyn Welch made the first team for the north, while Kayla Buckmaster and Alexis Jarrett made second team. Shelbi Schultz received an honorable mention.
Cornmesser, Kalt and Welch were also selected for the first All-State team and Beyer for the second team.
Beyer scored 41 runs with 28 RBI this season, from three home runs and seven doubles with a batting average of .389. Cornmesser tallied 35 runs with 32 RBI, three home runs, three triples and 19 doubles; as pitcher she struck out 85 batters. Kalt scored 36 runs with 25 RBI; she hit three home runs, four triples and 10 doubles with a batting average of .495. Welch recorded a batting average of .442, scoring 46 runs with 25 RBI from three home runs, five triples and 13 doubles.
Buckmaster scored 20 runs with 27 RBI, from six home runs, one triple and nine doubles; as pitcher though, she struck out 81 batters and only allowed 11 runs. Schultz recorded a batting average of .286, scoring 23 runs with nine RBI from one triple and two doubles.
Shemenski said she was proud of the players who were chosen for the teams, though she felt they deserved more entries after their season. She said Buckmaster deserved to be on the first team, having carried them through regionals as pitcher, and Cornmesser was deserving of MVP.
“She outplayed Kylie Sappington (the MVP) by leaps and bounds, but the votes didn’t go my way,” Shemenski said.
The coach noted voting for the teams takes place before the regional games and playoffs are not considered. She said the Wave earned the places they received and are “more than deserving” of the recognition. She would have liked to see more Fallon names on the list but is happy with the ones they have.
“They truly earned it if you looked at what happens between the foul lines,” Shemenski said. “I’m happy for those who were selected, I just feel that we should have had more on first team.”
