Carson softball rallies to salvage split

RENO - Turnabout was fair play for the Carson High School softball team on Saturday.

After watching one get away in the seventh inning of the opener against North Valleys, the Senators came back and scored twice in the top of the seventh to pull out a 4-2 victory in the nightcap of their Sierra League double-header.

North Valleys scored twice in the seventh to tie the game and then scored another run in the ninth to post a 4-3 victory in the first game of a double-header between teams that are battling for fourth-place in the league - and a berth in the Northern 4A Regional Tournament next month.

Needless to say, the second-game victory was vital for the Senators (2-3 league, 5-3 overall).

"That would have put us in a big hole if we had lost two," Carson coach Scott Vickrey said. "We played good ball today. It was tough losing the first game like we did, but I was glad to see the girls battle back like they did in the second game."

Vickrey may have had feelings of deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say, when Carson built a 2-0 lead in the second game, only to see North Valleys score twice in the sixth inning to tie the score.

But the Senators answered with its two-out rally in the top of the seventh. Robin Conn reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on a passed ball and took third on a wild pitch. Liz Rankl singled on a chopper down the third base line, Conn holding at third. Conn dashed home with the go-ahead run on another wild pitch, and Katie Davis hit a bloop single over second base to bring Rankl home.

Mandy Carvin, who had come on to pitch in relief of Lindsay Farnworth in the sixth, retired the side in order in the seventh - with two outs coming out on strikeouts. Farnworth, who pitched a complete game 4-3 victory against Spanish Springs on Friday, allowed five hits and three walks.

"Lindsay pitched a wonderful game," Vickrey said. "She put us in a position of being able to win."

Farnworth also tripled to drive Rankl home with a run that gave Carson a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Senators extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the sixth when Dacey Hassey dashed home on the tail end of a double-steal attempt.

In the opener, Ashley Donaldson singled with one out to ignite North Valleys' game-tying rally in the seventh inning. In the ninth, Donaldson hit a leadoff single and scored the winning run on Cassie Hayden's base hit.

Nicole Ellis pitched a complete-game six-hitter to win the game for North Valleys. Carvin went the distance for Carson, allowing nine hits and leaving nine runners stranded.

Ariadne Gonzalez doubled and scored in the second inning, and Rankl delivered an RBI triple in the fifth as the Senators took a 3-1 lead.

The Senators travel to Wooster for another league game on Tuesday, and then host Elko for a double-header on Wednesday.