WOODLAND, Calif. - Jon Fender is making a habit out of hitting big home runs for the Carson Capitols.
Fender delivered his second game-winning home run within the past week, this one a first-inning grand-slam that helped send the Capitols to a 7-3 victory against Buchanan on Friday afternoon on the opening day of the Woodland Baseball Summer Classic.
Fender's blast erased a 1-0 deficit and put the Capitols ahead to stay en route to their second win of the day. Fender also figured prominently for Carson earlier in the day, as he pitched a complete game one-hitter to beat El Camino 10-0 in a game played at the University of California-Davis.
Buchanan, a program from Clovis, Calif., went up 1-0 on a home run in the first inning, but Carson came back to score four runs in the bottom half of the inning on Fender's slam.
Fender, a product of Galt, Calif., and Consumnes River College, hit a three-run blast with two outs in the seventh inning to lift the Caps to a dramatic 6-5 win against Fairfield, Calif., last Saturday in Carson City.
Ken Heald pitched five innings before giving way to Will Quaglieri, who worked the sixth and seventh.
Anthony Carano hit 3-for-3 and Joe Jacobitz 2-for-3 to lead Carson offensively.
The Capitols scored six runs in the first inning and never looked back in their win against El Camino (Sacramento). Dan Gubbels, Rusty Miller, Pete White, Jacobitz and Carano collected two hits each for Carson.
The Capitols, playing in the prestigious Woodland tournament for the first time, will try to keep their momentum going today against two tough opponents - Clovis in a 10 a.m. game at Davis High School and Elk Grove in a 1 p.m. game at Woodland High. J.P. Howell and Brian Cochran are the Capitols' tentative starting pitchers.
