Brian Kleidosty picked a good time to break out of his slump.
The Carson High School senior, admittedly off to a tough start early in the season, delivered a bases-clearing triple that broke open the game in the sixth inning and lifted the Senators to a 12-8 baseball victory over Fallon on Tuesday at chilly Ron McNutt Field.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, and Carson clinging to a 9-5 lead after a big Greenwave comeback, Kleidosty drove a 1-1 fastball to the right-center field wall, scoring Tony Faulkner, Chandler Allen and Marc Liveratti and blowing open the game after a tense top half of the inning.
"I haven't been swinging it very well lately," said Kleidosty, who was 2-for-3 on the day. "That was a good way to break out of it."
The three runs were part of a five-run Carson sixth, a welcome response after Fallon closed to within 7-5 by scoring four in their half of the inning. The extra scoring also came in handy in the top of the seventh, when the Greenwave put three more across and saw the game end with two runners aboard. Tony Faulkner, pitching in relief of starter Ken Heald, struck out Ken Galbraith on four pitches to snuff out the Fallon rally.
"They came out right away after we scored our runs, and that kind of took the air out of us," first-year Fallon coach Brooke Hill said of Carson's sixth-inning explosion. "We had the momentum, and if we could have just gone 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth, we obviously would have been in much better shape."
Heald pitched a strong game for the Senators before running into serious trouble in the sixth with Carson leading 7-1. Tony Guillen led off with a homer for Fallon, and then the Greenwave got back-to-back one-out singles from Derek Johnson and Rick Beach. Chris Rowe singled both of them home.
Jake Lewis reached on an error, chasing Heald, and then Galbraith drove Rowe home with a bases-loaded walk from Faulkner.
Faulkner settled down on the next hitter, inducing Tony Guillen into a groundout that ended the threat.
Then the Senators went to work on offense.
Joe Mercer and Matt Leck reached to lead off, bringing on Galbraith in relief of Fallon starter Jake Lewis. Faulkner walked to load the bases, and after Mercer scored on a groundout, Allen and Liveratti drew consecutive walks to force another run home.
Two batters later, Kleidosty delivered his big hit, which bounced just short of the wall.
"Brian did a great job with that situation," Carson coach Ron McNutt said. "As a coach, that's what you expect from your seniors. We moved him into the leadoff spot because he takes pitches and knows the strike zone, and he's excellent in that spot."
Kleidosty didn't know whether it was going out.
"I was running all the way. We get in trouble if we watch," he said with a grin.
Carson broke through in the first by scoring five runs off Lewis - all from a rally that started with two outs. Mercer and Leck drew consecutive walks, and then Ben Moore singled Mercer home. Faulkner followed with an RBI single before Allen crushed a 1-0 fastball over the left-field wall for a three-run homer.
Heald kept Fallon off balance early, facing the minimum in three of his first five innings while staked to a large lead. Fallon had a chance at a big inning in the second, but it stranded three runners and managed to push only one across.
"We just aren't hitting the ball well," said Hill, whose club beat South Tahoe and was swept by Reno before Tuesday's game. "We've got to find our bats out there."
Carson (3-1) returns to action Thursday with a 3:30 p.m. game against South Tahoe.
Notes: Moore left the game in the first inning after reinjuring his back. He could return Thursday ... Four of the Senators' 10 hits were for extra bases. Carson also drew nine walks ... Johnson and Rowe scored five of Fallon's runs.
