Motivation was toughest opponent for the Carson Senators on Tuesday against Sparks. The game didn't count in the Sierra League standings. The game was sandwiched between a pair of three-game series against Wooster and Hug. Oh yeah, and the Railroaders came into the game 4-13 and missing two of their best players.
So forgive the Senators for not taking Sparks seriously.
"I think we did overlook them a little bit," said Ben Moore.
No kidding. But just as easily as Carson went down 5-0, it easily scored 13 unanswered runs to beat the Railroaders 13-5 at Ron McNutt Field. All it took was coach Ron McNutt's speech going into the bottom of the second with the Senators down 5-0.
"Honestly, I don't know if I can say what he told us," Moore confessed.
Regardless, it worked. Carson (18-7 overall, 8-4 league) scored four runs in the second, then two more in the third to take the lead for good. Josh Camper came in for starter Steve Weyrick in the second inning and picked up his first win of the season. Weyrick gave up five earned runs, two hits, and walked five in one inning. The windy conditions had a lot to do with that, though.
"I didn't think the pitches he (Weyrick) threw were that bad," McNutt said. "But it was tough out there. It would be tough for any pitcher. But we knew it was a game that we could get some kids a chance to play. And when you do that, it doesn't start the way you like sometimes."
Unless giving up five runs in 1 1/2 innings to one of the worst teams in the Northern 4A is considered a good start. But all the negatives ended when the Senators' bats came alive. Carl Winter led the way, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fifth to give Carson a 10-5. Moore followed with another two-run blast in the inning to put the Senators up 12-5. Moore was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Willie Bowman 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs.
McNutt's reaction to the offensive outburst--it's about time.
"My biggest disappointment this season has been our hitting," McNutt said. "If that ever comes around for us and we get hot at the right time, we're a very good team. Will that happen? I don't know. But if it does, we can beat a lot of teams."
Especially Sparks, even though it was without Ivan Torres and Clayton Millsap. Mike Kamerer went a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for the Railroaders.
"It's a game we should win and we knew we had to go out and take care of business," McNutt said.
The Senators eventually did, even if it took McNutt's speech, one that he didn't think he should've had to make.
Camper and Jarrod Bone only gave up three hits in six innings. Bone struck out five and walked none in two innings of work. Ryan Gonzales, Murph Glover and Andrew James all had RBIs for Carson, which will host Hug on Thursday. The Senators are hoping to bounce back from back-to-back league losses to the Colts over the weekend. Those losses most likely eliminated Carson from finishing in the top two seeds in the Sierra League going into next month's Northern 4A Regional Tournament.
"We know those are three games we gotta' have," McNutt said of his team's three-game series against the Hawks this week. "But playing regular season games is only for seeding (in the zone tournament). And anything can happen in zone."
