The floodgates opened on the Sparks softball team Wednesday and it wasn’t pretty.

The result ended up being a 12-1 shellacking in five innings for the visiting Yerington Lions.

The Railroaders kept it close initially. After the 3A North League rivals played to a scoreless tie through two innings, Yerington got on the board first with a pair of runs in the top of the third.

No. 9 hitter Kelsey Soukup led off the YHS third by lacing a shot that rolled to the fence in right-center field, picking up a double.

After Sparks got an out, Brooke Aiazza hit a comebacker to the circle. Pitcher Melissa Tallent forgot to check the runner on third and then rushed her throw to first, allowing Soukup to score and Aiazza to reach first on an error.

Aiazza stole second base, and with two outs, Haley Richardson found the same gap in right-center to trade places with Aiazza on the basepaths. The RBI double made it 2-0.

The Maroon and Gold was able to cut the lead in half with its only run of the game.

In the bottom half of the third, Sparks High’s Kristina Avilla smacked a one-out single up the middle. A walk to Katie Hippert moved Avilla up to second, and she came all the way around to score on Ally Tallman’s fielder’s choice.

However, the fourth frame got ugly for the home team.

The Lions sent 14 batters to the plate during their 10-run rally. They only needed six hits in the inning and repeatedly took advantage of Sparks missing the cutoffs.

Aiazza, Trinity Thom and Courtney Cliften all had two-run singles in the inning. Lyzette Aguilar also drove in a run with a base hit. Four walks and three errors plagued the Railroaders in the long inning.

Sparks didn’t quit though and managed three singles in the bottom of the fourth. Still, none of those runners scored as Yerington pitcher Katie Nicholas kept them at bay.

Nicholas pitched all five innings for the Lions, striking out nine and walking two. Sparks got six hits off of her, including a pair by Avilla and Gabby Durante.

Wednesday was a far cry from when the Railroaders were swept in a doubleheader two and a half weeks ago at Yerington by scores of 4-3 and 5-2.

“It was pretty brutal. We were doing well until the third inning. Then the wheels fell off,” Sparks softball coach Frank Avilla said. “We had four errors by two girls who don’t normally make errors. I don’t know what’s wrong with our hitting. We need to do a better job at the plate. We still have a heartbeat.”

Sparks (3-13-1, 2-9 3A North) has a three-game series at home with Lowry this weekend. The first game is at 4 p.m. Friday.

•Sparks baseball also participated in a mercy-rule shortened contest with Yerington Wednesday, but the Railroaders were on the right end of an 11-1 decision.

Sparks made quick work of its guests, finishing off the game in about an hour to get out of the bone-chilling cold.

The Railroaders’ bats were scorching hot, despite not seeing game action for two weeks.

Andrew Garcia, Kirk Putman and Alex Medina each had two hits in the Railroaders’ 11-hit attack.

Martin Jordan launched a home run and knocked in a pair of runs. Leonel Abundis had a double and three RBIs, while Dennis Morelli and Putman also had two RBIS.

Sparks posted a seven spot on the scoreboard in the third to go up 11-1.

“We had some adversity to deal with today, and we put it on the kids to play to their best ability and they came through,” Sparks baseball coach Greg Vasko said. “We were just hitting the ball real well today. One through nine in the batting order was hitting the ball real well.”

Putman struggled on the mound early, giving up a few walks and a run to Yerington in the first inning. But he settled down and pitched four scoreless innings to finish off the game in five. He allowed just one hit.

Sparks (5-12, 4-7 3A North) has seven important league games left because it could end up anywhere from the top three for the playoffs or the bottom three in the standings and miss the postseason altogether.

The Railroaders host Lowry Friday at 4 p.m.