The Sparks 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars had two chances Monday night to punch their ticket to the regional tournament with a win in the state championship.



Reno West had other ideas.

After losing a 1-0 decision to Sparks Saturday, Reno West had to beat the host team in back-to-back games. It did just that, securing 12-10 and 9-3 victories to earn Nevada's state title.

Sparks simply ran out of pitching. After riding Jeff Copple's left arm to the championship game, Sparks turned to the southpaw on one day's rest for the nightcap Monday.

Sparks' defense didn't do him any favors, committing three errors in the top of the fourth frame, which led to three runs and a 3-1 Reno West lead.

Reno West never relinquished the lead. Copple made it through 4 2-3 innings, but two more errors in the fifth helped end his night early despite scattering six hits.

Game 1 starter Adam Bolingbroke came on in relief, but his luck did not change from the early contest. Bolingbroke got the final out of the fifth inning, but the damage already had been done.

Trailing 6-1, Sparks attempted a rally in the bottom half of the fifth. Garek Tauchen's two-run single up the middle cut the deficit to 6-3. Sparks could not get any closer.

Two Sparks errors in the seventh inning enabled Reno West to stage its third three-run rally of the game. Anthony Calton drew a bases-loaded walk with one out, increasing the lead to 7-3.

Grant Kukuk's sacrifice fly plated another run and Reno West pulled off a double steal with runners on the corners for the final 9-3 margin.

Calton, who started on the mound in the first game, also pitched in a relief role in the second. Calton pitched 1 1-3 innings of scoreless ball after Kukuk went 5 2-3 innings for the win.

Calton did his part at the plate as well. He had two hits in both contests.

Game 1 was a much different story than the offense-deficient meeting Saturday.

Both teams brought their bats and combined for 29 hits. Sparks out-hit Reno West, but still came out on the short end of the see-saw affair.

Reno West tallied six unanswered runs with four in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth, snatching a game-high 12-8 advantage. Reno West was lucky to score those last two.

Tauchen led off the top of the seventh with a double just inside the third-base line. Bolingbroke traded places with him by hitting a bomb off the wall in dead center field. A Gabe Martin single plated Bolingbroke from second.

Vinnie Koci got the next three batters out to end the game and force the 'if' game.

Calton, RJ Bush, Kellen Richards and Chris Salas all rapped out two hits for Reno West. Bush, Shane Wilkes, Mark Ledezma, Tyler McElroy, Richards, Salas and Zach Paquette all drove in a run.

Of Sparks' 16 hits, Trevor Hustad and Martin both had three. Martin drove in a pair of runs in the losing cause. Tauchen contributed two doubles and an RBI, while Leonel Abundis finished with two hits, including a two-run triple. Dominick Austria also had two hits for Sparks.