The North Tahoe baseball team swept a Northern 2A doubleheader from Whittell to end the regular season, routing the Warriors 20-7 and 18-2 at Lampe Park in Carson City on Saturday.

With the wins the Lakers secured the No. 4 playoff seed while improving to 6-6 in league play. They’ll play first-seeded Lovelock (12-0) in the opening round of the double-elimination Northern 2A regional tournament on Friday at 9 a.m.

The second and third seeds, Silver Stage and either Battle Mountain or Hawthorne (Mineral County), play Friday at 11:30. The tournament continues Saturday, with the final teams potentially playing four games total.

The top two teams from the north advance to the state championship, which will be held at Lovelock (Pershing County High School) on May 16-17.

Game 1 was more interesting than the second contest, as the score was tied at 7 as late as the fourth inning.

Using a committee of pitchers, the Lakers battled back after Whittell tied the game, holding the Warriors scoreless the rest of the way while steadily adding runs.

The win in Game 2 came a little easier for the Lakers, who were led by another strong pitching performance from senior ace Sean Bernardo. Improving to 5-3 on the season, Bernardo threw a complete-game two-hitter while recording 11 strikeouts.

In 51 2/3 innings during the regular season, Bernardo finished with 77 strikeouts while allowing 30 hits and 20 walks and recording a 1.76 ERA. He held opposing hitters to a .159 average.

Offensively between the two games, junior Zack Tomlinson went 6 for 8 with three doubles, and Bernardo went 4 for 8 with three doubles and eight RBIs. Chris Cahill was 6 for 10, Taylor Good 5 for 9, Tyler Phillips 4 for 9, Tyler Turpin 5 for 8 and Joe Hallman 2 for 8 with 6 RBIs.

This past Thursday the Lakers defeated Incline by forfeit, as the Highlanders — playing this season under independent status — did not have enough players to field a team.

The Lakers split a doubleheader at Whittell on Saturday, winning the first game 10-6 and losing the second 16-6.

North Tahoe and Whittell, both 3-7 in league, will play a tiebreaker to determine the Northern 2A’s fourth and final playoff seed. Laker head coach Richard Mesa said the game will be played either Tuesday or Wednesday at a neutral site that has yet to chosen.

North Tahoe junior Shea Mesa pitched all seven innings of Game 1, recording six strikeouts.

“We played a great game,” coach Mesa said. “We only had two errors. I felt like we were coming together that first game really well.”

Junior Christina Lane led the Lakers with three hits, while freshman Alexa Andrews had two hits, one of which was her third home run in two weeks. Picking up a hit apiece were Shannon Stack, Hilary Stoner, Mealani Mesa and Alyssa McElwain.

Lane didn’t have much support pitching Game 2, as the Lakers committed 10 errors in a contest that was called after five innings on the 10-run rule.

Natalia Roberts, Lane and Shea Mesa each had two hits, while Stack, Andrews and Jennifer Jimenez each had one.