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.