The Sparks Railroaders softball squad was swept for the second straight series, losing 12-5 and 12-1 in a 3A North doubleheader against Yerington Friday.

The first game of the doubleheader saw the Railroaders trailing 10-0 heading into the fifth inning. However, Katie Hippert, Kristina Avilla and Allison Tallman got on base and scored for Sparks in the bottom of the frame.

“We had one bad inning in the first game,” Yerington coach Laurie Thom said. “We had a few more errors than we wanted. I think we were able to pull it together in the second game and get more composure.”

Hippert and Avilla each scored again in the sixth for the 12-5 margin.

The second game was similar, with Yerington shutting out the Railroaders until the fifth inning.

“We put our bats on the ball,” Thom said. “We considered today bat on the ball day. We did a lot of different drills over the week because the last time we faced Sparks our bats weren't working.”

The Lions (10-4-1, 3-3 3A North) got two runs in the first inning to take a lead out of the gate, and it was all over for the Railroaders. In the third, the visiting squad got six runs on two hits.

“We hit the ball, but right at them,” Sparks coach Frank Avilla said. “They (Yerington) hit the ball well. Our pitchers are spotting the ball. Again, we had four errors in the first game and four errors in the second game.”

Sparks had an opportunity in the third inning to get in a few runs but was unable to string enough offense together. A Sabrina Martinez single and back-to-back singles from Tallman and Kristi Collier put runners on all the bases for Sparks with two outs but it failed to get a run in.

“If we're going to make those (errors) we have to come to the plate to want to hit,” Avilla said. “We got runners in scoring position and they want to walk. It's just a focus thing.”

Yerington scored two more in both the fourth and fifth innings, to close out the sweep over the Railroaders.

In the bottom of the fifth, Sparks loaded up the bases for Amanda Mahon with two outs. She singled to score Avilla to nullify the Railroaders' scoreboard goose egg.

“The girls were able to get deep into an inning where we had the bases loaded and we still didn't give up any runs,” Thom said.

With the loss, the struggling Sparks team falls to 0-7 in league and 5-12 overall. Sparks visits Lovelock on Thursday.

“The league's wide open,” Avilla said. “We can still get there. We've just got to string a couple of series together.”