Steve Sneddon
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
5/21/2004
Jeff Schoenbachler liked the start of the NIAA 4A Baseball State Tournament a lot more than the beginning of the Northern 4A Regional.
Schoenbachler, the left-handed ace of the Reno High pitching staff, allowed two runs and seven hits and struck out six batters to help the Huskies take a 4-2 first-round state victory over Silverado at Carson High’s Ron McNutt Field on Thursday night.
Schoenbachler and the Huskies got off to the kind of start that set the tone for the game as they jumped to a 4-0 lead after three innings. The senior struck out the first four batters and his teammates rapped out five of their seven hits in the first three innings.
It was the sixth postseason win in a row for the Huskies, 34-5, who haven’t lost since Schoenbachler was tagged with the defeat in Reno’s 4-3 loss to McQueen in the first round of the regional May 12.
“That loss kind of woke us up,” said Schoenbachler, who has signed to play at Long Beach State. “It made us realize what we have to do to win. We can’t sit back. It brought us together.
“I like coming out and winning the first one. That haunted us in the state for a long time.
“We lost (the first game) when I was a freshman and sophomore.”
Reno and another left-handed starter, Chris Rickey, will face Cimarron-Memorial, 28-7, in a winners’ bracker game at McNutt Field at 3 p.m. today. Silverado, 18-18, will test Reed at noon in the first of today’s three games.
Schoenbachler and the Huskies cruised through the first five innings, but had to weather the storm when the Skyhawks struck for two runs in the top of the sixth. Lance Roundy led off the inning with a double down the left-field line and scored on Casey Coon’s two-out double to right. Chad Robinson brought home Coon with a hard-hit single that deflected off Schoenbachler.
But Schoenbachler regained control in the seventh when he gave up a leadoff infield single and then retired the next three batters to end the game. Silverado starter Dan Morris, who gave up seven hits and also went the distance, took the loss.
“I thought offensively we got a good approach in the first three innings,” said Reno coach Pete Savage. “Morris is a good pitcher. We got complacent, but give Morris credit. Jeff pitched a very good game and got stronger as the game went on.”
Schoenbachler agreed that he had gotten stronger as the game progressed.
“I definitely had to focus more. I got tired,” Schoenbachler said. “I had to become mentally tougher than at first.
“A pitcher can’t ask for any more than an early lead. It put me at ease, probably too much.”
The Huskies scored twice in the first inning on Steve Mays’ single and Ryan Simpson sacrifice fly to center. Reno tacked on a run in the second inning on Jake Johnson’s single to left that scored Procter Hug and added another run in the third on Simpson’s single that scored Mays, who had tripled off the base of the right field wall.