With Spanish Springs senior Ashley Collier going down with an injury earlier this week, the Cougars' hopes of taking their High Desert League opening series with Reno fell on Karlyn Jones' arm.

Jones did not disappoint Saturday, pitching both ends of a doubleheader and getting plenty of help from her teammates to secure 12-2 and 6-1 wins. The twin bill sweep gave Spanish Springs the series two games to one.

"I thought we hit the ball well the other day. We only had four strikeouts," SSHS softball coach Jeff Davidson said of Thursday's loss. "But we made some adjustments and had a really good practice yesterday. We have a young team, so every game is like on-the-job training.

"For Karlyn to have to pitch both games today and the other day, she was just outstanding. We made some great catches behind her."

Jones scattered eight hits in the opener, but the only damage done by the Huskies was in a two-run fourth inning when she allowed four straight hits. Niki Rahming led off the top of the fourth with a single and she came all the way around to score on Missy Cates triple.

Back-to-back singles by Kelsey Dory and Megan Kelley plated Cates with no outs. Jones averted further damage by inducing an inning-ending double play following a sacrifice bunt.

Reno was able to cut the deficit in half with the rally, 4-2, but the hosts answered right back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning on Karley Hopkins' 2-run double to the gap in left-center field.

Then the Cougars broke open the game with four runs in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule.

Hopkins had three hits in the win for the Purple and Teal. Leadoff hitter Ashley Decker was 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored. She also had four stolen bases on the day. Courtney Darby also had two hits in the rout. She and Stevie Trevino drove in a pair of runs.

In the nightcap, Spanish Springs jumped out to a nice cushion with five runs in the first inning and put it on cruise control.

Decker led off the bottom of the first with a walk and three consecutive RBI singles by Hopkins, Jones and Karly Hall made it a 3-0 game. Spanish Springs batted through the order and capped the 5-0 run by scoring on a double steal in a first-and-third situation.

Then Jones went back to business in the circle, giving up just a single run in the fourth frame - the only inning she faced more than the minimum three batters.

Spanish Springs' final run came in the fifth when Darby singled and eventually came home safely on a wild pitch. Hall was the only Cougar with more than one hit in the second game.

Spanish Springs (6-2, 2-1 HDL) will host Hug Thursday in the second league series of the spring. However, for the first time in three years, the Cougars won't be atop the HDL standings following the first series.

That distinction goes to cross-town rival Reed, which capped a three-game sweep with 4-0 and 12-3 wins at McQueen Saturday to improve to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in league.

Senior ace pitcher Chelsea Cohen pitched a four-hitter in the complete game shutout. She struck out 12 Lancers and walked none.

The Raiders got two runs in the first and that's all Cohen would need.

Tia Wunder opened the game with a base hit. Erica McKenzie sacrificed her to second, but an error let McKenzie reach base.

Brooke Silva was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Cohen, who helped her cause by singling in Wunder. McKenzie scored on an errant pickoff attempt.

Kristy Pasley picked up an RBI single in the third and Silva singled in the game's final run in the fourth.

The late game was a far cry from the morning contest.

Reed rapped out 16 hits in the rout and a six-run second inning broke open a close game.

Silva and McKenzie each had three hits, while Silva drove in three runs and McKenzie had two RBIs.

Pasley, Alex Corona and Cori Gammon all finished with two hits. Pasley had two RBIs, and both Corona and Gammon plated one apiece.

Sophomore Destinee Levesque went the distance in the circle, allowing eight hits and two earned runs. She had seven strikeouts for the win.

"It was nice. We had a close game Thursday. To come out with two wins, I was pleased with the effort, especially since we had to battle the weather conditions up there," Reed softball coach Ray Charles said.

Next week will see the Raiders travel to Elko for a league series.