Scott Oxarart
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 5/15/2010

Nick Bietz hit two home runs and Garrett Winkelmaier threw five innings of three hit ball as Reno beat Galena, 11-1, in five innings to win the 4A Northern Regional on Saturday at Douglas High School.

Bietz’s second home run was a grand slam that towered over the left field and gave the Huskies a 10-run rule victory.

“I’m real proud of our kids,” Reno coach Pete Savage said. “We have three goals. One was to win the league. Two was to win the regional. Three is to go on and win state so we’re going to go out and give it our best effort. We start practice on Monday.”

The 4A state tournament starts Thursday at Bishop Manogue High School. The double-elimination tournament continues Friday with the championship series scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday at Aces Ballpark.

Reno is the No. 1 seed from the north and Galena qualified as the north’s No. 2 seed. Two teams will qualify from the Southern 4A Regional, which wraps up Saturday.

State Tournament Notes (5/21/10)

Both Reno (#1 Seed) and Galena (#2) represented the North in the Nevada State Tournament. Below lists the results.

— Galena wasn’t the only local team to end its season today. The Reno Huskies dropped a 6-3 contest to Rancho as well.

Looking back, Reno probably had the worst luck of any team in the tournament. Despite finishing first in the north, under ideal circumstances Reno should have played the No. 2 Las Vegas representative, which was Rancho if you go by national rankings. Instead they faced Gorman on Thursday and lost 14-1.

Today, they had to face Rancho and No. 1 pitcher Zak Qualls, a San Diego State signee who Rancho didn’t pitch in their first game.

Scott Oxarart
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 5/16/2010

MINDEN — Reno center fielder Nick Bietz was rounding third base, and his teammates were eager for him to stomp home plate.

When he did, the entire team piled on, with Bietz in the middle, screaming and celebrating with his teammates.

Bietz was a hero for the Huskies on Saturday in the Northern 4A Regional championship at Douglas High. His walk-off grand slam gave Reno an 11-1 win over Galena (22-10) in five innings.

“I was just trying to hit the ball somewhere,” said Bietz, whose towering shot over the left-field wall completed a 3-for-3 day with two home runs and six RBIs. “It was such a good feeling. It was awesome. All the practices we went through this year and last year, it was just a really good ending.”

With the win, the Huskies (31-3) advanced to the 4A state tournament as the top seed from the North, which starts Thursday at Bishop Manogue. The 4A state title game is Saturday at Aces Ballpark.

Reno’s Pat Gallagher blasted his 17th home run of the season, a solo shot to center field, and Austin Wood and Zach Nymon each went 1-for-2 with an RBI.

The headline for Reno throughout the Northern 4A Regional playoffs was its pitching. The Huskies allowed just seven runs over four games, including the one Saturday.

Garrett Winkelmaier threw five innings of two-hit ball on Saturday with the only damage coming from a solo home run to Galena’s Brian Pointer. Winkelmaier struck out four and didn’t walk a batter, this performance coming off seven shutout innings against Douglas on Tuesday.

“It was all about our pitching this tournament,” Bietz said. “Our pitching kept us in every game. We’re always in every game because of our pitching.”

As the Northern 4A runner-up, Galena also will compete in the 4A state tournament. The Grizzlies qualified with a 15-14 win over a feisty Damonte Ranch team in 11 innings on Friday.

Aside from Pointer’s home run, Galena’s other hits came off the bats of shortstops Alex Barajas and Tony Guidara.