Sparks scored first in the first game of the day, putting up one run in the first inning. Dennis Bartee scored after getting on base with a walk. Reno West however put up nine in the first and four in the second to hold Sparks off.
With the loss, Sparks was forced into another game Saturday against Lovelock and this time, there was a very different result.
"This morning was a huge disappointment," Sparks coach Elisha Zayas said. "We were very sluggish. It looked like we didn't even show up to play, very flat out there. Our bats, well we just weren't ready."
Sparks kicked off the top of the first in the losers' bracket game by putting up five runs over Lovelock. Already with a 1-0 lead, Mike Merriott stepped up with bases loaded and two outs and knocked out a triple, adding three more for Sparks and a 4-0 lead. Merriott scored on a wild pitch for the 5-0 lead for Sparks.
"This game here was a little different," Zayas said on the second game of the day. "Our approach was definitely aggressive, a lot more aggressive than this morning. Our main goal here was to try to make them make plays."
In the bottom of the first, Lovelock put up its own scoring stand. Seth Montes, Bubba Kinchwe got on base and Brian Smokey followed through with a home run for Lovelock, closing the gap to 5-3.
Sparks' Dennis Bartee added another for Sparks with an inside-the-park home run, pushing Sparks' advantage to 6-3.
Lovelock closed things to 6-4 in the third and took the lead from Sparks in the bottom of the fourth. Lane Chambers walked and scored on a Travis Monroe single. Jared Jensen singled and Chance May was hit by a pitch. Both were driven in by a Montes bases-loaded single for the lead, 7-6.
Then Dennis Morelli came in to pitch for Sparks. He struck out his first batter, Kameron Smokey, for the third out of the inning.
Morelli shut down the next three batters in the fifth and Sparks strung some hits together in the sixth to retake the lead. Brandon Harris singled and an advanced on a fielder's choice error on Bartee. Connor Cox singled to drive in Harris to tie the game at seven a piece. With two outs, Morelli tripled to drive in Cox for the go ahead score.
"Dennis Morelli won his own game," Zayas said.
The Sparks defense, behind Morelli, did not allow another hit from Lovelock in the following two innings, shutting down its offense.
Sparks continues play today at McQueen at 2 p.m. against Carson Valley. If it wins, it will play at 4:30 p.m.
"We still have plenty of pitching left so I think that will keep us in the game," Zayas said. "As long as our bats are strong we will be aggressive on those basepaths. We will make sure that they know we're there and they're going to have to stop us."
•The 14-year-old All-Stars from Sparks faced an unlucky draw in the double elimination tournament and were sent home after an 18-8 loss to Reno West Saturday.
Sparks led 5-1 until an excruciating third inning turned the game around. Reno West pounded out eight hits and took advantage of four Sparks errors to push 14 runs across in the bottom of the third.
Sparks tallied three runs in the top of the fifth to cut the lead back down to single digits, but Reno West added a pair in the bottom half of the inning to initiate the 10-run mercy rule.
For Sparks, Connor Burns and Cody Beattie both went 2-for-2 at the plate. Burns had two doubles and three RBIs, while Beattie scored three runs.
•The Sparks 13-year-old All-Stars dropped a 12-2 decision to Carson City Saturday, but remain in the state tournament, which is double elimination.
The game was scoreless halfway through, but after Sparks scored two runs in the top of the fourth, Carson City answered back with 12 unanswered to end the game early in the sixth.
Sparks will play a losers' bracket game today at 12:30 p.m.
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