RENO - Unlike last year when Reed was upset in the first game of the 4A Northern Region softball tournament, the Raiders did what they were supposed to do Thursday as the High Desert League champs.

Reed used a six-run third inning to break a scoreless tie and avoided falling into the losers' bracket by disposing of fourth-seeded Bishop Manogue at the private Catholic school.

"Last year kind of woke us up and put us on our heels, so hopefully we learned something from that," Reed coach Ray Charles said. "It's like they say. You don't want to repeat history. We learned from it and came out with a good focus. We're excited about getting that first game under our belts."

The Blue and Gold sent 11 batters to the plate in the decisive third frame, recording four hits and drawing four walks. More importantly, the Raiders flustered Manogue ace Megan Dortch to the point where she needed to be relieved by Kassi Hargrove.

With one out in the bottom of the third, Erica McKenzie ignited the rally by hitting a comebacker off Dortch for an infield hit. McKenzie advanced to third on an infield groundout, and then it got really good for the east Sparks school with two outs.

Dortch walked the next two batters (one intentionally), loading the bases for Tess Oliphant, who drove in two runs with a grounder up the middle into center field for a 2-0 score.

Dortch was visibly rattled during Alex Corona's five-pitch at-bat in which she drew a walk and reloaded the bases.

It didn't get any better when Sydney Jones came to the plate and also walked on five pitches, forcing in a run and ending Dortch's first playoff stint in the circle.

Pinch hitter Shivaun Landeros hit a grounder that was snagged by a diving Kenzie Fogarty at shortstop, but her flip to second baseman Nicole Duxbury was too late for a force out. A heads-up Corona followed Oliphant home on the play, making it a 5-0 game.

Tia Wunder capped the six-run rally with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

The Miners had their chance to answer back, but left the bases loaded in the top of the fourth. Manogue stranded eight runners in the game.

Reed pitcher Destinee Levesque scattered six hits and walked three batters, but got the key outs when she needed to keep the shutout intact. She also kept Cohen, the Raiders' ace right-hander, fresh for a potential regional championship run.

"Any arms you can save in the playoffs is good," Charles said. "I thought Destinee threw well. It was 0-0 in the third, and she was keeping us in the game. We wanted to score first and put some pressure on them. Getting their first hitter out is tough because they're pretty good hitters. To keep them off the bases was good for us."

Reed (29-4) put up single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings for the final 9-0 margin.

Brooke Silva led off the fourth with a double to the gap in left-center. Cohen traded places with Silva two batters later when she doubled just inside the third-base line.

The Raiders picked up an unearned run off Hargrove in the fifth before Dortch re-entered the circle. Dortch gave up an unearned run in the sixth when Makaela Moore singled in Cohen with two outs. Cohen had reached on an error.

Reed is back in action today at noon and will take on fellow HDL foe Reno. Depending on the result, the Raiders will either play again at 2 p.m. or 4 p.m.