Baseball: Tigers clinch 3rd league title in last six years

Tyler Hoelzen had watched this scene develop one too many times this season.

The Tiger senior lefthander fell victim to early offensive outbursts from both Damonte Ranch and Galena at Tiger Field earlier in the year and he was watching the Carson Senators do the exact same thing.

Not today, though. Not on Senior Day. Not with the Sierra League title on the line.

Carson had loaded the bases and brought a run across on four consecutive singles to open the top of the second inning, but that was where it stopped.

"I just started thinking 'Not again,'" Hoelzen said. "It happened to me in the first couple of league games at home but I didn't want it to happen today. I just tried to calm down and stay focused."

After a brief conference at the mound with coach John Glover and catcher Beau Davis, Hoelzen came back with a bases-loaded strikeout. And from there, that was all he needed. He retired the next two batters, although Carson brought another run across on a suicide squeeze from Tyler Smith, and posted scoreless frames over the next five innings.

He struck out 11 strikeouts and walked just two while scattering six hits, all from the heart of the Senators' order, as Douglas pushed ahead to a 4-2 win to clinch the league title for the third time in the last six years.

"It feels great," Hoelzen said. "One of the best feelings I've had in high school."

While Hoelzen recovered from Carson's early rally, Douglas spent most of the rest of the game trying to find a solution for Carson lefty David Charles, who finished with five strikeouts and three walks.

"Charles is a great pitcher," Glover said. "I am highly, highly impressed with him. We didn't adjust to him very well. We knew it was coming, but he is just so good. He keeps you off balance the whole way and gets the ball where he wants it.

"Our kids had a tough time with him. We're really lucky to get out of here with a win today."

Outside of a sharp double to left from sophomore first baseman Kameron Van Winkle, Douglas wasn't able to get anything going against Charles through the first four innings.

After a one-out bunt from Van Winkle in the bottom of the fifth, it appeared Carson was about to get out of another inning when Troy Torres hit a double play ball to third. The Senators got Van Winkle at second but the throw to first sailed wide, alloring Torres on safely.

Jeff Crozier and Michael Whalin each drew walks, loading the bases with two outs and Tiger standout Tyler May coming to the play. May drew a walk as well, bringing a run across.

Davis then looped a single to center, which Crozier and Whalin came around to score on, giving Douglas the 3-2 lead.

"I just saw a fastball kind of up in the zone a little bit and I swung at it," Davis said. "That's what we're here for. It was a good situation to be in. My team put me in a good situation and I was able to come through."

It ended up being all the Tigers would need.

"We just extended an inning for them and they beat us," Carson coach Cody Farnworth said. "You can't extend innings against good teams like that. We just have to rebound and get ready for the playoffs."

Douglas (25-7-1 overall, 14-3 Sierra League) added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Troy Torres chopped a single over third base to bring Tanner Thomas around to score.

After surrendering a leadoff double to Brooks Hutchins in the top of the seventh, Hoelzen struck out the 9, 1 and 2 leaders in order.

"It was really important to stay away from the heart of that order," Hoelzen said. "The whole lineup is tough, but I did not want to see those guys in the heart of the order again."

Van Winkle led Douglas at the plate, going 2-for-3, while Cody Barr duplicated the performance for the Senators with a 2-for-3 clip of his own.

Carson (13-4) scored its runs on a Dustin Buttner single to left in the second and Smith's squeeze play.

"We did a good job of getting some hits in that inning, but we would have liked to get a couple more runs there because we knew he was going to settle down," Farnworth said. "We couldn't do much after that."