Hitting spree powers Wave past Truckee

The bats came alive, and boy did they.

The Greenwave baseball team collected 38 hits in sweeping a 3A doubleheader over Truckee on Saturday afternoon at McQueen High School. Fallon rode Alex Mendez’s pitching and hitting to a 12-1 win in the first game and then clobbered the California school, 21-3, in the second. The first game of the series was rained out on Friday and will be made up.

“We were just hitting the ball. I’ve never seen a team do that before,” Fallon coach Lester de Braga said. “They just came alive.”

Fallon (4-1, 3A) entertained Fernley on Tuesday and then hits the road this weekend to face last year’s regular season champ, Spring Creek.

The first game started as a pitchers’ duel with Mendez, a senior righty, blanking Truckee for the first three innings. Fallon got on the board in the third inning with two runs before adding five in the fourth and then seven in the final two frames. The Wolverines’ lone run came in the fourth.

Five Greenwave players had multi-hit performances, including Edgar Alvarado and Mendez, who led the attack with three hits apiece. Alvarado also drove in five runs and tripled twice while Hayden Strasdin, Chase Irvin and Sean McCormick each had two hits. Mendez, Strasdin, McCormick and Jack Swisher each drove in a run.

Mendez was strong on the hill, coming two outs shy of a complete game. He fanned 11 Wolverines against no walks and three hits.

“That’s what he’s done for four years. I expected it from him,” de Braga said of Mendez’s performance.

In the nightcap, it was Strasdin’s turn to stifle the Truckee bats.

After a rocky first inning when he allowed two runs, Strasdin buckled down and allowed only one run the rest of the way. He struck out four and gave up three hits.

“He did a great job,” de Braga said of Strasdin. “He settled in and pitched pretty well.”

Unlike the first game, Fallon didn’t wait to score by scoring at least three runs in each inning. Fallon scored four in the first inning, six in the second, three in the third and eight in the fourth before the game was called.

Mendez powered the Greenwave at the plate again, going perfect with four hits and four RBIs. Strasdin and Brock Uptain each picked up three hits and three RBIs, and Colton Coverston drove in two on three hits. Alvarado drove in three on two hits and McCormick had two hits and two RBIs. Brock Richardson drove in two, as well.

“Late in the game we had a big lead and got all the kids in,” de Braga said about playing everyone on the bench. “They all got a hit. It’s contagious. All the years I’ve been here, I haven’t seen hitting like this and we’re not at the top of our game yet. We’re seeing the ball.”