The Truckee baseball team moved one step closer to a state championship tournament berth on Thursday, taking an 11-9 win against Elko in the second round of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Northern League Baseball Championship.

The No. 1 seed Wolverines received a first-round bye going into the six-team, three-day tournament at Elko High School, and faced off against the No. 4 Indians, who had taken a 7-5 win against No. 5 South Tahoe earlier in the day.

In the top of the first inning, Elko took advantage of an error at first base for a 1-0 lead. Truckee junior pitcher Deacon Mehler kept the Indians off the board until the top of the third when a single to right field scored a runner from second base, giving the Indians a 2-0 edge.

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Truckee senior Shane Poe got the Wolverines on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning with a line drive to right field to score senior Spencer Edmondson.

Elko then took a 4-1 advantage in the top of the fifth inning, scoring a run off a single and getting another when Mehler was called for a balk.

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The Wolverines turned the tide in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with one out to set up a sacrifice fly by senior Marcus Bellon. After a walk again loaded the bases, Edmondson came to the plate and drove a three-run double to center field to give Truckee its first lead of the game. Elko would later commit an error, which allowed two more runs to cross the plate, giving Truckee a 7-4 edge.

The Wolverines extended the lead in the following inning, first scoring a run off a double by junior Spencer Estabrook. Bellon then hit a sacrifice fly to add another run. Estabrook later scored on a passed ball, and then with two outs, Poe hit a single to center field to give Truckee an 11-4 lead going into the final inning.

Mehler would get into trouble to open the top of the seventh, walking a batter and hitting another. The Truckee junior then gave up a two-run triple in the next at-bat. Mehler then snagged a line drive in the following at-bat and got the runner at third base out for a double play.

After Mehler gave up back-to-back walks, Poe entered the game in relief and gave up a single to left field, allowing Elko to pull within four runs. An infield error in the next at-bat then made the score 11-8. The Indians went on to draw a walk to load the bases, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. A wild pitch then made the score 11-9 with runners on second and third, but a ground ball hit to Mehler at third base put an end to the Elko comeback, as Truckee recorded the final out for the win.

Poe led the way for the Wolverines at the plate, going 4 for 4 on the day with a pair of RBIs. From the mound, Mehler allowed seven earned runs and seven hits while striking out five batters in 6 2/3 innings of work.

The defending state champion Wolverines will now face Churchill County in the next round of the double-elimination tournament. The winner of the matchup will earn a berth into tomorrow’s championship round and will stamp a ticket to next week’s state championship tournament in Mesquite, Nevada. The Wolverines defeated the Greenwave in two of three games this season.

The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. today.