The Spanish Springs softball team is in the driver's seat at the NIAA 4A State softball championships. Not only that, but the Cougars look like they're in a very fast car and they're the only team in the race.

Spanish Springs, Nevada's defending large-school state champion, rolled to a pair of lopsided victories Friday at the state tournament, which is being hosted by Bishop Manogue High School in Reno. The Cougars dispatched cross-town rival Reed, 10-0, in the state tourney winners' bracket game Friday afternoon and is guaranteed a spot in today's state championship game at noon.

Spanish Springs posted a 14-2 romp over Sunrise Region champion Foothill earlier Friday.

"There is no doubt this team right now is producing. We hit seven home runs in the two games," Spanish Springs coach Jeff Davidson said. "We are hitting the ball well and I think a lot of that has to do with our experience."

Reed will play Shadow Ridge of Las Vegas at 10 a.m. today in a loser-out game. The winner will face Spanish Springs (30-5) at noon and will have to beat the SSHS crew twice to capture the 4A crown.

Reed (29-14) beat Shadow Ridge, 12-6, earlier Friday. The Raiders are looking for a spot in the state title game for the first time since 1998, when the East Sparks school won its last 4A softball title.

"We have to find a way to beat Shadow Ridge before we can think about Spanish Springs again. But I'm a little bit excited about it after last weekend," Reed coach Ray Charles said, alluding to his team's character. The Raiders lost in the first round of the Northern Region Tournament but bounced back to win four straight regional playoff games last weekend to capture a state tourney berth.

"We've been in a tough situation before after a loss and battled back. I think a lot of our team," Charles said.

In Friday afternoon's winners' bracket battle, Reed and Spanish Springs were knotted up at 0-0 after one inning, but the Cougars got on the scoreboard first with a pair of second-inning scores.

Ashley Collier laced a lead-off single in the Spanish Springs second. One out later, her older sister Amanda Collier singled to right field. The ball was misplayed in right field, allowing Ashley Collier to come all the way around to score. Amanda Collier tried to score on the play as well but was thrown out at the plate.

With two outs, Karlyn Jones bashed a homer over the left-field fence for the early 2-0 Spanish Springs lead.

The Cougars blew the game open with a five-run third inning. With one out, Ashley Decker and Dani Ming both singled. Jaci Carlsen then stepped up for the Cougars and deposited an offering from Reed ace Chelsea Cohen beyond the fencing in right field for a three-run dinger.

Cohen retired Ashley Collier on a groundout, for the second out of the frame, but the Spanish Springs offense was not done. Jen Martensen and Amanda Collier both singled and scored on a two-run single by Jones.

"I felt like we didn't make a couple plays early when we needed to," Charles said. "It could have been a 0-0 game into the third. That started them off and when they get ahead they're tough. They can manufacture runs and sit back and start swinging."

Spanish Springs was held scoreless in the fourth, but the Cougars put the 10-run mercy rule into effect by tacking on a trio of runs in the fifth. Martensen reached on an error. Amanda Collier singled and Jones ended the game with her second bomb of the playoff contest.

"It's definitely nice to hit home runs, especially at state. Both felt like they were gone as soon as I hit them," said Jones, the Cougars' sophomore first baseman. "This is fun. But we're definitely serious too, from the first inning to the last."

Jones finished the tourney tilt, driving in eight of the Cougars' 10 runs.

While the Cougars were busy scoring in bunches, Reed's offense was held in check by Spanish Springs senior Mallary Darby. The Cougars' ace right-hander finished with a one-hit shutout. She faced only 16 Raiders in the five-inning victory, one over the minimum. She racked up eight strikeouts and did not issue a walk.

"My rise ball was working. That's the majority of what I really threw," said Darby, who has signed to play college softball for Nevada. "It was moving well for me. I felt like I had it working."

Tia Wunder had the lone hit for Reed, but she was erased on a fielder's choice and the Raiders never even got a runner to second against the dominance of Darby.

"She is just a great competitor and her ball moves more than people think," Charles said of the Cougars' standout hurler. "She throws a heavy ball. She's got great command, and on top of that, she's got a great defense behind her."

The Spanish Springs defense was stellar against Reed. The Cougars did not commit an error and Cougar outfielders Ashley Collier in left and Decker in center both made dazzling diving catches in the Reed fifth to help hold the Raiders at bay.

"We talk about being ready and focused on every pitch. If those girls don't do that, they don't make those plays," Davidson said.

The third-year Cougars coach will look to have his team ready today as it goes for back-to-back state titles, which would be a first for any athletic program at the seventh-year school.

"Right now we are focused and we are in the driver's seat. We'll see what happens tomorrow," Davidson said after Friday's second win. "But it will be tough (on somebody). They will have to win at 10 a.m. and then come back and beat us twice."

Spanish Springs

The Cougars got into the winners' bracket with the 14-2 shellacking of Foothill. Spanish Springs built a 14-0 lead after four innings, hitting four long balls in the opening-round triumph.

Foothill got its only two runs on its only hit of the day, a two-run single that followed two walks and a hit batter in the bottom of the fifth.

Darby worked the first four innings for the Cougars, tossing no-hit ball. The lone Falcon player to reach against Darby drew a walk.

Reed

The Raiders advanced into the winners' bracket with their 12-6 first-round win against Sunset Region champion Shadow Ridge. Reed handed Shadow Ridge ace Stephanie Harmon just her second loss of the spring season.

Ali Berry was the star Reed's victory. She hit a pair of three-run homers for the RHS squad and finished 3-for-4 at the plate. Tess Oliphant was also 3-for-4 in the Raiders' victory.

Reed's seven-run outburst in the second-inning was the difference in the playoff affair.