Needing a win to stay alive in the District I Little League Hooligans tournament at Ranchos Aspen Park Monday night, Carson Valley came through in a big way with a 17-8 win over Reno American East.
The win improved Carson Valley's record to 2-2 in pool play and set them up with a game against Washoe Tuesday night in the first round of the elimination bracket.
Carson Valley wasted little time getting things going, bringing eight runs across in the first inning after Taylor Souza led off with a single.
Jake Mariani, Joe Almeida and Matt Jones followed with consecutive hits to bring three runs in. After a Joey Swisher single and a walk to Brennen Collins, Cameron Fricke doubled to give Carson Valley a 6-0 lead.
Jacob Booher followed with a two-run home run to center field for the 8-0 lead.
Souza took the mound for Carson Valley and allowed only a walk and a single through three innings.
Reliever Dustin Plante was unavailable for the game due to having exceeded the pitch count, so Fricke took the ball through the fourth and Jones pitched an 1 2/3 innings before Almeida came in and struck out the final batter.
Almeida also led off the fourth with a home run for Carson Valley.
Swisher followed up an outsanding defensive performance at shortstop with a 3-for-3, one double clip at the plate.
Souza went 4-for-5 with a double, Mariani drove in two runs and went 3-for-5 and Fricke, Jones and Almeida each had two hits.
Ky Gemmill replaced the injured Jerad Morgan in the lineup and turned in a solid night at second base.
After opening the tournament with a big win over South Tahoe, Carson Valley suffered a 15-0 loss to Carson National on Saturday and an 8-4 loss to Sparks Centennial on Sunday.
Against Carson National, Almeida's double to lead off the second inning was the team's only hit of the game.
Some shaky defense in the first inning allowed 10 runs to cross the plate, but Morgan came up with a big catch in right field and fired the ball back home to catch the runner trying to score to end the inning.
"Taylor Souza started the game on the mound and he was throwing strikes but we just couldn't help him out by making the routine plays on defense," Carson Valley coach Tom Mariani said. "He deserved a lot better."
Jones struck out the side on 13 pitches in the second.
Carson Valley was dealt another blow in the third after Morgan was hit by a pitch that broke his right arm.
Against Sparks Centennial, Carson Valley built a 4-1 lead before Almeida drove a pitch to left center that would extended the lead to 5-1.
A baserunning blunder, however, turned the potential sacrifice fly into an inning-ending double play.
Mariani started the game on the mound and kept the hitters off-balance for three innings.
He struck out the first two in the first inning and after a batter reached on an error, Almeida, playing catcher, threw the runner out to end the inning.
Souza was 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles while Mariani, Brandon Bohan and Swisher were each 1-for-3.
