Crushers fall twice in USABA play

INDIAN HILLS - The Carson Crushers' struggles in the USABA 15 and under World Series continued on Sunday night when they lost to the East Side Thunder from Seattle, Wash., at James Lee Park.

The Thunder took advantage of 17 walks and six errors, busting the game open when they scored 10 runs in the seventh inning to take an 18-3 win.

The Crushers also had two runners thrown out at home and a runner thrown out at third while the game was still in doubt.

Starting pitcher Jared Baxter went 4 2/3 innings for the Crushers, allowing four earned runs while striking out five.

Carson tied the score 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning when Drew Good walked and scored on Sean Costella's RBI double. The Crushers came back to tie the score again 3-3 in the third when Costella singled, Nick Smallman and Ryan Pier walked and Frank Urbani followed with a two-run single.

In the seventh, Costella singled, Paul Cagle and Pier each had an RBI double and Cody Bone had an RBI single. Costella had three hits and Tom O'Brien added two hits for Carson.

In other games on Sunday, the Nor Cal Knights beat Sonora, Calif., 15-7, the Nevada Warriors from Las Vegas beat the Thunder 9-1 and Sonora beat the Warriors 6-5. The tournament continues today at James Lee Park with Nor Cal playing the Thunder at 10 a.m., Sonora playing the Thunder at 1 p.m., Carson playing Sonora at 4 and the Warriors playing Nor Cal at 7.

NEVADA WARRIORS 15, CARSON CRUSHERS 2

Down 2-0 going to the third inning, the Las Vegas-based Warriors scored eight runs and came back to score seven more runs in the fourth to take charge of the game.

DH Jordan Evans hit a two-run double off the left field fence and Trevor Kirk later added a two-run single to highlight the third inning rally in which the Warriors sent 12 batters to the plate. Kolton Villa hit an RBI single and Justin Rainville drove in another run on a sacrifice fly in which Carson right fielder Casey Good ran in and made a sliding catch.

Villa hit 3-for-3 and also ran down a long fly ball in foul territory down the left field line for a catch that ended the fourth inning.

Catcher Mike Hellem, first baseman Jordan Keegan and third baseman Cameron Tutwiler delivered sparkling defensive plays with diving catches during the game.

The Crushers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Nick Smallman singled with two outs, Josh Caron followed with an RBI double and Brooks Greenlee singled.

NOR CAL KNIGHTS 15, SONORA SASQUATCH 7

After giving up five runs in the top of the first inning, the Knights answered with eight runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to remain unbeaten in the round robin portion of the tournament.

Jeff Young hit 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Kyle Gerring, Chris Webb and Max Coronado delivered two hits each for the Knights. Gerring also doubled and drove in two runs. Five singles and a double by Whittell High's Brian Peat sparked the eight-run first inning rally.

Young pitched four innings to earn credit for the win with relief help from Joe Lopez in the fifth.

The Knights showed some defense in the fifth inning when right fielder Chris Brempell gloved the ball after a base hit and threw quickly to the infield to Lopez, who relayed a strike to Chris Webb at the plate to cut down a potential run.

Sonora's Alex Stuart doubled two runs home and Nick DeAngelis followed with a two-run homer in the first inning. Spencer Stobaugh hit 3-for-4 with a triple and double.

Stobaugh singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Sonora defeated the Nevada Warriors Saturday night. With the score tied 5-5 in the top of the seventh, the Warriors loaded the bases with no outs but couldn't get any runs home.