Hayden Strasdin delivers a pitch against Fernley in Tuesday's game.
An old baseball adage says that momentum is only as good as the next day’s pitcher.
Tuesday, it was Fallon ace Hayden Strasdin who proved that verity for the Fallon Greenwave.
Having moved into first place by taking two of three games from Elko last weekend, the Fernley Greenwave rode a wave of momentum into Tuesday’s doubleheader in Fernley.
A seven-run first inning by Fernley in the first game erased that momentum, but Strasdin got it back with a dominant performance in the nightcap to earn a split for the Greenwave and keep them tied with Elko atop the Northern 3A.
The Greenwave hosts Lowry this week with a single game Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday starting at 11 a.m. They finished the season with a three-game series next week in Dayton.
“We just took over first place last weekend. I thought we’d come in looking like a champions, and we come in not looking like a champion,” Fallon coach Lester de Braga said.
Fernley took the first game 10-0, behind that seven-run first inning and a four-hit shutout by junior Mason Timbrook.
But Strasdin answered the call for Fallon in the second game, leading the Greenwave to an 8-5 win despite coming into the day not expecting to pitch.
“He’s our ace, he’s our number one guy, and we didn’t intend to pitch him today,” De Braga said. “We thought maybe we could get through without him, but when we lost the first one, we knew we had to come back and go with what we had and get that second game.”
Sean McCormick staked Strasdin to the lead with a two-run double off the bottom of the left field fence in the top of the third inning.
Fernley got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third, when Danny Moreno scored from third on a bad throw to first base.
A solo home run by Jake Wickizer in the top of the fourth made it 3-1, and Shaw Lee singled home a run in the fifth for a 4-1 lead.
Fallon took firm control of the game in the top of the seventh. A bloop single by Lee scored Nate Galusha to make it 5-1, and Brenden Larsen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, the third Fallon batter of the inning to be plunked, forcing in a run to make it 6-1. An RBI-single by Tommy McCormick and a run-scoring groundout by Chase Irvin finished the scoring.
Fernley put four unearned runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh, but Strasdin was in control throughout, even after being hit by a line drive in the sixth inning that caromed in the air to Lee at first base, who caught it for an out.
“He’s an excellent pitcher and he was on today, and it worked out well,” De Braga said.
Strasburg went eh complete seven innings, allowing seven hits and two walks with nine strikeouts, and all five runs against him were unearned.
Lee was 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored a run to lead the Fallon offense.
Fernley batted around in the first inning of the first game, and added another run in the second and two on the fifth to end the game early.
Zach Burns drove in three runs for Fernley and Ryan Harer drove in two.
Timbrook struck out three, walked three and allowed five hits for Fernley.
De Braga said losing the first game made the second a must-win for Fallon.
“Yeah, we had to win that second one if we’re going to stay in that position,” he said. “I was a little disappointed in that first one. Fernley came out swinging, doing well and credit to them, but we came out flat. But my kids are a decent bunch of kids, they know what it takes and they respond.”
