The Truckee baseball team came up shy of a state championship last weekend, falling in Saturday’s title game to Virgin Valley.

Playing at Fernley High School, the Wolverines battled back from an opening round loss to Moapa Valley to come out of the loser’s bracket, and reach the state title game. The Northern Region champions, however, ran out of magic against Virgin Valley, dropping the state championship game 12-6.

The Wolverines tournament got off to a rough start in Thursday’s opening round, falling 13-10 to Moapa Valley. Junior Matt Tanner led the team with three hits and an RBI. Senior Sam Purgason hit a home run in the game. Senior Tyler Lamperti knocked in three runs.

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From the mound, Purgason struck out six batters and had nine earned runs.

Facing elimination on Friday, Truckee rebounded from the previous day’s loss, eliminating Dayton in a 12-2 win. Senior Jackson Kahl led the team with four runs knocked in and three hits, including a double. Tanner had a pair of doubles and knocked in a run. Senior Griffin Roberts had three hits, including a double. Purgason and junior Damon Bacon each had two RBIs.

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From the mound, Lamperti struck out six batters and had one earned run.

The win propelled Truckee into a semifinals rematch against Moapa Valley. This time the Wolverines jumped out to a 5-0 lead and were able to hang on for an 8-4 victory.

Purgason again had a solid game, leading the team with a home run and a trio of runs batted in. Tanner had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Roberts, Lamperti, and Bacon each had two hits.

As a pitcher, Kahl went a complete game, struck out six batters, and allowed one earned run.

The win against Moapa Valley pushed the Wolverines into Saturday’s title game against Virgin Valley. The Bulldogs entered the game with a perfect tournament record and would need to be beaten twice in order for the Wolverines to capture the state title.

One game is all it would take, however, as Virgin Valley made use of a big fifth inning to win the state title, 12-6.

Junior Dylan Sumner led Truckee with a double and three runs batted in. Roberts had two hits, including a triple. Bacon struck out two batters and allowed seven earned runs.

Truckee concludes the season as Class 3A Northern League champions with an overall record of 25-9.

Justin Scacco is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at jscacco@sierrasun.com