Fallon advances to the NIAA 3A softball championship

RENO — Faith Cornmesser perfected a Picasso painting Friday afternoon.

By trading paint strokes with strikeouts, the Fallon senior outpitched Boulder City’s Bailey Bennett-Jordan, 2-0, to send the Lady Wave into the 2018 NIAA 3A Softball Championship game Saturday at 10 a.m. at Reno High School. Fallon will face Lowry, which upset Boulder City in the losers’ bracket game, 13-2.

Cornmesser’s masterpiece included eight strikeouts, and she allowed two hits, Jerra Hinson’s double with one out in the bottom of the second inning, and single in the sixth from Lily Osman with two outs.

Cornmesser and Bennett-Jordan overpowered their opponents through the first three innings. In the fourth, though, Fallon scored two runs, enough support to carry Cornmesser to the completion of her masterpiece.

The Lady Wave’s Stacy Kalt beat out an infield hit. Cornmesser followed with a fly ball to centerfield. With Maci Anderson at the plate, Kalt swiped second base, but an error on the throw allowed the Fallon shortstop to advance to third. Anderson hit a fly ball to Hinson, who made a running, shoe-lace catch.

Jordan Beyers then rode a 1-0 pitch for a double that scored Kalt, and Aspen Mori hit an RBI single. Beyers slid into home plate head-first ahead of the throw to catcher Marleena Mills.

Cornmesser took over, striking out the side in the fifth inning. She ran into a jam in the sixth inning when Boulder City had runners on first and second and two outs, but Mills hit a comebacker to Cornmesser, who flipped the ball to first base.

In the seventh, Cornmesser retired the first two batters but then walked Bennett-Jordan. She retired outfielder Summer Coyle to end the game.

Wave notes — Lowry shut out Pahrump Valley, 8-0, in the Friday’s first game before dismantling Boulder City, 13-2, in the semifinal game later that afternoon. Sylvie Prokasky, 15-4, pitched a five-hitter for the Lady Bucks, and then followed up with a four-hitter against the Eagles. Prokasky did not pitch against Fallon one week ago when the Wave defeated Lowry, 14-2, for the 3A regional title. In fact, Prokasky did not pitch in the Fallon-Lowry series at the end of April. Cornmesser, 14-4, will get the nod for Fallon in the championship game.

Lowry, 26-9 overall, finished second in the Northern 3A behind Fernley, while Fallon, also at 26-9, came in third.

Since Lowry swept a doubleheader from Fallon on April 28, the Lady Wave have won 12 consecutive games.