Cardinals sweep past Ridgecrest

Tony Teixeira belted three home runs as the Carson Cardinals baseball team swept a doubleheader from the Ridgrecrest (Calif.) Desert Dawgs on Monday at Governor's Field.

Carson won the opener 8-6 and the nightcap 9-8. Royal Good also had three triples in the doubleheader for the Cardinals.

In the opener, Good had three hits, including two triples, and Mike Teixeira pitched out of a jam in the seventh as the Cardinals held on. Tony Teixeira and Cameron Leck each belted home runs for Carson.

The Desert Dawgs had runners at second and third with one out in the seventh, but Teixeira struck out the last two batters to end the game. Teixeira pitched two scoreless innings for the save. Kyle Mandoki pitched five solid innings for the win, allowing four earned runs on six hits while striking out four.

Good tripled and scored on an alert play in the bottom of the first to tie the score 1-1. Jeff Hurzel popped up to first base, but when no one was covering home, Good raced home. Hurzel was credited with an RBI sacrifice fly on the play.

In the second, Jason Alcasas singled, eventually stole third and scored on a bad throw on the play to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Teixeira and Leck hit back-to-back homers to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in the third. Leck's shot went well over 400 feet to straightaway center field.

Carson scored three runs in the fourth to take a 7-4 lead. Jeremy Etchemendy singled and eventually scored on a fielder's choice. Good followed with an RBI triple and scored on a passed ball.

In the fifth, Leck doubled and scored on a fielder's choice to make it 8-6. Leck had two hits, his homer and double, and Kevin Schlange also had two hits for the Cardinals.

Among the highlights in the nightcap was Teixeira hitting a solo shot and a two-run homer and Good belting a triple. Josh Caron and Jack Jacquet each pitched three innings for Carson. Nick Smallman pitched the seventh for the save, striking out two.

The Cardinals open play in the Joe DiMaggio State Tournament at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Spanish Springs against the winner between the Northwest Royals and North Valleys.