Baseball: Douglas tops Carson in series opener 3-1

A dead heat with two games to go.

Tyler May scattered six hits and hit a solo homer to lead Douglas to a 3-1

win over Carson in a Sierra League baseball game Wednesday afternoon at Ron

McNutt Field.

The victory moved the Tigers into a first-place tie with Carson at 13-3. The

teams meet again today in Minden at 3:30 with Carson¹s David Charles

expected to oppose Douglas' Tyler Hoelzen.

May's win was the 20th of his career, tying him with Shawn Estes, who is

currently with the Dodgers' Triple-A team in Albuquerque.

"It feels awesome," May said, referring to tying Estes. "I woke up this

morning and I had butterflies. I knew it was going to be a tough game.

"I came out strong. My main point was to keep the ball low. They hit a lot

of hard shots, but my defense picked me up big time."

Save for the sixth when Dustin Buttner singled home Kyle Stone with the

Senators¹ only run, May was in complete control. Carson only got two runners

as far as third base in the other six innings.

"He (May) knew it was a big game for us, and I thought he pitched well,"

said Douglas coach John Glover, who expected a tight game. "I thought he

pitched well.

"They (May and Matt Rutledge) are two of the best pitchers in our league. I

knew 'Rut' would be tough. After he settled down, he shut us down."

Rutledge wasn't sharp early, and it cost him dearly in the first.

May walked and moved to third on a soft single by Beau Davis. Tim Rudnick

followed with a sacrifice fly to left scoring May. After striking out

Tyler Hoelzen, Tanner Thomas followed with a single that just got under the

glove of Barr at third base which enabled Davis to score.

"My arm was a little tight and I didn't pound the strike zone," said

Rutledge, who gave up only six hits. "I didn't throw strikes, I didn't get

ahead and it hurt me."

Carson put up its first threat in the second, putting runners at second and

third, but May caught Tyler Hutchins looking at a third strike to end the

inning.

Douglas made it 3-0 in the third when May led off with an off-field homer to

right, Rutledge quickly retired the next three hitters.

Carson put runners on first and third with two outs in the third thanks to

singles by Tommy Preston and Stone, but Cagle grounded to short to end the

inning.

Part of May's success stemmed from the fact that he had an easy time with

Cagle, Buttner and Barr, who were a combined 1-for-7. May did a nice job

keeping the trio off balance with off-speed pitches.