Serpents finish 2-2 in

The Mineral County High baseball team opened up the season with wins over Silver Stage and Whittell in Yerington on Friday and Saturday.

On March 11 and 12, the Mineral County High baseball team traveled to Yerington to open up the season with round robin tournament play. This year the Serpents were placed in a higher bracket than is tradition, so the competition was a bit stiffer than normal. Nevertheless, the boys proved they were not to be underestimated.

The Serpents found themselves face to face with 2A Silver Stage in their tournament opener. Junior lefty Brandon West threw a 2-hit peach from the hill as the Serpents blew passed Silver Stage with a score of 10-1. Tanner Owens, Spencer Benjamin, and Tony Dominguez each collected 2 hits, while Daniel Owens roped a triple and put up 4 RBIs.

The Serpents lost in game two to 3A Bishop Union, 10-3. Bishop came away with the win due to a few shaky mound performances by the Serpent pitching staff. Serpent hitters only managed to put up two hits in the contest, compared to Bishop’s four.

The Bishop loss gave the Serpents the fuel they needed going into day two. Whittell laid victim to the wrath of senior pitcher Daniel Owens who handled the Whittell nine through five innings, giving up 3 hits and striking out 5. Dominguez came in for the save to give Mineral County an 8-2 win over the boys from Tahoe. Tanner Owens scattered 2 hits for the Serps, with a double and 2 RBIs. Isaiah Crowl also had a double and 2 RBIs to help the effort.

The final game of the tournament was against long-time rival and tournament host, 2A Yerington. Senior LJ Donaldson graced the mound for the Black and Gold. A shaky first inning from Donaldson left Yerington out on top 4-0, but that was the last time the boys of purple were in the game. Donaldson shut down their entire lineup for the remainder of the game in what ended in a 2-hit loss for both the senior hurler and the Serps. The Lions scored later in the game on a defensive error, which brought the final score to 5-2. Tanner Owens, Daniel Owens and Crowl all scattered hits in the contest.

The Serpents ended the tournament with a 2-2 overall record. They played solid baseball both offensively and defensively. With 11 more games to go before conference play begins, the Serps are hoping to fine tune their skills and get better each game. The JV squad played Dayton’s JV on Wednesday, and the Varsity travels to Coleville for a double header this Saturday. “Work hard, play hard, SERPENT BASEBALL!”