TRUCKEE — The Sparks Railroaders could not hold on to a one-run lead in the sixth inning and fell, 12-6, to Truckee in the first game of a best-of-three 3A Northern Region baseball playoff series Friday.

The Railroaders led for most of the game but gave up seven runs in the sixth inning to third-seeded Truckee, sealing their losing fate.

“We just fell apart,” Sparks coach Greg Vasko said. “We made some mistakes and they took advantage of it. It’s a combination of mental and physical errors.”

Sparks, the 3A North’s fourth seed, led 6-5 going into the sixth inning but Truckee came back with a vengeance.

The host Wolverines started off the inning with two singles from Michael Fagen and Michael Taylor. Truckee’s next two batters made outs to put Kevin Decker at the plate with two runners on and two outs on the board. Decker doubled, sending Fagen home and spurring the Wolverines’ two-out rally.

Truckee pitcher, Justin Vosburgh, hit a shot to right field that was dropped. Two runs scored. Vosburgh would later score on another SHS error. Keven Sahlberg and McLane Brady reached safely on a walk and the error that sent Vosburgh home. Both scored on a bunt by Trever Allen. Allen scored on a passed ball to cap off the seven-run frame for Truckee.

“We forget about it and we come back and play the best we can tomorrow,” Vasko said. “It’s going to be tough but I believe in our guys and we’re going to do the very best we can.”

Sparks was on a roll early and scored five runs in the first inning.

“We were hitting the ball left and right and I think there were one or two walks. We hit the ball hard,” Vasko said.

Sparks held off Truckee until the Wolverines tied it at five apiece in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Sparks added its last run of the game to the scoreboard. Jake Kozlowski led off and got on base by an error. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nic Posey and then stole third. Kozlowski scored on an Andrew Garcia single.

Aaron Quilici will start on the mound for Sparks today in hopes of keeping his team alive. First pitch is slated for 10 a.m. at Truckee High School. If Sparks wins, the teams square off in a final game at 1 p.m.

“We’re going to try to eliminate mistakes,” Vasko said. “We don’t want to beat ourselves.”