The McQueen and Reed baseball teams faced a few shakes and quakes in a game that kicked off a three-game High Desert League prep baseball series Thursday.



The earthquakes that rocked the Truckee Meadows Thursday shook up the conference clash on two occasions and stopped the game for a few seconds during the second tremblor. But in the end, Reed overcame its McQueen hosts and a few scary moments to capture a 10-6 triumph.

Both teams started off quietly with a 0-0 score after two innings. Reed was the first team to strike, scoring a lone run in the third.

Three hits and one fielder's choice play in the bottom of the third scored three runs for the Lancers and the MHS squad took 3-1 edge. The Raiders got out of the inning with a barehanded grab by shortstop John Pelino, who forced Ethan Wilson out on his way to first, followed by a pop up to pitcher Casey Yocom.

The Raiders roused their bats in their next offensive turn. Reed pushed across seven runs in a tell tale fourth inning. Pelino started things off with a single for the Raiders and scored on a double by Duran DiQuarto. Dohn Matteoni walked and Fabian Reza singled to load the bases for Joe Cordi, who singled and scored DiQuarto.

Yocom got a fielder's choice, ousting Cordi at second while Matteoni scored. Chris Hawthorne added a single for the Raiders, as well as an RBI as Reza crossed home to give Reed a 5-3 edge.

From the outskirts of the dugout, Matteoni motioned over the fence as CJ Maldonado readied himself at the plate. Maldonado answered Matteoni's call, bashing a home run into center field to score three more for the Raiders.

Reed scored runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Maldonado earned his fourth RBI of the day, sending Hawthorne home. Hawthorne had reached safely on a base knock.

Still, McQueen made a run at the Raiders. The Lancers added three runs in the sixth to get within four, heading into the seventh down 10-6. That's as good as it got for McQueen as neither team scored in the final inning.

“We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow on defense,” Reed coach Jon Foss said, alluding to today's workout. “We have got to start working harder and taking care of the baseball. If we just keep swinging like we did today and we can get the pitching like we did from Casey Yocom, we're going to be fine.

“That's two weeks in a row the junior has definitely stepped up for us,” Foss said. “We expect that from him. He's a great pitcher. He's a great player.”

Yocom pitched all seven innings for Reed. He gave up six runs on eight hits and three walks. He had six strikeouts.

“I was just thinking ‘throw strikes, get them to hit it on the ground,’ because we've been working on defense lately and staying consistent,” Yocom said on his seven innings of work.

Foss said his Reed club (14-13, 8-5 High Desert League) will focus on tighter defense in practice on Friday to prepare for Saturday's doubleheader at home against McQueen. First pitch is set for 10 a.m.