The Sparks High baseball team had a chance to salvage a split of its 3A North League prep baseball doubleheader against Fernley, but could not get it done.

The Railroaders blew a four-run lead late in Game 2 and wound up dropping both games Saturday. Fernley posted a 15-7 win in Game 1 and then persevered to pull out a 13-12 nine-inning victory in Game 2.

The second contest was a back-and-forth affair. Sparks led 7-3, but Fernley scored four runs in the sixth to deadlock the game at 7-7. Sparks answered with two runs to take a 9-7 edge, but Fernley secured a trio of scores in the top of inning seven to go up 10-9.

Sparks tied the game at 10-10 and forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the seventh. Andrew Garcia reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. He scored on a Joe Puccinelli single.

Neither team scored in the eighth but both teams found some offense in the ninth. Fernley came up with a trio of runs in the top of the inning to go on top 13-10.

Garcia and Brandon Harris singled to start the Sparks ninth. Puccinelli ripped a single to score Garcia. Kirk Putman followed with a single to score Harris. Sparks then trailed 13-12 with one out. They had runners on first and second but hit into a double play, nixing their hopes of a comeback win.

Sparks (5-19, 4-14) had 21 hits in the loss but was hurt by the seven errors it made and eight walks it allowed.

In the opener Saturday, Fernley had plenty of offense. The Vaqueros scored in six of the seven innings. They rapped out 12 hits and took advantage of 11 walks issued by Sparks pitchers.

The Railroaders tried to hang around early. Fernley scored four runs in the first inning, but Sparks answered with two each in the first and second frames. Andrew Garcia singled and Dennis Morrelli mashed a two-run homer to left-center field to knot the game at 4-4.

Trailing, 8-4, Sparks scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut its deficit in half, but Fernley pulled away from there. The Vaqueros scored four in the fifth, one in the sixth and two in the seventh to pull away.

Fernley reliever Tony Wilson worked the final three innings on the mound and picked up the win, limiting Sparks to just one run in the telltale stretch.

- Softball -

•Fernley picked up a pair of wins over Sparks on the final day of the 3A North regular season but the games could not have been much different. Fernley cruised to a 17-0 five-inning mercy-rule win in Game 1 but had to fight for everything it got in a 4-2 Game 2 triumph.

Fernley scored in all five innings of the opener. It scored five runs in the first inning and was never threatened. The visiting Vaqueros scored their 17 runs on just eight hits. Sparks committed eight errors in the lopsided loss.

On the flip side, Sparks managed just two baserunners. Amanda Mahon had the only hit for Sparks, a fourth-inning single. The only other baserunner for the SHS crew was Stephanie Parkers, who drew a second-inning walk.

In Game 2, Fernley took a 3-0 lead after pushing across a pair of runs in the first and a single score in the third. Sparks trimmed the gap to 3-2 with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth. Katie Hippert lined a one-out single for Sparks and stole second. She circled the sacks after a Mahon single. Mahon scored on a Gabby Durante single.

Unfortunately for Sparks, that’s all the offense it could muster. Fernley added a sixth-inning run to account for the final score. While Sparks played a cleaner contest in the second affair, it still committed five errors and three of the Vaqueros four runs were unearned.